Meaning & use
tucking in bed
Last updated
Meaning
verbtransitive or intransitive
The act of settling someone into bed and covering them up warmly, usually a child.
Grammar: Often used with 'in bed' or 'into bed': 'She is tucking him in bed.' The object can come between 'tuck' and 'in'.
Patterns
- tuck someone in bed
- tuck someone into bed
- tuck someone in
Every night, my mother spends ten minutes tucking me in bed before I fall asleep.
He was tucking his daughter in bed when the phone rang.
Tucking in bed is a special routine for many families.
Common combinations
- tuck someone in bed
- She tucked the baby in bed and quietly left the room.
- tuck someone into bed
- He tucked his son into bed and read him a story.
- tuck someone in
- Don't forget to tuck her in before you go.
Synonyms and how they differ
- put to bed
- More neutral and general; 'tuck in' adds the idea of making someone warm and comfortable.
- settle in bed
- Focuses on helping someone get comfortable, not necessarily covering them up.
Opposites
Word family
- tuck verb
- To push a loose end of cloth or paper into a particular place, or to put someone comfortably to bed.
Commonly confused: tucking in bed or tuck into?
tucking in bed vs tuck into
Means to start eating eagerly: 'He tucked into his dinner.' Not the same as tucking someone in bed.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence:
Choose one answer.
The correct pattern is 'tuck someone in bed' or 'tuck someone into bed'. Option An is missing 'in' or 'into'; options C and D use wrong prepositions.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “tucking in bed”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.