Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Yoke \Yoke\ (y[=o]k), n. [OE. yok, [yogh]oc, AS. geoc; akin to
   D. juk, OHG. joh, G. joch, Icel. & Sw. ok, Dan. aag, Goth.
   juk, Lith. jungas, Russ. igo, L. jugum, Gr. zy`gon, Skr.
   yuga, and to L. jungere to join, Gr. ?, Skr. yui. [root]109,
   280. Cf. {Join}, {Jougs}, {Joust}, {Jugular}, {Subjugate},
   {Syzygy}, {Yuga}, {Zeugma}.]
   1. A bar or frame of wood by which two oxen are joined at the
      heads or necks for working together.

            A yearling bullock to thy name shall smoke, Untamed,
            unconscious of the galling yoke.      --Pope.

   Note: The modern yoke for oxen is usually a piece of timber
         hollowed, or made curving, near each end, and laid on
         the necks of the oxen, being secured in place by two
         bows, one inclosing each neck, and fastened through the
         timber. In some countries the yoke consists of a flat
         piece of wood fastened to the foreheads of the oxen by
         thongs about the horns.

   2. A frame or piece resembling a yoke, as in use or shape.
      Specifically:
      (a) A frame of wood fitted to a person's shoulders for
          carrying pails, etc., suspended on each side; as, a
          milkmaid's yoke.
      (b) A frame worn on the neck of an animal, as a cow, a
          pig, a goose, to prevent passage through a fence.
      (c) A frame or convex piece by which a bell is hung for
          ringing it. See Illust. of {Bell}.
      (d) A crosspiece upon the head of a boat's rudder. To its
          ends lines are attached which lead forward so that the
          boat can be steered from amidships.
      (e) (Mach.) A bent crosspiece connecting two other parts.
      (f) (Arch.) A tie securing two timbers together, not used
          for part of a regular truss, but serving a temporary
          purpose, as to provide against unusual strain.
      (g) (Dressmaking) A band shaped to fit the shoulders or
          the hips, and joined to the upper full edge of the
          waist or the skirt.

   3. Fig.: That which connects or binds; a chain; a link; a
      bond connection.

            Boweth your neck under that blissful yoke . . .
            Which that men clepeth spousal or wedlock.
                                                  --Chaucer.

            This yoke of marriage from us both remove. --Dryden.

   4. A mark of servitude; hence, servitude; slavery; bondage;
      service.

            Our country sinks beneath the yoke.   --Shak.

            My yoke is easy, and my burden is light. --Matt. xi.
                                                  30.

   5. Two animals yoked together; a couple; a pair that work
      together.

            I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove
            them.                                 --Luke xiv.
                                                  19.

   6. The quantity of land plowed in a day by a yoke of oxen.
      [Obs.] --Gardner.

   7. A portion of the working day; as, to work two yokes, that
      is, to work both portions of the day, or morning and
      afternoon. [Prov. Eng.] --Halliwell.

   {Neck yoke}, {Pig yoke}. See under {Neck}, and {Pig}.

   {Yoke elm} (Bot.), the European hornbeam ({Carpinus
      Betulus}), a small tree with tough white wood, often used
      for making yokes for cattle.

Neck \Neck\, n. [OE. necke, AS. hnecca; akin to D. nek the nape
   of the neck, G. nacken, OHG. nacch, hnacch, Icel. hnakki, Sw.
   nacke, Dan. nakke.]
   1. The part of an animal which connects the head and the
      trunk, and which, in man and many other animals, is more
      slender than the trunk.

   2. Any part of an inanimate object corresponding to or
      resembling the neck of an animal; as:
      (a) The long slender part of a vessel, as a retort, or of
          a fruit, as a gourd.
      (b) A long narrow tract of land projecting from the main
          body, or a narrow tract connecting two larger tracts.
      (c) (Mus.) That part of a violin, guitar, or similar
          instrument, which extends from the head to the body,
          and on which is the finger board or fret board.

   3. (Mech.) A reduction in size near the end of an object,
      formed by a groove around it; as, a neck forming the
      journal of a shaft.

   4. (Bot.) the point where the base of the stem of a plant
      arises from the root.

   {Neck and crop}, completely; wholly; altogether; roughly and
      at once. [Colloq.]

   {Neck and neck} (Racing), so nearly equal that one cannot be
      said to be before the other; very close; even; side by
      side.

   {Neck of a capital}. (Arch.) See {Gorgerin}.

   {Neck of a cascabel} (Gun.), the part joining the knob to the
      base of the breech.

   {Neck of a gun}, the small part of the piece between the
      chase and the swell of the muzzle.

   {Neck of a tooth} (Anat.), the constriction between the root
      and the crown.

   {Neck or nothing} (Fig.), at all risks.

   {Neck verse}.
      (a) The verse formerly read to entitle a party to the
          benefit of clergy, said to be the first verse of the
          fifty-first Psalm, ``Miserere mei,'' etc. --Sir W.
          Scott.
      (b) Hence, a verse or saying, the utterance of which
          decides one's fate; a shibboleth.

                These words, ``bread and cheese,'' were their
                neck verse or shibboleth to distinguish them;
                all pronouncing ``broad and cause,'' being
                presently put to death.           --Fuller.

   {Neck yoke}.
      (a) A bar by which the end of the tongue of a wagon or
          carriage is suspended from the collars of the
          harnesses.
      (b) A device with projecting arms for carrying things (as
          buckets of water or sap) suspended from one's
          shoulders.

   {On the neck of}, immediately after; following closely.
      ``Commiting one sin on the neck of another.'' --W.
      Perkins.

   {Stiff neck}, obstinacy in evil or wrong; inflexible
      obstinacy; contumacy. ``I know thy rebellion, and thy
      stiff neck.'' --Deut. xxxi. 27.

   {To break the neck of}, to destroy the main force of. ``What
      they presume to borrow from her sage and virtuous rules .
      . . breaks the neck of their own cause.'' --Milton.