noun
1.
the joint in the hind leg of a horse, cow, etc., above the fetlock joint, corresponding anatomically to the ankle in humans. See diag. under horse.
2.
a corresponding joint in a fowl.
verb (used with object)
3.
to hamstring.
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Hock
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Origin:
1375–1425; variant of dial. hough, Middle English ho(u)gh, apparently back formation from late Middle English hokschyn, etc., Old English hōhsinu hock (literally, heel) sinew; see heel1
1375–1425; variant of dial. hough, Middle English ho(u)gh, apparently back formation from late Middle English hokschyn, etc., Old English hōhsinu hock (literally, heel) sinew; see heel1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
noun Chiefly British.
any white Rhine wine.
verb (used with object)
1.
pawn.
noun
2.
the state of being deposited or held as security; pawn: She was forced to put her good jewelry in hock.
3.
the condition of owing; debt: After the loan was paid, he was finally out of hock.
Origin:
1855–60, Americanism; < Dutch hok kennel, sty, pen, (informal) miserable place to live, prison
1855–60, Americanism; < Dutch hok kennel, sty, pen, (informal) miserable place to live, prison
Related forms
hock·er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To Hock
Collins
World English Dictionary
hock1 (hɒk) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | the joint at the tarsus of a horse or similar animal, pointing backwards and corresponding to the human ankle |
| 2. | the corresponding joint in domestic fowl |
| —vb | |
| 3. | another word for hamstring |
| [C16: short for hockshin, from Old English hōhsinu heel sinew] | |
| hock2 (hɒk) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | any of several white wines from the German Rhine |
| 2. | (not in technical usage) any dry white wine |
| [C17: short for obsolete hockamore | |
| hock3 (hɒk) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | (tr) to pawn or pledge |
| —n | |
| 2. | the state of being in pawn (esp in the phrase in hock) |
| 3. | in hock |
| a. in prison | |
| b. in debt | |
| c. in pawn | |
| [C19: from Dutch hok prison, debt] | |
| 'hocker3 | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
hock
"joint in the hind leg of a horse," 1540, earlier hockshin, from O.E. hoh-sinu "Achilles' tendon," lit. "heel sinew," from hoh "heel," from P.Gmc. *khankha- (cf. Ger. Hachse "hock," O.E. hæla "heel").
hock
"Rhenish wine," 1625, shortening of Hockamore, from Ger. Hochheimer, from Hochheim, town on the Main where wine was made, sense extended to Ger. white wines in general.
hock
"pawn, debt," first recorded 1859 in Amer.Eng. as in hock, which meant both "in debt" and "in prison," from Du. hok "jail, pen, doghouse." The verb is 1878, from the noun.
"When one gambler is caught by another, smarter than himself, and is beat, then he is in hock. Men are only caught, or put in hock, on the race-tracks, or on the steamboats down South. ... Among thieves a man is in hock when he is in prison." [G.W. Matsell, "Vocabulum," 1859]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary
hock definition
|
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Example sentences
Now he complains that the politicians are in hock to foreign drug giants.
Because a loan is secured by the piece in hock, risk is finite.
The major economies have put their populations into hock for years ahead to sustain a faulty system.
Sear hock, turning it as it browns and renders some fat.
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