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hock

 - 11 dictionary results

hock

1  [hok]
Use hock in a Sentence
–noun
1. the joint in the hind leg of a horse, cow, etc., above the fetlock joint, corresponding anatomically to the ankle in humans.
2. a corresponding joint in a fowl.
–verb (used with object)
3. to hamstring.
Origin:
1375–1425; var. of dial. hough, ME ho(u)gh, appar. back formation from late ME hokschyn, etc., OE hōhsinu hock (lit., heel) sinew; see heel 1

hock

2  [hok]
–noun Chiefly British.
any white Rhine wine.
Origin:
1615–25; short for Hockamore Hochheimer

hock

3  [hok]
–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; < D hok kennel, sty, pen, (informal) miserable place to live, prison

Related forms:
hocker, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To hock
hock 1   (hŏk)   
n.  

    1. The tarsal joint of the hind leg of a digitigrade quadruped, such as a horse, corresponding to the human ankle but bending in the opposite direction.

    2. A joint in the leg of a domestic fowl similar to the hock of a quadruped.

  2. A small cut of meat, especially ham, from the front or hind leg directly above the foot.

tr.v.   hocked, hock·ing, hocks
To disable by cutting the tendons of the hock; hamstring.

[Middle English, from Old English hōh, heel.]
hock 2   (hŏk)   
n.   Chiefly British
Rhine wine.

[Short for obsolete Hockamore, alteration of German Hochheimer, from Hochheim, a town of west-central Germany.]
hock 3   (hŏk)   
tr.v.   hocked, hock·ing, hocks
To pawn: hock a diamond ring.
n.  

  1. The state of being pawned: put the diamonds in hock.

  2. The state of being in debt: thought we'd never get out of hock.


[Probably from Dutch hok, prison.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
hock

  1. tv.
    to pawn something. : I tried to hock my watch to get some money.
  2. n.
    a foot. : My hocks are sore from all that walking.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

hock  (n.1)
"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  (n.2)
"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  (n.3)
"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, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: hock
Pronunciation: 'häk
Function: noun
: the joint or region of the joint that unites the tarsal bones in the hind limb of a digitigradequadruped (as the horse) and that corresponds to the human ankle but is elevated and bends backward
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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