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yoke

 - 14 dictionary results

yoke

1[yohk] noun, plural yokes for 1, 3–20, yoke for 2; verb, yoked, yok⋅ing.
–noun
1. a device for joining together a pair of draft animals, esp. oxen, usually consisting of a crosspiece with two bow-shaped pieces, each enclosing the head of an animal. Compare harness (def. 1).
2. a pair of draft animals fastened together by a yoke: five yoke of oxen.
3. something resembling a yoke or a bow of a yoke in form or use.
4. a frame fitting the neck and shoulders of a person, for carrying a pair of buckets or the like, one at each end.
5. an agency of oppression, subjection, servitude, etc.
6. an emblem or symbol of subjection, servitude, slavery, etc., as an archway under which prisoners of war were compelled to pass by the ancient Romans and others.
7. something that couples or binds together; a bond or tie.
8. Machinery. a viselike piece gripping two parts firmly together.
9. Also called fork. a forklike termination for a rod or shaft, inside which another part is secured.
10. a fitting for the neck of a draft animal for suspending the tongue of a cart, carriage, etc., from a harness.
11. a crosshead attached to the upper piston of an opposed-piston engine with rods to transmit power to the crankshaft.
12. (in an airplane) a double handle, somewhat like a steering wheel in form, by which the elevators are controlled.
13. Nautical. a crossbar on the head of the rudder of a small boat, having lines or chains attached to the ends so as to permit the steering of the boat from forward.
14. spreader beam.
15. a shaped piece in a garment, fitted about or below the neck and shoulders or about the hips, from which the rest of the garment hangs.
16. a horizontal piece forming the top of a window frame.
17. a Y-shaped piece connecting branch pipes with a main soil pipe.
18. Television. an electromagnetic assembly placed around the neck of a cathode-ray tube to produce and control the scanning motion of electron beams inside the tube.
19. British Dialect. (esp. in Kent)
a. the time during which a plowman and team work without stopping; a period of plowing.
b. a measure or area of land equal to over 50 but less than 60 acres.
20. a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter Y.
–verb (used with object)
21. to put a yoke on; join or couple by means of a yoke.
22. to attach (a draft animal) to a plow or vehicle: to yoke oxen.
23. to harness a draft animal to (a plow or vehicle): to yoke a wagon.
24. to join, couple, link, or unite.
25. Obsolete. to bring into subjection or servitude.
–verb (used without object)
26. to be or become joined, linked, or united.

Origin:
bef. 900; (n.) ME yok(e), OE geoc; c. D juk, G Joch, ON ok, L jugum, Gk zygón, Hittite yugan, Skt yuga; (v.) ME yoken, OE geocian, deriv. of the n.


yokeless, adjective


2. See pair.

yoke

2[yohk]
–noun
yolk.

deflection yoke

–noun Electronics.
an assembly of one or more coils through which a controlled current is passed to produce a magnetic field for deflecting a beam of electrons, as in a picture tube.
Also called yoke.

spreader beam

–noun
a crosspiece for spacing the chains or cables hanging from the boom of a crane.
Also called yoke.

yolk

[yohk, yohlk]
–noun
1. the yellow and principal substance of an egg, as distinguished from the white.
2. Embryology. the part of the contents of the egg of an animal that enters directly into the formation of the embryo, together with any material that nourishes the embryo during its formation.
3. the essential part; the inner core.
4. a natural grease exuded from the skin of sheep.
Also, yoke.


Origin:
bef. 1000; ME yolke, yelke, OE geoloca, deriv. of geolu yellow


yolked, adjective
yolkless, adjective
yolky, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To yoke
yoke   (yōk)   
n.  
    1. A crossbar with two U-shaped pieces that encircle the necks of a pair of oxen or other draft animals working together.

    2. pl. yoke or yokes A pair of draft animals, such as oxen, joined by a yoke.

    3. A bar used with a double harness to connect the collar of each horse to the pole of a wagon or coach.

    4. Any of various emblems of subjugation, such as a structure made of two upright spears with a third laid across them, under which conquered enemies of ancient Rome were forced to march in subjection.

    5. The condition of being subjugated by or as if by a conqueror; subjugation or bondage: 14th-century Russia under the Tartar yoke; the yoke of drug addiction.

  1. A frame designed to be carried across a person's shoulders with equal loads suspended from each end.

  2. Nautical A crossbar on a ship's rudder to which the steering cables are connected.

  3. A clamp or vise that holds a machine part in place or controls its movement or that holds two such parts together.

  4. A piece of a garment that is closely fitted, either around the neck and shoulders or at the hips, and from which an unfitted or gathered part of the garment is hung.

  5. Something that connects or joins together; a bond or tie.

  6. Electronics A series of two or more magnetic recording heads fastened securely together for playing or recording on more than one track simultaneously.

    1. Any of various emblems of subjugation, such as a structure made of two upright spears with a third laid across them, under which conquered enemies of ancient Rome were forced to march in subjection.

    2. The condition of being subjugated by or as if by a conqueror; subjugation or bondage: 14th-century Russia under the Tartar yoke; the yoke of drug addiction.

v.   yoked, yok·ing, yokes

v.   tr.
  1. To fit or join with a yoke.

    1. To harness a draft animal to.

    2. To harness (a draft animal) to a vehicle or an implement.

  2. To join securely as if with a yoke; bind: partners who were yoked together for life.

  3. To force into heavy labor, bondage, or subjugation.

v.   intr.
To become joined securely.

[Middle English, from Old English geoc; see yeug- in Indo-European roots.]
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
yolk

  1. n.
    semen. (Possibly confused with egg white.) : Clean up that yolk before somebody sees it.
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

yoke  (n.)
O.E. geoc "yoke," earlier geoht "pair of draft animals," from P.Gmc. *yukam (cf. O.S. juk, O.N. ok, Dan. aag, M.Du. joc, Du. juk, O.H.G. joh, Ger. joch, Goth. juk "yoke"), from PIE *jugom "joining" (see jugular). Figurative sense of "heavy burden, oppression, servitude" was in O.E. The verb is from O.E. geocian.

yolk 
O.E. geolca, geoloca "yolk," lit. "the yellow part," from geolu "yellow" (see yellow). Formerly also spelled yelk.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: yolk
Pronunciation: 'yOk
Function: noun
: material stored in an ovum that supplies food to the developing embryo and consists chiefly ofproteins, lecithin, and cholesterol
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

yoke (yōk)
n.
See jugum.

yolk (yōk)
n.
The portion of the egg of an animal that consists of protein and fat from which the early embryo gets its main nourishment and of protoplasmic substances from which the embryo develops.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Bible Dictionary

Yoke

(1.) Fitted on the neck of oxen for the purpose of binding to them the traces by which they might draw the plough, etc. (Num. 19:2; Deut. 21:3). It was a curved piece of wood called _'ol_. (2.) In Jer. 27:2; 28:10, 12 the word in the Authorized Version rendered "yoke" is _motah_, which properly means a "staff," or as in the Revised Version, "bar." These words in the Hebrew are both used figuratively of severe bondage, or affliction, or subjection (Lev. 26:13; 1 Kings 12:4; Isa. 47:6; Lam. 1:14; 3:27). In the New Testament the word "yoke" is also used to denote servitude (Matt. 11:29, 30; Acts 15:10; Gal. 5:1). (3.) In 1 Sam. 11:7, 1 Kings 19:21, Job 1:3 the word thus translated is _tzemed_, which signifies a pair, two oxen yoked or coupled together, and hence in 1 Sam. 14:14 it represents as much land as a yoke of oxen could plough in a day, like the Latin _jugum_. In Isa. 5:10 this word in the plural is translated "acres."

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Encyclopedia

yoke

wooden bar or frame used to join draft animals at the heads or necks so that they pull together. In the early Middle East and in Greece and Rome, oxen and onagers were yoked across the horns or necks. Control of a team of yoked beasts was difficult. Furthermore, ancient yokes pressed against a hard-pulling animal's windpipe, choking it. The invention of the horse collar solved this problem and led to the replacement of oxen by horses. In some areas of the world, however, oxen still are yoked together much as they were in medieval Europe.

Learn more about yoke with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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