yoke
1 [yohk]
noun, plural yokes for 1, 3–20, yoke for 2; verb, yoked, yok⋅ing.| 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)
|
| 20. | a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter Y. |
| 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. |
| 26. | to be or become joined, linked, or united. |
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.

Related forms:
deflection yoke
| 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. |
spreader beam
| a crosspiece for spacing the chains or cables hanging from the boom of a crane. |
yolk
[yohk, yohlk]
| 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. |
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Yoke
Yoke\, n. (Chiefly Mach.) A clamp or similar piece that embraces two other parts to hold or unite them in their respective or relative positions, as a strap connecting a slide valve to the valve stem, or the soft iron block or bar permanently connecting the pole pieces of an electromagnet, as in a dynamo.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.Yoke
Yoke\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Yoked; p. pr. & vb. n. Yoking.]1. To put a yoke on; to join in or with a yoke; as, to yoke oxen, or pair of oxen. 2. To couple; to join with another. "Be ye not unequally yoked with unbelievers." --2 Cor. vi. 14. Cassius, you are yoked with a lamb. --Shak. 3. To enslave; to bring into bondage; to restrain; to confine. Then were they yoked with garrisons. --Milton. The words and promises that yoke The conqueror are quickly broke. --Hudibras.Yoke
Yoke\, v. i. To be joined or associated; to be intimately connected; to consort closely; to mate. We 'll yoke together, like a double shadow. --Shak.Cite This Source
yoke (n.)
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yoke (yōk)
n.
See jugum.
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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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."
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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.
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