# cheek
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English cheeke, cheke, cheoke, choke, from Old English ċēce, ċēace, ċēoce (“cheek; jaw”), from Proto-West Germanic *kākā, *keukā (“jaw, cheek”), from Proto-Germanic *kēkǭ, *keukǭ (“jaw; palate; pharynx”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ǵyewh₁- (“to chew”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Sooke (“cheek”), West Frisian tsjeak (“jaw”), Dutch kaak (“jaw; cheek”), Swedish käke (“jaw; jowl”), Norwegian kjake (“jaw”), Old Norse kók (“mouth; gullet”).

### Pronunciation

* enPR: chēk, IPA: /t͡ʃiːk/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -iːk

### Noun

cheek (countable and uncountable, plural cheeks)
* (anatomy) The soft skin on each side of the face, below the eyes; the outer surface of the sides of the oral cavity.
    Synonym: (obsolete) wang
** c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:There are some shrewd contents in yon same paper, / That steals the colours from Bassanio's cheek: / Some dear friend dead; else nothing in the world / Could turn so much the constitution / Of any constant man. What, worse and worse!— […]
* (anatomy, informal, usually in the plural) The lower part of the buttocks that is often exposed beneath very brief underwear, swimwear, or extremely short shorts.
    Synonyms: arsecheek, asscheek, butt cheek, nether cheek
* (figurative, informal, uncountable) Impudence.
    Synonyms: impertinence, impudence, (slang) brass neck, (informal) nerve, (informal, especially US) sass, chutzpah
    You’ve got some cheek, asking me for money!
* (biology, informal) One of the genae, flat areas on the sides of a trilobite's cephalon.
* One of the pieces of a machine, or of timber or stonework, that form corresponding sides or a similar pair.
    the cheeks of a vice
    the cheeks of a gun carriage
** (nautical) pump-cheek, pump-cheeks, a piece of wood cut out fork-shaped in which the brake is fastened by means of a bolt and can thus move around and move the upper box of the pump up and down
* (in the plural) The branches of a bridle bit.
* Either side of an axehead.
* (metalworking) The middle section of a flask, made so that it can be moved laterally, to permit the removal of the pattern from the mould.

#### Derived terms

* butment cheek
* butt-cheek
* cheek bone
* cheekbone
* cheek-bone
* cheek-by-jowl
* cheek by jowl
* cheeked
* cheeker
* cheekful
* cheek guard
* cheekie
* cheekini
* cheekless
* cheekpiece
* cheek plate
* cheek pouch
* cheek to cheek
* cheek-to-jowl
* cheek to jowl
* cheek tooth
* cheeky
* chock full
* doorcheek
* fixed cheek
* free cheek
* slapped cheek syndrome
* spiny-cheek sleeper
* tongue firmly in cheek
* tongue-in-cheek
* tongue in cheek
* to one's own cheek
* tuftedcheek
* turn the other cheek
* with one's tongue in one's cheek
* with tongue in cheek

#### Translations

Abkhaz: аʒамҩа (aʒamjʷa)
Afrikaans: wang (af)
Ahom: 𑜀𑜧𑜪 (kawṃ)
Albanian: faqe (sq) f
Amharic: ጉንጭ (gunč̣)
Angloromani: cham
Apabhramsa:
Devanagari: कवोल
Sharada: 𑆑𑆮𑆾𑆬
Arabic: خَدّ m (ḵadd), وَجْنَة f (wajna)
Egyptian Arabic: خد m (ḵadd)
Moroccan Arabic: حنك m (ḥank)
Aragonese: caixo m
Armenian: թուշ (hy) (tʻuš), այտ (hy) (ayt)
Aromanian: maste, bucã f
Asturian: papu (ast) m, carriellu (ast) m, mexella (ast) f
Avar: кӏаркьен (kʼarkkˡʼen)
Azerbaijani: yanaq (az), ovurd
Bambara: dafuruku
Bashkir: яңаҡ (yañaq)
Basque: masail
Bau Bidayuh: panding, paning
Belarusian: шчака́ f (ščaká), палі́чка f (palíčka)
Bengali: গাল (bn) (gal)
Bouyei: jeemc
Breton: boc'h (br), jod (br)
Bulgarian: бу́за (bg) f (búza), страна́ (bg) f (straná)
Burmese: ပါး (my) (pa:)
Catalan: galta (ca) f
Central Dusun: pingas
Central Melanau: pipei
Chechen: бесни (besni)
Chepang: गेर्
Chinese:
Cantonese: 面珠 (min$^6$ zyu$^1$)
Mandarin: 臉頰 / 脸颊 (zh) (liǎnjiá), 腮 (zh) (sāi), 腮幫子 / 腮帮子 (zh) (sāibāngzi), 臉蛋 / 脸蛋 (zh) (liǎndàn), 臉蛋子 / 脸蛋子 (zh) (liǎndànzi), 面頰 / 面颊 (zh) (miànjiá), 臉皮 / 脸皮 (zh) (liǎnpí), 頰 / 颊 (zh) (jiá), 腮 (zh) (sāi), 腮頰 / 腮颊 (zh) (sāijiá), 兩頰 / 两颊 (liǎngjiá) (both cheeks)
Classical Nahuatl: cantli
Coptic: ⲟⲩⲟϫⲓ f (ouoči)
Cornish: bogh f
Cree: mikwaskonew
Czech: líčko n
Danish: kind (da) c
Dhivehi: ކޯ (kō)
Dolgan: hyngäk
Dongxiang: qycha, qyža
Dupaningan Agta: padingel
Dutch: wang (nl) f, koon (nl) f, kaak (nl) f, (in compounds) bak (nl) m
Egyptian: (mnḏt)
Erzya: чамабока (čamaboka)
Esperanto: vango (eo)
Estonian: põsk (et)
Finnish: poski (fi)
French: joue (fr) f
Galician: meixela (gl) f, fazula (gl) f, bochecho m, froia f, queixada (gl) f
Georgian: ლოყა (loq̇a), ღაწვი (ɣac̣vi)
German: Backe (de) f, (formal) Wange (de) f
Gothic: 𐌺𐌹𐌽𐌽𐌿𐍃 f (kinnus)
Greek: μάγουλο (el) n (mágoulo)
Ancient: παρειά f (pareiá)
Greenlandic: uluak, ersaq
Gujarati: ગાલ (gāl)
Guugu Yimidhirr: nhumbul, gaman
Haida: ts'at
Hausa: kunci
Hawaiian: pāpālina
Hebrew: לֶחִי (he) m (lekhí, lékhi)
Higaonon: pipi
Hindi: गाल (hi) m (gāl)
Hungarian: orca (hu)
Icelandic: kinn (is)
Ido: vango (io)
Indonesian: pipi (id)
Iranun: bias
Irish: leiceann (ga) m, grua f, pluc f
Italian: guancia (it) f, gota (it) f
Japanese: 頬 (ja) (ほほ, hoho, ほお, hō), (colloquial) ほっぺた (ja) (hoppeta), ほっぺ (ja) (hoppe)
Kabuverdianu: buxexa
Kannada: ಗಲ್ಲ (kn) (galla)
Karachay-Balkar: жыякъ (jıyaq)
Kaurna: marltaitya, marltawarta
Kazakh: бет (kk) (bet)
Ket: qolet, qoledäng, qoleräng
Khiamniungan Naga: ūo
Khmer: ថ្ពាល់ (km) (thpŏəl), កំភ្លៀងសត្វ (kâmphliĕngstâv)
Kikuyu: ikai class 5, rũthĩa class 11
Kimaragang: pingas
Kituba: ditama
Korean: 볼 (ko) (bol), 뺨 (ko) (ppyam)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: گووپ (ckb) (gûp)
Northern Kurdish: gep (ku) f, alek (ku) f
Kyrgyz: бет (ky) (bet), жаак (ky) (jaak), жаңак (jaŋak)
Ladin: masela f
Lao: ແກ້ມ (lo) (kǣm)
Latgalian: byuds m
Latin: gena f, bucca (la) f
Latvian: vaigs m
Lingala: litama
Lithuanian: skrúostas m
Lotud: pingas
Lü: ᦶᦂᧄᧉ (k̇aem²)
Lushootseed: dxʷʔilaladiʔ
Luxembourgish: Bak m
Macedonian: образ (mk) m (obraz)
Malay: pipi (ms)
Maltese: ħadd m
Manchu: ᡧᠠᡴᡧᠠᡥᠠ (šakšaha), ᡶᡠᠯᠴᡳᠨ (fulcin)
Mansaka: pisngi
Maori: pāpāringa, peka
Marathi: गाल m (gāl)
Mazanderani: بیج (bij)
Middle English: cheke
Mingrelian: ღვანწკი (ɣvanc̣ḳi)
Mizo: biang
Moksha: щёка (ščoka)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: хацар (mn) (xacar)
Nepali: गाला (ne) (gālā)
Ngazidja Comorian: travu class 5/6
Northern Mansi: па̄йт (pājt)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: kinn (no) n
Occitan: gauta (oc) f
Ojibwe: (my cheek) ninow
Old Church Slavonic: ланита f (lanita)
Oromo: maddii
Ottoman Turkish: یناق (yanaq), خد (hadd), رخ (ruh), عارض (ʿariz)
Pali: kapola m
Pannonian Rusyn: лїцо n (ljico)
Pashto: باړخو (ps) m (bāṛxú)
Pennsylvania German: Backe m, Wange f (rare)
Persian:
Dari: کومَه (kōma)
Iranian Persian: گونِه (gune), لُپ (lop)
Plautdietsch: Bak f
Polish: policzek (pl) m
Portuguese: bochecha (pt) f
Prakrit: 𑀓𑀯𑁄𑀮 m (kavola), 𑀕𑀮𑁆𑀮 m (galla), 𑀕𑀁𑀟 m (gaṃḍa)
Romani: ćham f
Kalo Finnish Romani: tšam f
Romanian: obraz (ro), bucă (ro) f
Romansch: missella f, missiala f, misseala f, missela f, massella f
Rungus: porilling
Russian: щека́ (ru) f (ščeká)
Sabah Bisaya: bingal
Sami:
Inari: nierâ
Northern: muohtu
Skolt: njiõrr
Southern: searome
Sanskrit: गण्ड (sa) m (gaṇḍa), कपोल (sa) m (kapola), see Thesaurus:गल्ल
Santali: ᱛᱷᱚᱛᱱᱟ (thôtna)
Sardinian: cantelza f, canterza f, càvana f, càvanu m, mansidda f, massidda f
Scottish Gaelic: gruaidh f, pluic f
Sebop: pinga
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: о̀браз m
Roman: òbraz (sh) m
Shor: наақ (naaq)
Sinhalese: කම්‍මුල (kammula)
Slovak: tvár (sk) f, líce n
Slovene: lice (sl) n
Somali: dhaban (so)
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: lico n
Sotho: lerama
Southern Altai: јаак (ǰaak)
Spanish: mejilla (es) f, cacha (es) f, cachete (es) f, carrillo (es) m
Svan: ჰაყბა (haq̇ba)
Swahili: shavu (sw)
Swedish: kind (sv) c
Tagal Murut: pingal
Tagalog: pisngi
Tajik: гуна (tg) (guna)
Tamil: கன்னம் (ta) (kaṉṉam)
Taos: tʼàmų́na
Tarifit: agemmiz m, ameggiz m
Tatar: яңак (tt) (yañaq)
Tày: kẻm
Telugu: చెంప (te) (cempa)
Thai: แก้ม (th) (gɛ̂ɛm)
Tibetan: འགྲམ་པ ('gram pa)
Tigrinya: ጉንጪ (gunč̣i)
Timugon Murut: pingas
Turkish: yanak (tr)
Turkmen: ýaňak
Ukrainian: щока́ f (ščoká)
Urdu: گال m (gāl)
Uyghur: مەڭز (mengz)
Uzbek: yonoq (uz)
Venetan: ganasa (vec) f
Vietnamese: má (vi)
Volapük: cüg (vo)
Waray-Waray: bay-hon
Welsh: boch f, grudd f
West Coast Bajau: papa
West Frisian: wang n
White Hmong: plhu
Woiwurrung: wango
Wolof: lex (wo)
Xhosa: isidlele
Yakut: иэдэс (iedes)
Yiddish: באַק f (bak)
Yoruba: ẹ̀rẹ̀kẹ́
Zhuang: gemj
Zulu: isihlathi (zu) :

#### See also

* buccal
* genal

### Verb

cheek (third-person singular simple present cheeks, present participle cheeking, simple past and past participle cheeked)
* To be impudent towards.
    Don't cheek me, you little rascal!
** 1942, Emily Carr, “Sunday”, in The Book of Small, Toronto, Ont.: Oxford University Press, →OCLC:We did not like him much because he kissed us and was preachy when we cheeked pretty Tallie, who did not rule over us as Dede did […]
** 1948, George Orwell, Coming Up for Air:We cheeked him over the fence until he chased us off, and then we went down to the Walton Road and cheeked the carters, keeping on the other side of the hedge so.
** 2013, Louise Candlish, The Disappearance of Emily Marr:'Well, I do live next door,' I said, in no way antagonistically, and yet I immediately felt as if I had cheeked the headmistress.
* To pull a horse's head back toward the saddle using the cheek strap of the bridle.
** 1964, John Hendrix, If I Can Do It Horseback: A Cow-Country Sketchbook, page 183:Such horses might need to be "cheeked" for a while.
** 2009, Dusty Richards, The Sundown Chaser:Thurman caught the bridle headstall and cheeked the horse's head near his left knee when he swung aboard.
** 2012, J. Evetts Haley, Charles Goodnight: Cowman and Plainsman:He cheeked the horse and stepped into the saddle.
* To put or keep something in one’s cheek.
    The squirrel cheeked some nuts before heading back to it's nest.

#### Derived terms

* cheek it out
* cheek it through
* cheek up
* cheek up to

### References

* ↑ Edward H[enry] Knight (1877) “Cheek”, in Knight’s American Mechanical Dictionary. […], volumes I (A–GAS), New York, N.Y.: Hurd and Houghton […], →OCLC.

### Anagrams

* Keech, keech

## Middle English
### Noun

cheek
* Alternative form of cheke