yoke
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /jəʊk/
enpr: yōk
ipa: /joʊk/
rhymes: -əʊk
homophone: yolk
Forms: form: yokes
Etymology: From Middle English yok, yoke, ȝok from Old English ġeoc (“yoke”), from Proto-Germanic *juką (“yoke”), from Proto-Indo-European *yugóm (“yoke”), from *yewg- (“to join; to tie together, yoke”). Doublet of yuga, jugum, yoga and possibly yogh.
Senses 3.1 (“area of arable land”) and 3.2 (“amount of work done with draught animals”) probably referred to the area of land that could generally be ploughed by yoked draught animals within a given time.
Senses: examples: text: Thy seruant in walking thy pastures aboute: / for yokes, forkes and rakes, let him loke to finde oute. / And after at leyser let this be his hier: / to trimme them and make them at home by the fier.
ref: 1557 February 13 (Gregorian calendar), Thomas Tusser, “Februarij”, in A Hundreth Good Pointes of Husbandrie, London: […] Richard Tottel, →OCLC; republished London: […] Robert Triphook, […], and William Sancho, […], 1810, →OCLC, stanza 64, page 13:
text: The Oxe hath therefore ſtretcht his yoake in vaine, / The Ploughman loſt his ſweat, and the greene corne / Hath rotted, ere his youth attainde a bearde: […]
ref: c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, A Midsommer Nights Dreame. […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Richard Bradock] for Thomas Fisher, […], published 1600, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
text: Firſt let 'em [horses] run at large; and never know / The taming Yoak, or draw the crooked Plough.
ref: 1697, Virgil, “The Third Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 103, lines 226–227:
text: A yearling bullock to thy name ſhall ſmoke, / Untam'd, unconſcious of the galling yoke, / With ample forehead, and yet tender horns / Whoſe budding honours ductile gold adorns.
ref: 1725, Homer, “Book III”, in [Alexander Pope], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume I, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC, page 127, lines 500–503:
text: Joyous, th' impatient huſbandman perceives / Relenting Nature, and his luſty ſteers / Drives from their ſtalls, to where the well-us'd plough / Lies in the furrow, looſened from the froſt. / There, unrefuſing, to the harneſs'd yoke / They lend their ſhoulder, and begin their toil, / Chear'd by the ſimple ſong and ſoaring lark.
ref: a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Spring”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, →OCLC, page 4, lines 34–40:
glosses: Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
A bar or frame by which two oxen or other draught animals are joined at their necks enabling them to pull a cart, plough, etc.; (by extension) a device attached to a single draught animal for the same purpose.
examples: text: Steam Engines. […] The valve rods are coupled by connecting-rods […] and yokes[…], to eccentrics[…].
ref: 1890 July 4, “‘Engineering’ Illustrated Patent Record”, in W[illiam] H[enry] Maw, J[ames] Dredge [Jr.], editors, compiled by W. Lloyd Wise, Engineering: An Illustrated Weekly Journal, volume L, London: Offices for advertisements and publication—35 & 36, Bedford Street, Strand, W.C., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 29, column 1:
glosses: Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
Any of various linking or supporting objects that resembles a yoke (sense 1.1); a crosspiece, a curved bar, etc.
examples: text: And whenever to rest she her buckets set down, / She jingled her yokes to and fro, / And her yokes she might jingle till morn—a rude clown, / Ere he it seem'd offered to go.
ref: 1821, John Clare, “[Poems.] The Disappointment.”, in The Village Minstrel, and Other Poems, volume I, London: […] [T. Miller] for Taylor and Hessey, […]; and E[dward] Drury, […], →OCLC, stanza 5, page 155:
text: The speaker, who had been carrying a pair of pails on a yoke, deposited them upon the edge of the pavement in front of the inn, and straightened his back to an excruciating perpendicular.
ref: 1876, Thomas Hardy, “A Street in Anglebury—A Heath Near—Inside the ‘Old Fox Inn’”, in The Hand of Ethelberta: A Comedy in Chapters […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 3:
glosses: Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
Any of various linking or supporting objects that resembles a yoke (sense 1.1); a crosspiece, a curved bar, etc.
A pole carried on the neck and shoulders of a person, used for carrying a pair of buckets, etc., one at each end of the pole; a carrying pole.
synonyms: word: pingo
word: milkmaid's yoke
word: shoulder pole
topics: aeronautics
aerospace
aviation
business
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
Any of various linking or supporting objects that resembles a yoke (sense 1.1); a crosspiece, a curved bar, etc.
Any of various devices with crosspieces used to control an aircraft; specifically, the control column.
synonyms: control wheel
topics: aeronautics
aerospace
aviation
business
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
video-games
glosses: Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
Any of various linking or supporting objects that resembles a yoke (sense 1.1); a crosspiece, a curved bar, etc.
Any of various devices with crosspieces used to control an aircraft; specifically, the control column.
A similar device used as a game controller.
synonyms: control wheel
examples: text: Nothing says you're a dedicated lifter and true athlete more than a massive yoke—that is, the muscles of the neck, traps, and rear delts.
ref: 2010 April, Sean Hyson, Jim Wendler, “Build an NFL Neck”, in Men’s Fitness, New York, N.Y.: American Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 73; reproduced as “The Big Yoke Workout”, in Men’s Journal, accessed 19 November 2021, archived from the original on 19 Nov 2021:
topics: bodybuilding
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
Any of various linking or supporting objects that resembles a yoke (sense 1.1); a crosspiece, a curved bar, etc.
Well-developed muscles of the neck and shoulders.
examples: text: The country children thereabouts wore their dresses to their shoe-tops, but this city child was dressed in what was then called the "Kate Greenaway" manner, and her red cashmere frock, gathered full from the yoke, came almost to the floor.
ref: 1913 June, Willa Sibert Cather, chapter I, in O Pioneers!, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company […], →OCLC, part I (The Wild Land), pages 11–12:
text: The dresses her mother made looked ugly, even obscene, for her breasts were well grown, and the yokes emphasized them, showing flattened bulges under the tight band of material; and the straight falling line of the skit was spoiled by her full hips.
ref: 1952, Doris Lessing, chapter 1, in Martha Quest, London: HarperCollinsPublishers, published 1993, →ISBN, part 1, page 28:
topics: business
clothing
fashion
lifestyle
manufacturing
textiles
glosses: Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
Any of various linking or supporting objects that resembles a yoke (sense 1.1); a crosspiece, a curved bar, etc.
The part of an item of clothing which fits around the shoulders or the hips from which the rest of the garment hangs, and which is often distinguished by having a double thickness of material, or decorative flourishes.
topics: business
electrical
electrical-engineering
electricity
electromagnetism
energy
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
physics
glosses: Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
Any of various linking or supporting objects that resembles a yoke (sense 1.1); a crosspiece, a curved bar, etc.
Originally, a metal piece connecting the poles of a magnet or electromagnet; later, a part of magnetic circuit (such as in a generator or motor) not surrounded by windings (“wires wound around the cores of electrical transformers”).
topics: business
electrical-engineering
electricity
electromagnetism
electronics
energy
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
physics
glosses: Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
Any of various linking or supporting objects that resembles a yoke (sense 1.1); a crosspiece, a curved bar, etc.
The electromagnetic coil that deflects the electron beam in a cathode ray tube.
topics: arts
crafts
glassblowing
hobbies
lifestyle
glosses: Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
Any of various linking or supporting objects that resembles a yoke (sense 1.1); a crosspiece, a curved bar, etc.
A Y-shaped stand used to support a blowpipe or punty while reheating in the glory hole.
examples: text: A light whale-boat, handsomely painted, and fitted out with stern seats, yoke, tiller-ropes, &c. hung on the starboard quarter, and was used as the gig. […] The bow-man had charge of the boat-hook and painter, and the coxswain of the rudder, yoke, and stern-sheets.
ref: 1840, R[ichard] H[enry] D[ana], Jr., chapter XXIII, in Two Years before the Mast. […] (Harper’s Family Library; no. CVI), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers […], →OCLC, page 237:
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
Any of various linking or supporting objects that resembles a yoke (sense 1.1); a crosspiece, a curved bar, etc.
A fitting placed across the head of the rudder with a line attached at each end by which a boat may be steered; in modern use it is primarily found in sailing canoes and kayaks.
glosses: Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
Any of various linking or supporting objects that resembles a yoke (sense 1.1); a crosspiece, a curved bar, etc.
A frame or convex crosspiece from which a bell is hung.
glosses: Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
A collar placed on the neck of a conquered person or prisoner to restrain movement.
examples: text: Strong yoke for a hog, with a twicher and rings, / with tar in a tarpot, for dangerous things: […]
ref: 1878, Thomas Tusser, “A Digression to Husbandlie Furniture”, in Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie. […], London: Published for the English Dialect Society by Trübner & Co., […], →OCLC; republished as W[illiam] Payne, Sidney J[ohn Hervon] Herrtage, editors, Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie. […], London: Published for the English Dialect Society by Trübner & Co., […], 1878, →OCLC, stanza 17, page 38:
text: Each hog had a wooden triangular yoke about its neck, by which it was hindered from penetrating through the holes in the encloſures; and for this reaſon, the encloſures are made very ſlender, and eaſy to put up, and do not require much wood.
ref: 1770, Peter Kalm [i.e., Pehr Kalm], translated by John Reinhold Forster, Travels into North America; […], volume I, Warrington, Cheshire: […] William Eyres, →OCLC, pages 164–165:
topics: agriculture
business
lifestyle
glosses: Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
A frame placed on the neck of an animal such as a cow, pig, or goose to prevent passage through a fence or other barrier.
examples: text: [H]is will and pleaſure was they ſhould paſſe all under the yoke or gallows: the maner wherof is this. They took three ſpears or javelins, and ſet two of them pitched in the ground endlong, and their overthwart faſtned unto the other. Under this kind of gallows the Dictator compelled the Æquians to go.
ref: 1659, T[itus] Livius [i.e., Livy], “[Book III]”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Romane Historie […], London: […] W. Hunt, for George Sawbridge, […], →OCLC, page 89:
text: [T]he Æqui being attacked on both ſides and unable to reſiſt or fly, begged a ceſſation of arms. They offered the dictator his own terms; he gave them their lives, but obliged them, in token of ſervitude, to paſs under the yoke, which was two ſpears ſet upright, and another acroſs, in the form of a door, beneath which the vanquiſhed were to march.
ref: 1769, [Oliver] Goldsmith, “From the Creation of the Tribunes to the Appointment of the Decemviri”, in The Roman History, from the Foundation of the City of Rome, to the Destruction of the Western Empire. […], volume I, London: […] S. Baker and G. Leigh, […]; T[homas] Davies, […]; and L. Davis, […], →OCLC, page 127:
glosses: Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
Chiefly in pass under the yoke: a raised yoke (sense 1.1), or a symbolic yoke formed from two spears installed upright in the ground with another spear connecting their tops, under which a defeated army was made to march as a sign of subjugation.
examples: text: I have bought fyve yooke of oxẽ [oxen]⸝ ãd I must goo to prove thẽ⸝ I praye the have me excuſed.
ref: 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, The Gospell off S. Luke xiiij:[19], folio cj, recto:
text: One yoke of cattle became so foot sore that they were unserviceable, and we were obliged to drive them behind the wagon.
ref: 1861, E. J. Guerin, Mountain Charley, page 31:
glosses: Senses relating to a pair of harnessed draught animals.
A pair of draught animals, especially oxen, yoked together to pull something.
examples: text: [T]heſe that accuſe him in his intent towards our wiues, are a yoake of his diſcarded men: very rogues, now they be out of ſeruice.
ref: c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 44, column 2:
text: [T]hese whales, influenced by some views to safety, now swim the seas in immense caravans, so that to a large degree the scattered solitaries, yokes, and pods, and schools of other days are now aggregated into vast but widely separated, unfrequent armies.
ref: 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “Does the Whale’s Magnitude Diminish?—Will He Perish?”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 513:
glosses: Senses relating to a pair of harnessed draught animals.
A pair of things linked in some way.
examples: text: […] I missed the train home and I couldn't get any kind of a yoke to give me a lift for, as luck would have it, there was a mass meeting that same day over in Castletownroche and all the cars in the country were there.
ref: 1916 December 29, James Joyce, chapter V, in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, New York, N.Y.: B[enjamin] W. Huebsch, →OCLC, page 212:
glosses: Senses relating to a pair of harnessed draught animals.
A carriage, a horse and cart; (by extension, generally) a car or other vehicle.
examples: text: These three yokes [AK-47s] we're throwin' them up to them [CIRA]^([sic]) either way…
ref: 2023 August 5, Paul Williams, quoting Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch, “What Hutch and Downhall said on their drive north”, in Irish Independent, page 12:
glosses: Senses relating to a pair of harnessed draught animals.
A miscellaneous object; a gadget.
synonyms: yokibus
glosses: Senses relating to a pair of harnessed draught animals.
A chap, a fellow.
glosses: Senses relating to a pair of harnessed draught animals.
A pill of a psychoactive drug.
examples: text: Of this ſuling Ralph de Curbeſpine holds one yoke and an half, which is and was worth ſeparately ten ſhillings. Adelold had half a ſuling and half a yoke, and in the time of K. Edward the Confeſſor it was worth 40 ſhillings, and afterwards 20 ſhillings, now 40 ſhillings.
ref: 1790, Edward Hasted, “The Hundred of Calehill”, in The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent. […], volume III, Canterbury, Kent: […] [F]or the author, by Simmons and Kirkby, →OCLC, page 207, column 2:
glosses: Senses relating to quantities, and other extended uses.
An area of arable land, specifically one consisting of a quarter of a suling, or around 50–60 acres (20–24 hectares); hence, a small manor or piece of land.
examples: text: to work two yokes
literal_meaning: to work both morning and afternoon
glosses: Senses relating to quantities, and other extended uses.
An amount of work done with draught animals, lasting about half a day; (by extension) an amount or shift of any work.
examples: text: [I]n companions / That do conuerſe and waſte the time together, / Whoſe ſoules do beare an equall yoke of loue, / There muſt be needs a like proportion / Of lineaments, of manners, and of ſpirit […]
ref: c. 1596–1598 (date written), W[illiam] Shakespeare, The Excellent History of the Merchant of Venice. […] (First Quarto), [London]: […] J[ames] Roberts [for Thomas Heyes], published 1600, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
text: Such were his Looks, ſo gracefully he ſpoke, / That were I not reſolv'd againſt the Yoke / Of hapleſs Marriage; […] / To this one Error I might yield again: […]
ref: 1697, Virgil, “The Fourth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 297, lines 21–23 and 25:
text: And, if thou needs must bear the yoke, I wish it / Gentle as freedom […]
ref: 1847, Alfred Tennyson, “Part VI”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 130:
text: First of all, gentlemen, I have been observing you both for the last two days, and if you will not think me impertinent I will say that I like you, and think that we shall come up well to the yoke together.
ref: 1885 September, H[enry] Rider Haggard, “Umbopa Enters Our Service”, in King Solomon’s Mines, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, […], published 1887, →OCLC, page 38:
glosses: Senses relating to quantities, and other extended uses.
A bond of love, especially marriage; also, a bond of friendship or partnership; an obligation or task borne by two or more people.
examples: text: Their mothers bed-chamber ſhould not be ſafe, / For theſe baſe bond-men to the yoake of Rome.
ref: c. 1588–1593 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The Most Lamentable Romaine Tragedie of Titus Andronicus: […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, and are to be sold by Edward White & Thomas Millington, […], published 1594, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], signature G, verso:
text: Whereupon our enemies, kindled with rage, and pricked forward with an ignominious indignity, leſt they ſhould be brought under the yoke of a womans government, with a strong power of choiſe youth, by force of armes invaded her kingdome, which was foreſeen by us: […]
ref: 1610, William Camden, “Romans in Britaine”, in Philémon Holland, transl., Britain, or A Chorographicall Description of the Most Flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland, […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press for] Georgii Bishop & Ioannis Norton, →OCLC, page 48:
text: O ſhameleſſe boldneſſe! which can in defence / Of meek Religion, put on Barbarouſnes, / And make the Bond of Sweetnes a pretence / To break all other yoakes; […]
ref: 1648, Joseph Beaumont, “Canto XI. The Traytor. Stanza 28.”, in Psyche: Or Loves Mysterie, […], London: […] John Dawson for George Boddington, […], →OCLC, page 186, column 2:
text: For Kings to com, never forgetting thir former Ejection, will be ſure to fortify and arm themſelves ſufficiently for the future againſt all ſuch Attempts hereafter from the People: who ſhall be then ſo narrowly watch'd and kept ſo low, that […] they never ſhall be able to regain what they now have purchas'd and may enjoy, or to free themſelves from any Yoke impos'd upon them: […]
ref: 1660 February, John Milton, The Ready and Easy Way to Establish a Free Commonwealth, and the Excellence thereof, Compar’d with the Inconveniencies and Dangers of Readmitting Kingship in this Nation; republished in A Complete Collection of the Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous Works of John Milton, […], volume II, Amsterdam [actually London: s.n.], 1698, →OCLC, page 792:
text: [I]t frequently happens that a very poor judge, merely by force of a greater complexional ſenſibility, is more affected by a very poor piece, than the beſt judge by the moſt perfect; […] the judgment is for the greater part employed in throwing ſtumbling blocks in the way of the imagination, in diſſipating the ſcenes of its enchantment, and in tying us down to the diſagreeable yoke of our reaſon: […]
ref: 1757 (date written), [Edmund Burke], “Introduction. On Taste.”, in A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful, 2nd edition, London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley, […], published 1759, →OCLC, part, pages 34–35:
text: If any state forms a great regular army, the bordering states must imitate the example, or must submit to a foreign yoke.
ref: 1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter I, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume I, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 42:
text: If the users don't control the program, the program controls the users. With proprietary software, there is always some entity, the “owner” of the program, that controls the program—and through it, exercises power over its users. A nonfree program is a yoke, an instrument of unjust power.
ref: 2013, Richard Stallman, Free Software Is Even More Important Now:
glosses: Senses relating to quantities, and other extended uses.
Something which oppresses or restrains a person; a burden.
Derived terms: milkmaid's yoke
Mongol Yoke
neck yoke
pass under the yoke
pig yoke
under the yoke
yoke-devil
yoke elm
yoke-footed
yoke lute
yoke-pin
yoke-toed