Yoke

7 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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}.]


     [1913 Webster]
     1. A bar or frame of wood by which two oxen are joined at the
        heads or necks for working together.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              A yearling bullock to thy name shall smoke,
              Untamed, unconscious of the galling yoke. --Pope.
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     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.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Fig.: That which connects or binds; a chain; a link; a
        bond connection.
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              Boweth your neck under that blissful yoke . . .
              Which that men clepeth spousal or wedlock.
                                                    --Chaucer.
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              This yoke of marriage from us both remove. --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. A mark of servitude; hence, servitude; slavery; bondage;
        service.
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              Our country sinks beneath the yoke.   --Shak.
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              My yoke is easy, and my burden is light. --Matt. xi.
                                                    30.
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     5. Two animals yoked together; a couple; a pair that work
        together.
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              I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove
              them.                                 --Luke xiv.
                                                    19.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     6. The quantity of land plowed in a day by a yoke of oxen.
        [Obs.] --Gardner.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     8. (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.
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     {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.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Yoke \Yoke\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Yoked}; p. pr. & vb. n.
     {Yoking}.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. To put a yoke on; to join in or with a yoke; as, to yoke
        oxen, or pair of oxen.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To couple; to join with another. "Be ye not unequally
        yoked with unbelievers." --2 Cor. vi. 14.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Cassius, you are yoked with a lamb.   --Shak.
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     3. To enslave; to bring into bondage; to restrain; to
        confine.
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              Then were they yoked with garrisons.  --Milton.
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              The words and promises that yoke
              The conqueror are quickly broke.      --Hudibras.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Yoke \Yoke\, v. i.
     To be joined or associated; to be intimately connected; to
     consort closely; to mate.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           We 'll yoke together, like a double shadow. --Shak.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  yoke
       n 1: fabric comprising a fitted part at the top of a garment
       2: an oppresssive power; "under the yoke of a tyrant"; "they
          threw off the yoke of domination"
       3: two items of the same kind [syn: {couple}, {pair}, {twosome},
           {twain}, {brace}, {span}, {couplet}, {distich}, {duo}, {duet},
           {dyad}, {duad}]
       4: a pair of draft animals joined by a yoke; "pulled by a yoke
          of oxen"
       5: support consisting of a wooden frame across the shoulders
          that enables a person to carry buckets hanging from each
          end
       6: a connection (like a clamp or vise) between two things so
          they move together [syn: {coupling}]
       7: stable gear that joins two draft animals at the neck so they
          can work together as a team
       v 1: become joined or linked together
       2: link with or as with a yoke; "yoke the oxen together" [syn:
          {link}]
       3: put a yoke on or join with a yoke; "Yoke the draft horses
          together" [ant: {unyoke}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  193 Moby Thesaurus words for "yoke":
     Oregon boat, accouple, accumulate, agglutinate, amass, articulate,
     assemble, associate, back band, backstrap, band, bearing rein, bed,
     bed down, bellyband, bilbo, bit, blinders, blinds, bond, bonds,
     both, brace, bracket, break, breeching, bridge, bridge over,
     bridle, brush, camisole, caparison, cavesson, cement, chain,
     chains, checkrein, cheekpiece, chinband, cinch, clap together,
     collar, collect, combine, comprise, concatenate, conglobulate,
     conjoin, conjugate, connect, copulate, couple, couple up, couplet,
     cover, crownband, crupper, cuffs, curb, curry, currycomb, distich,
     double harness, double-harness, double-team, doublet, drench, duad,
     duet, duo, dyad, embrace, encompass, enslavement, feed, fetter,
     fodder, gag, gag swivel, gather, gentle, girth, glue, groom, gyves,
     hackamore, halter, hames, hametugs, hamper, handcuffs, handle,
     harness, headgear, headstall, helotry, hip straps, hitch, hitch up,
     hobbles, hook up, hopples, include, irons, jaquima, jerk line,
     join, knot, lay together, leading strings, league, leash, ligament,
     ligature, lines, link, litter, lump together, manacle, manage,
     marry, marshal, martingale, mass, match, mate, mates, merge, milk,
     mobilize, muzzle, nexus, noseband, pair, pair off, peonage,
     piece together, pillory, pole strap, put together, reins,
     restraint, restraints, ribbons, roll into one, rub down, saddle,
     serfdom, servility, servitude, set of two, shackle, shaft tug,
     side check, slavery, snaffle, solder, span, splice, stick together,
     stocks, straightjacket, strait-waistcoat, straitjacket,
     stranglehold, surcingle, tack, tackle, take in, tame, tape, team,
     team up, tend, tether, the two, thralldom, tie, train, trammel,
     trammels, trappings, tug, twain, two, twosome, unify, unite,
     vinculum, water, wed, weld, winker braces
  
  

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  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."
     

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  YOKE, n.  An implement, madam, to whose Latin name, _jugum_, we owe
  one of the most illuminating words in our language -- a word that
  defines the matrimonial situation with precision, point and poignancy. 
  A thousand apologies for withholding it.