Neck n.
 1. The part of an animal which connects the head and the trunk, and which, in man and many other animals, is more slender than the trunk.
 2. Any part of an inanimate object corresponding to or resembling the neck of an animal; as: (a) The long slender part of a vessel, as a retort, or of a fruit, as a gourd. (b) A long narrow tract of land projecting from the main body, or a narrow tract connecting two larger tracts. (c) Mus. That part of a violin, guitar, or similar instrument, which extends from the head to the body, and on which is the finger board or fret board.
 3. Mech. A reduction in size near the end of an object, formed by a groove around it; as, a neck forming the journal of a shaft.
 4. Bot. the point where the base of the stem of a plant arises from the root.
 Neck and crop, completely; wholly; altogether; roughly and at once. [Colloq.]
 Neck and neck Racing, so nearly equal that one cannot be said to be before the other; very close; even; side by side.
 Neck of a capital. Arch. See Gorgerin.
 Neck of a cascabel Gun., the part joining the knob to the base of the breech.
 Neck of a gun, the small part of the piece between the chase and the swell of the muzzle.
 Neck of a tooth Anat., the constriction between the root and the crown.
 Neck or nothing (Fig.), at all risks.
 Neck verse. (a) The verse formerly read to entitle a party to the benefit of clergy, said to be the first verse of the fifty-first Psalm, “Miserere mei,” etc. --Sir W. Scott. (b) Hence, a verse or saying, the utterance of which decides one's fate; a shibboleth.
    These words, =\“bread and cheese,” were their neck verse or shibboleth to distinguish them; all pronouncing “broad and cause,” being presently put to death.\=   --Fuller.
 Neck yoke. (a) A bar by which the end of the tongue of a wagon or carriage is suspended from the collars of the harnesses. (b) A device with projecting arms for carrying things (as buckets of water or sap) suspended from one's shoulders.
 On the neck of, immediately after; following closely; on the heel of. “Committing one sin on the neck of another.” --W. Perkins.
 Stiff neck, obstinacy in evil or wrong; inflexible obstinacy; contumacy. “I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck.” --Deut. xxxi. 27.
 To break the neck of, to destroy the main force of; to break the back of. “What they presume to borrow from her sage and virtuous rules . . . breaks the neck of their own cause.” --Milton.
 To harden the neck, to grow obstinate; to be more and more perverse and rebellious. --Neh. ix. 17.
 To tread on the neck of, to oppress; to tyrannize over.
 Yoke n.
 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.]
 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.]
 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.
 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.