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Yoke   /joʊk/   Listen
noun
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." 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.
(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." "This yoke of marriage from us both remove."
4.
A mark of servitude; hence, servitude; slavery; bondage; service. "Our country sinks beneath the yoke." "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
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."
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.


verb
Yoke  v. t.  (past & past part. yoked; pres. part. 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." "Cassius, you are yoked with a lamb."
3.
To enslave; to bring into bondage; to restrain; to confine. "Then were they yoked with garrisons." "The words and promises that yoke The conqueror are quickly broke."


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."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Yoke" Quotes from Famous Books



... Bhauma weapon, he created land, and by the Parvatya weapon, he brought mountains into being. By the Antardhana weapon all these were made to disappear. Now the beloved one of his preceptor (Arjuna) appeared tall and now short; now he was seen on the yoke of his car, and now on the car itself; and the next moment he was on the ground. And the hero favoured by his practised dexterity, hit with his various butts—some tender, some fine and some of thick composition. And like one shaft, he let fly at a time into the mouth ...
— The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 • Kisari Mohan Ganguli
... services receive recognition, and to know you about to enter a more promising sphere. Your new position does not, indeed, free you from all effort and exertion, but you have long since become accustomed to bear the yoke on work-days like a man, and although the yoke may not appear altogether enviable, still it is always the most ...
— Letters of Franz Liszt, Volume 2: "From Rome to the End" • Franz Liszt; letters collected by La Mara and translated
... up country comin' in with their loads of oak knees and plank, and logs o' rock-maple for keels when there was snow on the ground in winter-time, and the big sticks of timber-pine for masts would come crawling along the road with their three and four yoke of oxen all frosted up, the sleds creaking and the snow growling and the men flapping their arms to keep warm, and hallooing as if there wan't nothin' else goin' on in the world except to get them masts to the ship-yard. Bless ...
— Deephaven and Selected Stories & Sketches • Sarah Orne Jewett
... Christians believe that he was sent by the Yellow King (Melek el Aszfar, a title which they give the Emperor of Russia) to examine the country preparatory to an invasion, to deliver it from the Turkish yoke. The Turks, on the contrary, believe, that, like all strangers who enquire after inscriptions, he was in search of treasure. When questioned on this subject at Baalbec, I answered, "The treasures of this country are not beneath the earth; they ...
— Travels in Syria and the Holy Land • John Burckhardt
... told him he needn't say a word about the affair to the boys, and I wouldn't. He told me that he had killed the Mexican because he couldn't avoid it. It seemed that a very rich Mexican with a twenty-wagon train and 100 yoke of oxen had stopped near the little ranch of Service and Miller to cook their meals. He had unyoked his cattle and driven them to the creek for water and instead of returning by the route he had gone, threw down the fence and was driving his oxen through Service's ten-acre corn patch. The ...
— The Second William Penn - A true account of incidents that happened along the - old Santa Fe Trail • William H. Ryus


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