Adjacent Words

Neck definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

NECK, n. [G. This word is properly the nape or vertebrae of the neck behind, and is so rendered in other languages, L. that is a knob or mass.]
1. The part of an animals body which is between the head and the trunk, and connects them. In man and many other animals, this part is more slender than the trunk; hence,
2. A long narrow tract of land projecting from the main body, or a narrow tract connecting two larger tracts; as the neck of land between Boston and Roxbury.
3. The long slender part of a vessel,, as a retort; or of a plant, as a gourd; or of any instrument, as a guitar.
A stiff neck, in Scripture, denotes obstinacy in sin.
On the neck , immediately after; following closely.
First by committing one sin on the neck of another.
[This phrase is not much used. We more frequently say, on the heels.]
To break the neck of an affair, to hinder, or to do the principal thing to prevent.
To harden the neck, to grow obstinate; to be more and more perverse and rebellious. Nehemiah 9.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the part of an organism (human or animal) that connects the head to the rest of the body; "he admired her long graceful neck"; "the horse won by a neck" [syn: neck, cervix]
2: a narrow elongated projecting strip of land
3: a cut of meat from the neck of an animal
4: a narrow part of an artifact that resembles a neck in position or form; "the banjo had a long neck"; "the bottle had a wide neck"
5: an opening in a garment for the neck of the wearer; a part of the garment near the wearer's neck [syn: neck, neck opening] v
1: kiss, embrace, or fondle with sexual passion; "The couple were necking in the back seat of the car" [syn: neck, make out]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English nekke, from Old English hnecca; akin to Old High German hnac nape Date: before 12th century 1. a. (1) the part of an animal that connects the head with the body (2) the siphon of a bivalve mollusk (as a clam) b. the part of a garment that covers or is next to the neck 2. a relatively narrow part suggestive of a neck: as a. (1) the constricted end of a bottle (2) the slender proximal end of a fruit b. cervix 2 c. the part of a stringed musical instrument extending from the body and supporting the fingerboard and strings d. a narrow stretch of land e. strait 1b f. the part of a tooth between the crown and the root — see tooth illustration g. a column of solidified magma of a volcanic pipe or laccolith 3. a narrow margin <won by a neck> 4. region, part <my neck of the woods> II. verb Date: 1842 transitive verb 1. to kiss and caress amorously 2. to reduce in diameter intransitive verb 1. to engage in amorous kissing and caressing 2. to become constricted ; narrow

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a the part of the body connecting the head to the shoulders. b the part of a shirt, dress, etc. round or close to the neck. 2 a something resembling a neck, such as the narrow part of a cavity or vessel, a passage, channel, pass, isthmus, etc. b the narrow part of a bottle near the mouth. 3 the part of a violin etc. bearing the finger-board. 4 the length of a horse's head and neck as a measure of its lead in a race. 5 the flesh of an animal's neck (neck of lamb). 6 Geol. solidified lava or igneous rock in an old volcano crater or pipe. 7 Archit. the lower part of a capital. 8 sl. impudence (you've got a neck, asking that). --v. 1 intr. & tr. colloq. kiss and caress amorously. 2 a tr. form a narrowed part in. b intr. form a narrowed part. Phrases and idioms: get it in the neck colloq. 1 receive a severe reprimand or punishment. 2 suffer a fatal or severe blow. neck and neck running level in a race etc. neck of the woods colloq. a usu. remote locality. neck or nothing risking everything on success. up to one's neck (often foll. by in) colloq. very deeply involved; very busy. Derivatives: necked adj. (also in comb.). necker n. (in sense 1 of v.). neckless adj. Etymology: OE hnecca ult. f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Neck Neck, n. [OE. necke, AS. hnecca; akin to D. nek the nape of the neck, G. nacken, OHG. nacch, hnacch, Icel. hnakki, Sw. nacke, Dan. nakke.] 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. ``Commiting 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. ``What they presume to borrow from her sage and virtuous rules . . . breaks the neck of their own cause.'' --Milton.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Neck Neck, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Necked; p. pr. & vb. n. Necking.] (Mech.) To reduce the diameter of (an object) near its end, by making a groove around it; -- used with down; as, to neck down a shaft.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(necks, necking, necked) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. Your neck is the part of your body which joins your head to the rest of your body. She threw her arms round his neck and hugged him warmly... He was short and stocky, and had a thick neck. N-COUNT: usu poss N 2. The neck of an article of clothing such as a shirt, dress, or sweater is the part which surrounds your neck. ...the low, ruffled neck of her blouse... He wore a blue shirt open at the neck. N-COUNT: usu sing 3. The neck of something such as a bottle or a guitar is the long narrow part at one end of it. Catherine gripped the broken neck of the bottle. N-COUNT: usu the N of n 4. If two people are necking, they are kissing each other in a sexual way. (INFORMAL) They sat talking and necking in the car for another ten minutes... I found myself behind a curtain, necking with my best friend's wife. = snog V-RECIP: usu cont, pl-n V, V with n, also V n (non-recip) 5. If you say that someone is breathing down your neck, you mean that they are watching you very closely and checking everything you do. Most farmers have bank managers breathing down their necks. PHRASE: V and N inflect 6. In a competition, especially an election, if two or more competitors are neck and neck, they are level with each other and have an equal chance of winning. The latest polls indicate that the two main parties are neck and neck... The party is running neck-and-neck with Labour. PHRASE: usu v-link PHR, oft PHR with n 7. If you say that someone is risking their neck, you mean they are doing something very dangerous, often in order to achieve something. I won't have him risking his neck on that motorcycle. PHRASE: V and N inflect 8. If you stick your neck out, you bravely say or do something that might be criticized or might turn out to be wrong. (INFORMAL) During my political life I've earned myself a reputation as someone who'll stick his neck out, a bit of a rebel. PHRASE: V and N inflect 9. If you say that someone is in some sort of trouble or criminal activity up to their neck, you mean that they are deeply involved in it. (INFORMAL) He is probably up to his neck in debt. PHRASE: N inflects 10. Someone or something that is from your neck of the woods is from the same part of the country as you are. (INFORMAL) It's so good to see you. What brings you to this neck of the woods? PHRASE: usu in PHR 11. to have a millstone round your neck: see millstone the scruff of your neck: see scruff

Easton's Bible Dictionary

used sometimes figuratively. To "lay down the neck" (Rom. 16:4) is to hazard one's life. Threatenings of coming judgments are represented by the prophets by their laying bands upon the people's necks (Deut. 28:48; Isa. 10:27; Jer. 27:2). Conquerors put their feet on the necks of their enemies as a sign of their subjection (Josh. 10:24; 2 Sam. 22:41).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

nek (tsawwar, tsawwa'r, tsawwaron, tsawwa'rah, Aramaic tsawwar (Da 5:7,16,29), `oreph, miphreqeth (1Sa 4:18); nostos, "back" (Baruch 2:33); occasionally the words garon (Isa 3:16; Eze 16:11), and gargeroth, plural of gargarah, literally, "throat" (Pr 1:9; 3:3,12; 6:21), are translated "neck"): The neck is compared with a tower for beauty (So 4:4; 7:4) and is decorated with necklaces and chains (Pr 1:9; 3:3,12; 6:21, Hebrew gargeroth; Eze 16:11, Hebrew garon, "throat"; Da 5:7,16,29, Hebrew tsawwar). It is also the part of the body where the yoke, emblem of labor and hardship, dependence and subjection, is borne (De 28:48; Jer 27:8,11,12; 28:14; Ac 15:10). "To shake off the yoke," "to break the yoke," or "to take it off" is expressive of the regaining of independence and liberty, either by one's own endeavors or through help from outside (Ge 27:40; Isa 10:27; Jer 28:11; 30:8). Certain animals which were not allowed as food (like the firstborn which were not redeemed) were to be killed by having their necks (`oreph) broken (Ex 13:13; 34:20); the turtle-doves and young pigeons, which were sacrificed as sin offerings or as burnt offerings, had their heads wrung or pinched off from their necks (Le 5:8). In 1Sa 4:18 the Hebrew word miphreqeth signifies a fracture of the upper part of the spinal column caused by a fall.

It was a military custom of antiquity for the conqueror to place his foot upon the vanquished. This custom, frequently represented in sculpture on many an Egyptian temple wall, is referred to in Jos 10:24; Baruch 4:25 and probably in Ro 16:20 and Ps 110:1. Paul praises the devotion of Aquila and Priscilla, "who for my life laid down their own necks" (Ro 16:4).

See FOOTSTOOL.

To "fall on the neck" of a person is a very usual mode of salutation in the East (Ge 33:4; 45:14; 46:29; /RAPC Tob 11:9,13; Lu 15:20; Ac 20:37). In moments of great emotion such salutation is apt to end in weeping on each other's neck.

Readiness for work is expressed by "putting one's neck to the work" (Ne 3:5). Severe punishment and calamity are said to "reach to the neck" (Isa 8:8; 30:28).

The Lord Jesus speaks of certain persons for whom it were better to have had a millstone put around the neck and to have been drowned in the sea. The meaning is that even the most disgraceful death is still preferable to a life of evil influence upon even the little ones of God's household (Mt 18:6; Mr 9:42; Lu 17:2).

To "make the neck stiff," to "harden the neck" indicates obstinacy often mingled with rebellion (Ex 32:9; 33:3,5; 34:9; 2Ch 30:8; 36:13; Ne 9:16,17,29; Ps 75:5 (the Revised Version margin "insolently with a haughty neck"); Pr 29:1; Jer 7:26). Compare sklerotracholes, "stiffnecked" (Ac 7:51). Similarly Isaiah (48:4) speaks of the neck of the obstinate sinner as resembling an iron sinew.

H. L. E. Luering

Foolish Dictionary

A close connection between chin and chest, used for the display of linen, silk, furs, jewelry and skin, fitted with gullet, windpipe, hunger and thirst, and devoted to the rubber industry.

Moby Thesaurus

abbreviation, advocate, alpenstock, and quarter, ankle, arm, articulation, astriction, astringency, athletic supporter, back, backbone, backing, bandeau, bearer, bill and coo, bottleneck, boundary, bra, brace, bracer, bracket, brassiere, breast, butt, buttress, canal, cane, carrier, cervix, channel, chicken foot, circumscription, clinch, closure, coarctation, compactedness, compaction, compression, compressure, concentration, condensation, connecting link, connecting rod, connection, consolidation, constriction, constringency, contraction, contracture, copulate, corset, coupling, crook, crutch, curtailment, dally, dark meat, decapitate, decollate, decrease, defile, diminuendo, dovetail, draw, drumstick, elbow, embrace, foundation garment, fulcrum, gibbet, giblets, girdle, gliding joint, guillotine, guy, guywire, hang, head, hinge, hinged joint, hip, hourglass, hourglass figure, interface, isthmus, jock, jockstrap, join, joining, joint, juncture, knee, knitting, knuckle, leg, link, lollygag, lynch, mainstay, maintainer, make love, make out, mast, miter, mortise, narrow, narrow place, narrowing, narrows, noose, oyster, pass, pet, pivot, pivot joint, prop, puckering, pursing, rabbet, reduction, reinforce, reinforcement, reinforcer, rest, resting place, rigging, scarf, scrag, seam, shortening, shoulder, shroud, smooch, solidification, spine, spoon, sprit, staff, standing rigging, stave, stay, stick, stiffener, stitch, strait, stranglement, strangulation, strengthener, stretch, striction, stricture, string up, support, supporter, sustainer, suture, sweet-talk, symphysis, systole, thigh, throat, tie rod, toggle, toggle joint, toy, trifle, turkey foot, union, upholder, walking stick, wanton, wasp waist, weld, whisper sweet nothings, white meat, wing, wishbone, wrinkling, wrist