cheek

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The soft part of the face below each eye and beside the nose and mouth.

   Tears ran down her cheeks as she said goodbye.

2. 2
   noun

   Rude or disrespectful boldness.

   You've got some cheek, asking me for money after what you did!

3. 3
   verb

   To speak rudely or disrespectfully to someone.

   Don't cheek your teacher like that!

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Cheek is an Old English word that originally denoted both the cheek and the jaw. It developed the figurative sense “rude or disrespectful behaviour” in the early 19th century, and cheeky followed in the mid-19th century.

From Middle English cheeke, cheke, cheoke, choke, from Old English ċēce, ċēace, ċēoce (“cheek; jaw”), from Proto-West Germanic *kākā, *keukā (“jaw, cheek”), from Proto-Germanic *kēkǭ, *keukǭ (“jaw; palate; pharynx”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ǵyewh₁- (“to chew”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Sooke (“cheek”), West Frisian tsjeak (“jaw”), Dutch kaak (“jaw; cheek”), Swedish käke (“jaw; jowl”), Norwegian kjake (“jaw”), Old Norse kók (“mouth; gullet”).

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary