yoke

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   stable gear that joins two draft animals at the neck so they can work together as a team

   The oxen were used to pulling the plow with the yoke.

2. 2
   noun

   fabric comprising a fitted part at the top of a garment

   The tailor had to patch the yoke of my shirt.

3. 3
   noun

   a connection, like a clamp or vise, between two things so they move together

   The yoke between the parts was firm after the glue dried.

4. 4
   noun

   support consisting of a wooden frame across the shoulders that enables a person to carry buckets hanging from each end

   The farmer carried buckets of water with a yoke back to the house.

From Middle English yok, yoke, ȝok from Old English ġeoc (“yoke”), from Proto-Germanic *juką (“yoke”), from Proto-Indo-European *yugóm (“yoke”), from *yewg- (“to join; to tie together, yoke”). Doublet of yuga, jugum, yoga and possibly yogh. Senses 3.1 (“area of arable land”) and 3.2 (“amount of work done with draught animals”) probably referred to the area of land that could generally be ploughed by yoked draught animals within a given time.

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