• Neck

    Pronunciation

    • IPA: /nÉ›k/
    • Rhymes: -É›k

    Origin

    From Middle English nekke, nakke, from Old English hnecca, *hnæcca ("neck, nape"), from Proto-Germanic *hnakkô ("nape, neck"), from Proto-Indo-European *knog-, *kneg- ("back of the head, nape, neck"). Cognate with Scots nek ("neck"), North Frisian neek, neeke, Nak ("neck"), Saterland Frisian Näcke ("neck"), West Frisian nekke ("neck"), Dutch nek ("neck"), Low German Nakke ("neck"), German Nacken ("nape of the neck"), Danish nakke ("neck"), Swedish nacke ("neck"), Icelandic hnakki ("neck"), Tocharian A kñuk ("neck, nape"). Possibly a mutated variant of *kneug/k (cf. Old English hnocc 'hook, penis', Welsh cnwch 'joint, knob', Latvian knaūķis 'dwarf', Ancient Greek knychóō 'to draw together'). More at nook.

    Full definition of neck

    Noun

    neck

    (plural necks)
    1. The part of body connecting the head and the trunk found in humans and some animals.
    2. The corresponding part in some other anatomical contexts.
    3. The part of a shirt, dress etc., which fits a person's neck.
    4. The tapered part of a bottle toward the opening.
    5. (botany) The slender tubelike extension atop an archegonium, through which the sperm swim to reach the egg.
      • Schuster Hepaticae V|5Archegonia are surrounded early in their development by the juvenile perianth, through the slender beak of which the elongated neck of the fertilized archegonium protrudes.
    6. (music) The extension of any stringed instrument on which a fingerboard is mounted
    7. A long narrow tract of land projecting from the main body, or a narrow tract connecting two larger tracts.
    8. (engineering) A reduction in size near the end of an object, formed by a groove around it.a neck forming the journal of a shaft
    9. The constriction between the root and crown of a tooth.
    10. (architecture) The gorgerin of a capital.

    Derived terms

    Verb

    1. To hang by the neck; strangle; kill, eliminate
    2. (US) To make love; to snog; to intently kiss or cuddle.''Alan and Betty were necking in the back of a car when Betty's dad caught them.
    3. To drink rapidly.
      • 2006, Sarah Johnstone, Tom Masters, LondonIn the dim light, punters sit sipping raspberry-flavoured Tokyo martinis, losing the freestyle sushi off their chopsticks or necking Asahi beer.
    4. To decrease in diameter.
      • 2007, John H. Bickford, Introduction to the Design and Behavior of Bolted Joints, page 272Since this temperature would place the bolt in its creep range, it will slowly stretch, necking down as it does so. Eventually it will get too thin to support the weight, and the bolt will break.

    Derived terms

    Synonyms

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