1The part of a person's or animal's body connecting the head to the rest of the body.

1. 1.1 The part of a garment that is around or close to the neck.
   her dress had three buttons at the neck undone

   a round neck

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Tonight, Raven wore a silky red blouse with a high neck secured with gold buttons and enlaced with gold trimming.
   • I went through my wardrobe for a short denim skirt and a white halter neck.
   • He tugged at the neck of his turtleneck sweater feeling like it was a noose tightening with each attack.
   • He was wearing a navy blue button neck polo shirt, worn blue jeans with a tear on the right leg and trainers.
   • Putting the logo on the sleeve or the neck is a popular, fresh approach that especially suits camp shirts.
   • Choose wide, open or low-cut necks, which create length.
   • Our favourite V - neck woolly jumper wearing lads are back to reclaim their throne.
   • The man picked up the three turtle necks and started to ring them up.
   • There was a piece of metal about this big stuck in the neck piece of my vest.
   • Today he was wearing a cobalt button-down casual shirt with a collar neck.
   • She flicked through the dresses until a sky-blue halter neck dress caught her eye.
   • She was wearing a thick polo neck sweater, but beneath it she wore next to nothing.
   • Allison then put on her tight black Capri pants and her red turtle neck.
   • Her pride and joy was a white polo neck sweater, white trousers and knee length jerkin.
   • I pulled the neck of my gown close about me and asked: ‘You guys sure you want to be out in this?’
   • He caught hold of the neck of the offending garment and ripped it clean to the hem.
   • "Yeah, OK, as long as I can use your halter neck.
   • I'd downed three mouthfuls so far and was starting to sweat through my polo neck sweater.
   • Does she want me to dress in turtle necks and jeans all the time?
2. 1.2mass noun Meat from an animal's neck.
   neck of lamb

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Stuffed pork fillet roll is also offered, as is pork neck, and pork kebab.
   • Go for sweet-tasting neck fillets and simply sauté them in olive oil with onions, garlic and some chunky carrots.
   • She creates the tasty treat by arranging layers of onion, tomato and pork neck steak on the skewer.
   • Purists maintain that the only acceptable and traditional ingredients are neck mutton chops or kid, potatoes, onions, and water.
   • TODAY IS St Patrick's Day and one thing you can be sure of in Ireland is a good Irish stew, made with lamb neck, onions and potatoes.
   • They'd use cheap neck and leg cuts but not the most amazing lamb cutlets.
   • My cache includes a fat bouquet of coriander, some lamb neck fillets raised at Boathouse Farm near Lewes, and a pot of yellow honey from Sussex bees.
   • You need best end of neck lamb chops but don't over-trim them; leave a little fat on for flavour.
   • Add garlic, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, juniper berries, peppercorns, reserved duck necks and remaining duck or goose fat.
   • For beef, good casserole cuts are shin, brisket, neck, topside, thick flank or shoulder.
   • What next - peppered shark or ostrich neck marinated in Calvados?
   • They had no bed, breakfast was bread and water and dinner was a bowl of rice with chicken carcass or turkey neck.
   • Richard freeze-dried the head and neck and saved the meat for venison patties.
3. 1.3 A person's neck regarded as bearing a burden of responsibility or guilt.
   he'll be stuck with a loan around his neck

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Who wants a heavy burden that hangs around your neck for years like a dead raccoon?
   • That is like a millstone around his neck and one that made him a tad tetchy when the subject was inevitably raised again yesterday.
   • The Republicans clearly hope the same millstone can be hung around Kerry's neck this year.
   • With a mortgage weighing heavily around my neck, how was I to afford to do all that was necessary to give the cottage my individual stamp?
   • I try to be aware of the space I take up, of the prejudice that I carry, and the privilege that is the albatross around my neck.
   • And it's not just individuals who are trying to avoid having any albatross hung around their neck.
   • And it's real, and it's out there, and Gore just happens to have the anchor around his neck.
   • You've been nothing but a ball and chain of heartache and hurt hanging around my neck for too many Godforsaken years.
   • Financially he has been struggling for quite a while, and although he will be falling off the property ladder he will have one less millstone around his neck.
   • A country like the United States, they give them enough rope to tie the noose around their neck several times.
   • Does Kerry deserve to have the most vitriolic Democrats hung around his neck?
   • Sorry to use a cliché but it can't be a weight around our neck.
   • Hanging blame for the Northern Bank raid around the necks of the Sinn Fein leadership has clear political advantages for the taoiseach.
   • Never was the knot around his neck tighter than 15 months ago when the News of the World accused him of being a love rat and a religious bigot.
   • It was like a thousand albatrosses around England supporters' necks every five minutes.
   • The chain of parenthood just got tighter around my neck as now I actually have to pay attention more than half of the time.
   • The one albatross it would be deeply unfair to hang around his neck is the one people seem to have already slain and roped for him.
   • Milnrow Parish Church is a millstone around its parishioners necks, says the vicar, the Rev Robin Usher.
   • This is what happens when a government starts breathing down banks' necks - and maybe it's not such a bad thing.

2A narrow connecting or end part of something.

1. 2.1 The part of a bottle or other container near the mouth.
   he seized the neck of the whisky bottle

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Then he tore the cloth and soaked the torn ends in gasoline, and then stuffed them in the neck of each bottle.
   • Carlotta wrapped her slender fingers around the neck of the vase sitting next to her husband's chair.
   • She stabbed another student with a broken bottle neck.
   • Describing the incident in the caravan, he said the man had hold of a vodka bottle by the neck and he reached for the knife out of panic and fear.
   • Grasping the broken bottle by its neck, he slashed at the crazed slayer with it.
   • She said Gavin, then 17, had been seen waving a bottle by its neck.
   • If your corkscrew won't shift it, try running hot water over the neck of the bottle to expand the glass, then revert to the corkscrew.
   • The final straw came when the wine waiter let a single drop fall from the neck of the bottle on to the table.
   • She ran towards it and picked up a hefty bottle by the neck.
   • He told the court how the man stared aggressively at him before walking over holding an empty bottle by the neck.
   • My hand trembled, the neck of the bottle knocked against the rim of the glass.
   • Men tilting their pints and liquor gurgling out of the neck of the bottles in a steamy smoke-filled American pub.
   • He held the bottle by its neck, and unscrewed the cap and dropped it.
   • The necks of old port bottles, for example, usually have a slightly bulbous form.
   • I picked candle wax where it had run down the neck of the wine bottle and hardened.
   • To decant these bottles successfully all you need to do is to hold the neck of the bottle above a bright light and pour the contents slowly into a clean jug, or decanter.
   • Chase squeezed the neck of the bottle tightly, making his hands sweat and his knuckles go white.
   • Instead, she fitted a funnel attachment to the neck of the red bottle.
   • Stuffed into the neck of the bottle was a flame engulfed rag, blazing brightly.
   • One broke off the neck of the bottle in order to release the ointment.
   • She reached beside her and wrapped her fingers around the neck of a large pouch that she had to fill with water.
   • She placed her hand around the neck of the bottle and dragged it towards her.
2. 2.2 A narrow piece of land or sea, such as an isthmus or channel.
   the narrow neck of land between loch and sea

   Example sentencesExamples

   • A narrow neck of land at the southeast corner of the peninsula connects it with the adjacent upland.
   • After about twenty five minutes we passed through the narrow neck leading into Eagle bay.
   • After bouncing weighted nymphs along the bottom through the neck of a pool, a good-sized fish took, ran several yards and came off.
   • The evacuation of the people of Kyle and of Kyleakin on Skye on the other side of the narrow neck of Loch Alsh began at once.
   • After an hour's steaming they came to a channel between two narrow necks of land through which the tide rushed with the frenzy of the Severn Bore.
   • It stood at the head of the spur, and was linked to the mass of the mountains by a broad neck.
   • To divert Turkish attention, the Royal Naval Division would make a feint attack at Bulair, at the narrow neck of the peninsula.

   Synonyms

   strait, straits, sound, arm, narrows, passage, sea passage, stretch of water, waterway
3. 2.3Anatomy A narrow part near one end of an organ, such as the uterus.
   the neck of the womb, usually called the cervix

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Changes in the bone mineral density of the lumbar spine, femoral neck and total hip were similar in both groups.
   • Similar trends were found when measuring density at the femoral neck and greater trochanter.
   • However, results may be limited, because the bladder neck and median prostate lobe cannot be treated.
   • Bone density measurements at the hip and femoral neck were also significantly lower in the anorexia nervosa group.
   • The narrow neck of the uterus is called the cervix.
   • In-hospital mortality after admission for fractured neck of femur is 13 % in England.
   • Despite being large the neck of the hernia is narrow, however, only surgery can correct it.
   • For example, figure 3 depicts an orthopaedics unit reviewing its care for patients with fractured neck of femur.
   • A common example of this is the cervical smear test, which is a biopsy of the cells around a woman's cervix, the neck of the womb.
   • The bulking agent is injected periurethrally or transurethrally under the submucosa to bulk the tissues around the bladder neck.
   • Stage 1 involves stopping the heart beat of the foetus and softening the neck of the womb (cervix).
   • Density mass was determined by measuring the femoral necks and the lumbar spine.
4. 2.4 The part of a violin, guitar, or other similar instrument that bears the fingerboard.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • The Bard pulled up, hands reaching for the strings and neck of the lute.
   • A single musician played a sprightly tune on a curious stringed instrument with two necks.
   • Max placed the guitar in Milo's lap, and Milo gently curled his long fingers around the neck.
   • I could never play it though I was always hypnotized by how people could strum the cords and work the neck of the guitar.
   • A European bowed string instrument with a neck and resonator carved from a single piece of wood.
   • D.J. steepled his fingers against the neck of his guitar, and then bent them over the chords.
   • I ran my fingers down the neck of the guitar, relishing how smooth and polished it felt.
5. 2.5often volcanic neckGeology A column of solidified lava or igneous rock formed in a volcanic vent, especially when exposed by erosion.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • Devils Tower, Wyoming, is probably a volcanic neck but might also be a laccolith.
   • The ore body is brecciated and may represent the filling of a volcanic neck or pipe.
   • These four landform types are called lava flows, volcanic peaks, calderas, and volcanic necks.
   • Over here is Belougery Spire, OK, and that's an old volcanic neck.
   • Ryolite is the hard rock, which can be seen in the large volcanic neck that juts up along the river and is the bulk of the rock in the park.
   • Sometimes volcanic necks are locally referred to as a butte.
   • These volcanic necks are what remain of the volcanic ‘throat’ after surrounding sediment and pyroclastic material has been stripped away.
   • The first few of these volcanic necks are identified as rhyolite, a light colored rock.
   • A dominant landform near the Cuesta College campus is the chain of volcanic necks known as the Morros or the Seven Sisters.
   • A volcanic neck is simply the hardened magma in the ‘pipe’ or central channel of a volcano.
   • Climbers had been daunted by this 1,700-foot volcanic neck for years; at least one had died trying to reach the top.
   • Devil's Tower in Wyoming is one of several exposed volcanic necks in the area.
   • A beautiful example of a volcanic neck is Shiprock Mountain, New Mexico shown in picture 4.
   • These volcanic necks are the remnants of upwelling lava from the cores of active volcanoes in prehistoric times.
   • To the south of this valley are many more volcanic necks which have unusual shapes and color.
   • This volcanic neck is located a few miles south of Tuff Canyon on the west side of the road.
   • The volcanic necks are composed of basic rocks, basalt, basalt breccia, or andesite, showing considerable variation in mineralogy, texture, and structure within the same neck.
   • A zone of sterilized rock around the volcanic neck will be sampled at a depth of several hundred meters to determine if microorganisms are present.
   • The western range, called the Black Mountains, is a rugged terrain with numerous volcanic necks and lava flows.
   • Wingrock soils are on low fan terraces below volcanic necks and associated dikes.
6. 2.6Botany A narrow supporting part in a plant, especially the terminal part of the fruiting body in a fern, bryophyte, or fungus.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • Earlier works were focused only on formation of coated buds connected to the initial membrane by narrow membrane necks.
   • Stem growth should also be absent and the neck and base of the bulb should be firm and rot free.

3The length of a horse's head and neck as a measure of its lead in a race.

1informal no object (of two people) kiss and caress amorously.

2British informal with object Swallow (something, especially a drink)

3often neck downno object Form a narrowed part at a particular point when subjected to tension.