hock

noun

/hɒk/

/hɑːk/

Idioms

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[countable] the middle joint of an animal’s back legTopics Animalsc2
[uncountable, countable] (British English) a German white wine
(also knuckle)
[uncountable, countable] a piece of meat from the lower part of an animal’s leg, especially a pig
[uncountable] (informal) if something that you own is in hock, you have exchanged it for money but hope to buy it back later

Word Originnoun sense 1 and noun sense 3 late Middle English: variant of hough. noun sense 2abbreviation of obsolete hockamore, alteration of German Hochheimer (Wein) ‘(wine) from Hochheim’. noun sense 4 mid 19th cent. (in the phrase in hock): from Dutch hok ‘hutch, prison, debt’.

Idioms

be in hock (to somebody)

to owe somebody something
- I'm in hock to the bank for £6 000.

hock

verb

/hɒk/

/hɑːk/

(informal)

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they hock	/hɒk/ /hɑːk/
he / she / it hocks	/hɒks/ /hɑːks/
past simple hocked	/hɒkt/ /hɑːkt/
past participle hocked	/hɒkt/ /hɑːkt/
-ing form hocking	/ˈhɒkɪŋ/ /ˈhɑːkɪŋ/

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hock something to leave a valuable object with somebody in exchange for money that you borrow synonym pawn
Word Originverb mid 19th cent. (in the phrase in hock): from Dutch hok ‘hutch, prison, debt’.