yoke

noun

/jəʊk/

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[countable] a long piece of wood that is fastened across the necks of two animals, especially oxen, so that they can pull heavy loads
[singular] (literary or formal) rough treatment or something that limits your freedom and makes your life very difficult to bear
- the yoke of imperialism
- Young people often chafe under the yoke of parental control.
[countable] a piece of wood that is shaped to fit across a person’s shoulders so that they can carry two equal loads
[countable] a part of a dress, skirt, etc. that fits around the shoulders or hips and from which the rest of the cloth hangs

Word OriginOld English geoc (noun), geocian (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch juk, German Joch, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin jugum and Greek zugon, also by Latin jungere ‘to join’.

yoke

verb

/jəʊk/

[usually passive]

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they yoke	/jəʊk/ /jəʊk/
he / she / it yokes	/jəʊks/ /jəʊks/
past simple yoked	/jəʊkt/ /jəʊkt/
past participle yoked	/jəʊkt/ /jəʊkt/
-ing form yoking	/ˈjəʊkɪŋ/ /ˈjəʊkɪŋ/

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to join two animals together with a yoke; to attach an animal to something with a yoke
- (be) yoked together A pair of oxen, yoked together, was used.
- (be) yoked to something an ox yoked to a plough
(formal) to bring two people, countries, ideas, etc. together so that they are forced into a close relationship
- be yoked to something The Hong Kong dollar was yoked to the American dollar for many years.
- be yoked together In these languages, short words are yoked together to create new words.