/ jəʊk; NAmE joʊk/ noun , verb
■ noun
1.
[ C ] a long piece of wood that is fastened across the necks of two animals, especially oxen , so that they can pull heavy loads
2.
[ sing. ] ( literary or formal ) rough treatment or sth that restricts your freedom and makes your life very difficult to bear :
the yoke of imperialism
3.
[ C ] a piece of wood that is shaped to fit across a person's shoulders so that they can carry two equal loads
4.
[ C ] a part of a dress, skirt, etc. that fits around the shoulders or hips and from which the rest of the cloth hangs
■ verb [ vn ]
1.
to join two animals together with a yoke ; to attach an animal to sth with a yoke :
A pair of oxen, yoked together, was used.
an ox yoked to a plough
2.
[ usually passive ] ( formal ) to bring two people, countries, ideas, etc. together so that they are forced into a close relationship :
The Hong Kong dollar was yoked to the American dollar for many years.
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WORD ORIGIN
Old 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.