n. & v.
n. 1 a wooden crosspiece fastened over the necks of two oxen etc. and attached to the plough or wagon to be drawn. 2 (pl. same or yokes) a pair (of oxen etc.). 3 an object like a yoke in form or function, e.g. a wooden shoulder-piece for carrying a pair of pails, the top section of a dress or skirt etc. from which the rest hangs. 4 sway, dominion, or servitude, esp. when oppressive. 5 a bond or union, esp. that of marriage. 6 Rom.Hist. an uplifted yoke, or an arch of three spears symbolizing it, under which a defeated army was made to march. 7 archaic the amount of land that one yoke of oxen could plough in a day. 8 a crossbar on which a bell swings. 9 the crossbar of a rudder to whose ends ropes are fastened. 10 a bar of soft iron between the poles of an electromagnet.
v. 1 tr. put a yoke on. 2 tr. couple or unite (a pair). 3 tr. (foll. by to) link (one thing) to (another). 4 intr. match or work together.
[ OE geoc f. Gmc ]