I. neck 1 S2 W2 /nek/ BrE AmE noun
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: hnecca ]
1 . PART OF THE BODY [countable] the part of your body that joins your head to your shoulders, or the same part of an animal or bird
around sb’s neck
Jean wore a string of pearls around her neck.
Mike rubbed the back of his neck.
You have a lot of tension in your neck muscles.
He patted his horse’s neck.
She had a mass of golden hair, which she wore in a coil at the nape (=back) of her neck.
The dog picked up the puppy and carried it by the scruff (=back) of the neck into the house.
2 . CLOTHING [countable] the part of a piece of clothing that goes around your neck
neck of
The neck of his shirt was open.
The sweater has a round neck and long sleeves.
V-necked/open-necked etc
a navy V-necked sweater
⇨ ↑ crew neck , ↑ polo neck , ↑ scoop neck , ↑ turtleneck , ↑ V-neck
3 . NARROW PART [countable] the narrow part of something, usually at the top
neck of
Lara put the cork back in the neck of the bottle.
a crack in the neck of the violin
4 . be up to your neck in something
a) to be very busy with something:
She’s up to her neck in work.
b) to be in a difficult situation that is hard to escape from:
Jim’s up to his neck in debt.
5 . neck and neck (with somebody) informal if two competitors or groups are neck and neck in a competition or race, they are level with each other:
Opinion polls show the two main parties are running neck and neck.
6 . in this/sb’s neck of the woods informal in a particular area or part of the country:
I haven’t been in this neck of the woods for years.
7 . get it in the neck British English spoken to be punished or criticized:
If we don’t make some changes we’ll all get it in the neck.
8 . by a neck informal if a race, especially a horse race, is won by a neck, the winner is only a very short distance in front:
Our horse won by a neck.
9 . ATTITUDE [uncountable] ( also brass neck ) British English informal a confident attitude that makes you able to do unreasonable or shocking things without feeling embarrassed SYN nerve , cheek :
I don't know how they have the neck to charge that much!
10 . LAND [countable] a narrow piece of land that comes out of a wider part:
a neck of land between a lake and the sea
11 . (hang) around your neck if something hangs around your neck, it keeps causing you problems ⇨ be breathing down sb’s neck at ↑ breathe (5), ⇨ I’ll wring sb’s neck at ↑ wring (6), ⇨ pain in the neck at ↑ pain 1 (3), ⇨ risk your neck at ↑ risk 2 (1), ⇨ save sb’s neck at ↑ save 1 (11), ⇨ stick your neck out at ↑ stick out (3)
II. neck 2 BrE AmE verb [intransitive usually in progressive] informal
if two people are necking, they kiss for a long time in a sexual way
—necking noun [uncountable]