n. & v.
--n.
1. the part of a shirt, dress, coat, etc., that goes round the neck, either upright or turned over.
2 a band of linen, lace, etc., completing the upper part of a costume.
3 a band of leather or other material put round an animal's (esp. a dog's) neck.
4 a restraining or connecting band, ring, or pipe in machinery.
5 a coloured marking resembling a collar round the neck of a bird or animal.
6 Brit. a piece of meat rolled up and tied.
--v.tr.
1. seize (a person) by the collar or neck.
2 capture, apprehend.
3 colloq. accost.
4 sl. take, esp. illicitly.
Phrases and idioms:
collar-beam a horizontal beam connecting two rafters and forming with them an A-shaped roof-truss. collar-bone either of two bones joining the breastbone and the shoulder-blades. collared dove a dove, Streptopelia decaoto, having distinct neck-markings.
Derivatives:
collared adj. (also in comb.). collarless adj.
Etymology: ME f. AF coler, OF colier, f. L collare f. collum neck