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.
Etymology: OE geoc f. Gmc