necklace

[ nek-lis ]

noun

1. a piece of jewelry consisting of a string of stones, beads, jewels, or the like, or a chain of gold, silver, or other metal, for wearing around the neck.

necklace

/ ˈnɛklɪs /

noun

1. a chain, band, or cord, often bearing beads, pearls, jewels, etc, worn around the neck as an ornament, esp by women
2. (in South Africa) a tyre soaked in petrol, placed round a person's neck, and set on fire in order to burn the person to death

verb

1. tr to kill (someone) by placing a burning tyre round his or her neck

Word History and Origins

Origin of necklace¹

1580–90; neck + lace (in the sense “a cord or string to pull opposite ends together”)

Example Sentences

With a belt rack, you’ll easily be able to hang up your belt and other accessories like ties or necklaces, beautifully displayed for the next morning or a quick evening outfit change.

From Popular-Science

Giscard consistently denied that he had accepted an expensive necklace from Bokassa and suggested that he had turned any gift over to the state.

From Washington Post

You can screenshot the code, print it, or even put it in something physical like a sticker or a necklace.

From Popular-Science

Planners have dreamed of a green necklace of connected parks extending from Mission Bay to the Marine Corps Depot.

From Voice of San Diego

The days of dressing up for the office are on pause for now, but, as she notes, people can wear a new necklace or a nice pair of earrings for a video call.

From Time

Wonderland posted videos taken with a hidden camera—in a cross necklace, or inside a watch or glasses—of him hitting on women.

From The Daily Beast

She hoped to fashion them into a necklace, she said, as a symbol of the pain she had endured.

From The Daily Beast

At the time of her disappearance in 2009, Harrington was wearing a necklace that had been given to her by her mother.

From The Daily Beast

Of a necklace Rihanna was wearing, Rivers joked she had asked Rihanna how she felt about the choker.

From The Daily Beast

He wants to take the fingers, let them decompose, then take the bones and make a finger bone necklace out of it.

From The Daily Beast

A wisp of wheat was knotted round her neck for a necklace, and a perfect sheaf of it in her hair.

From Project Gutenberg

There seems to be no sufficient reason for explaining it by 'necklace' or 'gorget,' as if it were a separable article of attire.

From Project Gutenberg

And shall not a girl inherit money, or a necklace, left to her, which may be worth more than the land?

From Project Gutenberg

The head of the Virgin is veiled, a necklace of pearls adorns her person, and her hands are extended in prayer.

From Project Gutenberg

And he lifted up a necklace of diamonds, that blazed in the light of the lamp like a ring of fire.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• choker
• jewelry
• pendant
• strand