yoke

¹ American  

[yohk] / yoʊk /

noun

plural

yokes, yoke

1. a device for joining together a pair of draft animals, especially oxen, usually consisting of a crosspiece with two bow-shaped pieces, each enclosing the head of an animal.

2. a pair of draft animals fastened together by a yoke.

   five yoke of oxen.

3. something resembling a yoke or a bow of a yoke in form or use.

4. a frame fitting the neck and shoulders of a person, for carrying a pair of buckets or the like, one at each end.

5. an agency of oppression, subjection, servitude, etc.

6. an emblem or symbol of subjection, servitude, slavery, etc., as an archway under which prisoners of war were compelled to pass by the ancient Romans and others.

7. something that couples or binds together; a bond or tie.

8. Machinery. a viselike piece gripping two parts firmly together.

9. Also called fork.  a forklike termination for a rod or shaft, inside which another part is secured.

10. a fitting for the neck of a draft animal for suspending the tongue of a cart, carriage, etc., from a harness.

11. a crosshead attached to the upper piston of an opposed-piston engine with rods to transmit power to the crankshaft.

12. (in an airplane) a double handle, somewhat like a steering wheel in form, by which the elevators are controlled.

13. Nautical. a crossbar on the head of the rudder of a small boat, having lines or chains attached to the ends so as to permit the steering of the boat from forward.

14. spreader beam.

15. a shaped piece in a garment, fitted about or below the neck and shoulders or about the hips, from which the rest of the garment hangs.

16. a horizontal piece forming the top of a window frame.

17. a Y -shaped piece connecting branch pipes with a main soil pipe.

18. Television. an electromagnetic assembly placed around the neck of a cathode-ray tube to produce and control the scanning motion of electron beams inside the tube.

19. British Dialect. (especially in Kent)

    1. the time during which a plowman and team work without stopping; a period of plowing.

    2. a measure or area of land equal to over 50 but less than 60 acres.

20. a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter Y.

---

verb (used with object)

yoked, yoking

1. to put a yoke on; join or couple by means of a yoke.

2. to attach (a draft animal) to a plow or vehicle.

   to yoke oxen.

3. to harness a draft animal to (a plow or vehicle).

   to yoke a wagon.

4. to join, couple, link, or unite.

5. Obsolete. to bring into subjection or servitude.

verb (used without object)

yoked, yoking

1. to be or become joined, linked, or united.

yoke ² American  

[yohk] / yoʊk /

noun

1. yolk.

---

yoke British  

/ jəʊk /

noun

1. a wooden frame, usually consisting of a bar with an oxbow or similar collar-like piece at either end, for attaching to the necks of a pair of draught animals, esp oxen, so that they can be worked as a team

2. something resembling a yoke in form or function, such as a frame fitting over a person's shoulders for carrying buckets suspended at either end

3. a fitted part of a garment, esp around the neck, shoulders, and chest or around the hips, to which a gathered, pleated, flared, or unfitted part is attached

4. an immense oppressive force or burden

   under the yoke of a tyrant

5. a pair of oxen or other draught animals joined together by a yoke

6. a part, esp one of relatively thick cross section, that secures two or more components so that they move together

7. a crosshead that transmits the drive of an opposed piston engine from the upper of a pair of linked pistons to the crankshaft through a connecting rod

8. a steel framework around the formwork during the casting of concrete

9. nautical a crossbar fixed athwartships to the head of a rudderpost in a small boat, to which are attached ropes or cables for steering

10. a Y-shaped cable, rope, or chain, used for holding, towing, etc

11. (in the ancient world) a symbolic reconstruction of a yoke, consisting of two upright spears with a third lashed across them, under which conquered enemies were compelled to march, esp in Rome

12. a mark, token, or symbol of slavery, subjection, or suffering

13. rare a link, tie, or bond

    the yoke of love

14. dialect a period of steady work, esp the time during which a ploughman and his team work at a stretch

15. any device, unusual object, or gadget

    where's the yoke for opening tins?

---

verb

1. (tr) to secure or harness (a draught animal) to (a plough, vehicle, etc) by means of a yoke

2. to join or be joined by means of a yoke; couple, unite, or link

3. obsolete (tr) to oppress, burden, or enslave

Related Words

See pair.

Other Word Forms

• well-yoked adjective
• yokeless adjective

Etymology

Origin of yoke

First recorded before 900; (noun) Middle English yok(e), from Old English geoc; cognate with Dutch juk, German Joch, Old Norse ok, Latin jugum, Greek zygón, Hittite yugan, Sanskrit yuga; (verb) Middle English yoken, Old English geocian, derivative of the noun

Example Sentences

It featured a female panther resting its paws on a severed head, and was probably attached to the body of a carriage or wagon or to the yoke, which hitched draught animals to the vehicle.

From BBC • Jan. 20, 2026

Someone has to yoke the memory of Iran’s pre-1979 past to a live possibility of a better future.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026

On another page an elderly farmer in the Fujian Province of China struggles under a shoulder yoke of watering cans.

From New York Times • Nov. 23, 2024

The “Texas is back!” meme has hung like a yoke on the Bevo steer mascot since 2016.

From Washington Times • Dec. 28, 2023

Was this her idea of “throwing off the yoke of oppressor man?”

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns