hock

¹

[hok]

noun

1. the joint in the hind leg of a horse, cow, etc., above the fetlock joint, corresponding anatomically to the ankle in humans.

2. a corresponding joint in a fowl.

verb (used with object)

1. to hamstring.

hock

²

[hok]

noun

Chiefly British.

1. any white Rhine wine.

hock

³

[hok]

verb (used with object)

1. pawn.

noun

1. the state of being deposited or held as security; pawn.

   She was forced to put her good jewelry in hock.

2. the condition of owing; debt.

   After the loan was paid, he was finally out of hock.

hock

¹

/ hɒk /

verb

1. (tr) to pawn or pledge

noun

1. the state of being in pawn (esp in the phrase in hock )

2. 1. in prison

   2. in debt

   3. in pawn

hock

²

/ hɒk /

noun

1. the joint at the tarsus of a horse or similar animal, pointing backwards and corresponding to the human ankle

2. the corresponding joint in domestic fowl

verb

1. another word for hamstring

hock

³

/ hɒk /

noun

1. any of several white wines from the German Rhine

2. (not in technical usage) any dry white wine

Other Word Forms

• hocker noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of hock¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; variant of dialect hough, from Middle English hough, houh, houe “heel,” from Old English hōh “heel, hough, promontory”; heel ¹, Kew

Origin of hock²

First recorded in 1615–25; short for Hockamore Hochheimer

Origin of hock³

An Americanism dating back to 1855–60; from Dutch hok “kennel, sty, pen, (informal) miserable place to live, prison”

Word History and Origins

Origin of hock¹

C19: from Dutch hok prison, debt

Origin of hock²

C16: short for hockshin, from Old English hōhsinu heel sinew

Origin of hock³

C17: short for obsolete hockamore _Hochheimer

Example Sentences

To invent a new market was only a matter of finding a new asset to hock.

Read more on Literature

However, he prompted a backlash from some Labour MPs after he suggested ministers were "in hock to the bond markets" - a reference to the government's self-imposed rules limiting spending and borrowing.

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The mayor has proposed raising taxes for higher earners and increasing borrowing to build council houses as he called for the government to "get beyond this thing of being in hock to the bond markets".

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In the New Statesman, he said: "We've got to get beyond this thing of being in hock to the bond markets".

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Ozzy and Sharon allowed the cameras to roll as they hurled a ham hock into a neighbor’s yard and a log through his window.

Read more on Salon