hock

[hok]

verb (used with object)

pawn¹.

noun

the state of being deposited or held as security; pawn: She was forced to put her good jewelry in hock.
the condition of owing; debt: After the loan was paid, he was finally out of hock.

Origin of hock

1855–60, Americanism; < Dutch hok kennel, sty, pen, (informal) miserable place to live, prison

Related formshock·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for hocker

Historical Examples of hocker

Hocker was strong, and the tears were forcing themselves into my eyes in spite of me.
They and I
Jerome K. Jerome
He moved off in one direction, while Hocker and Ned took the other.
Canoe Boys and Campfires
William Murray Graydon
Hocker and Jeffries exchanged glances of mutual understanding.
Canoe Boys and Campfires
William Murray Graydon
"Moxley is trying to escape from the second floor," muttered Hocker.
Canoe Boys and Campfires
William Murray Graydon
We are pleased that Sister Carr has obtained so good a place for usefulness as the one at Hocker.
The Story of a Life
J. Breckenridge Ellis

British Dictionary definitions for hocker

hock

noun

the joint at the tarsus of a horse or similar animal, pointing backwards and corresponding to the human ankle
the corresponding joint in domestic fowl

verb

another word for hamstring

Word Origin for hock

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

hock

noun

any of several white wines from the German Rhine
(not in technical usage) any dry white wine

Word Origin for hock

C17: short for obsolete hockamore Hochheimer

hock

verb

(tr) to pawn or pledge

noun

the state of being in pawn (esp in the phrase in hock)
in hock
1. in prison
2. in debt
3. in pawn

Derived Formshocker, noun

Word Origin for hock

C19: from Dutch hok prison, debt

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for hocker

hock

n.1

"joint in the hind leg of a horse," mid-15c., earlier hockshin (late 14c.), from Old English hohsinu "sinew of the heel, Achilles' tendon," literally "heel sinew," from hoh "heel," from Proto-Germanic *hanhaz (cf. German Hachse "hock," Old English hæla "heel"), from PIE *kenk- (3) "heel, bend of the knee."

hock

n.2

"Rhenish wine," 1620s, shortening of Hockamore, from German Hochheimer, "(wine) of Hochheim," town on the Main where wine was made; sense extended to German white wines in general.

hock

n.3

"pawn, debt," 1859, American English, in hock, which meant both "in debt" and "in prison," from Dutch hok "jail, pen, doghouse, hutch, hovel." The verb is 1878, from the noun.

When one gambler is caught by another, smarter than himself, and is beat, then he is in hock. Men are only caught, or put in hock, on the race-tracks, or on the steamboats down South. ... Among thieves a man is in hock when he is in prison. [G.W. Matsell, "Vocabulum," 1859]