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.

Nearby words

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for hocker

Hocker and Jeffries moved aside and carried on a whispered conversation.
Canoe Boys and Campfires|William Murray Graydon
He moved off in one direction, while Hocker and Ned took the other.
Canoe Boys and Campfires|William Murray Graydon
"We had better cross to the neck of land in your boat, Hocker," suggested Zinn.
Canoe Boys and Campfires|William Murray Graydon
Bug threw a grateful glance at Ned, and then turned appealingly to Hocker.
Canoe Boys and Campfires|William Murray Graydon

The boys paddled up stream a little until they were directly below the rock Hocker had designated.
Canoe Boys and Campfires|William Murray Graydon

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

in prison
in debt
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]