yoke

¹ American  

[yohk] / joʊk /

noun

• yokes,
  plural
• yoke
  plural

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.

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verb (used with object)

• yokes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• yoked,
  past participle,  past
• yoking
  present participle

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)

• yokes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• yoked,
  past participle,  past
• yoking
  present participle

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

yoke ² American  

[yohk] / joʊk /

noun

1. yolk.

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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?

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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

Synonym Usage

See pair.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• well-yoked
  adjective
• yokeless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• yoke
  plural
• yokes
  plural

Participles

• yoking
  present
• yoked
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• yoke
  simple
• yokes
  simple
• have yoked
  perfect
• has yoked
  perfect
• am yoking
  progressive
• are yoking
  progressive
• is yoking
  progressive
• have been yoking
  perfect progressive
• has been yoking
  perfect progressive

Past

• yoked
  simple
• had yoked
  perfect
• was yoking
  progressive
• were yoking
  progressive
• had been yoking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will yoke
  simple
• will have yoked
  perfect
• will be yoking
  progressive
• will have been yoking
  perfect progressive

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

Explanation

Ever seen a picture of a farm girl carrying two buckets of water hanging from ropes attached to a stick she's balancing across her shoulders? That stick on her shoulders is a yoke. Yoke also can mean the stick that connects two work animals together, or the act of connecting two things together as with a yoke. A classic tool of farmers for centuries, the yoke has also become a symbol of oppression — no one wants to live under the yoke of a tyrant's rule. Do not confuse yoke with yolk, the yellow part of an egg.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

yoke yokes yoked yoking

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

“Megalopolis” isn’t well-served by synopses that call it a “city poem” or yoke its wild ambitions to ancient Rome’s power struggles or municipal intrigue.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2024

Each had on his shoulders a wooden yoke that Grandpa had made.

From "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder

The trial yokes together three different cases, meaning Jones could rule for the challengers in some instances and not others.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 3, 2023

And although archaeologists have found Yamnaya wagons, oxen, and yokes, riding equipment—such as bridles or saddles—is missing entirely.

From Science Magazine ● Mar. 2, 2023

No yokes about it – this girl’s a riot.

From Fox News ● Mar. 18, 2021

The project, titled "Operation Warp Speed," yokes Kushner together with senior White House adviser Peter Navarro, who first floated the idea to the administration in February, the Daily Beast reports.

From Salon ● May 8, 2020

Chacko lifted the fried eggs onto the toast, broke the brilliant, wobbling yokes and spread them over the strawberry jam with the back of his teaspoon.

From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy

If Piker could become yoked, then anything was possible.

From Slate ● Feb. 18, 2025

For too long, cottage cheese was unfairly yoked to the diet industrial complex or discarded as an old-school, if virtuous, deli or diner side.

From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2023

Instead of being yoked to outfit sets, “you had the ability to mix and match a skirt with a more formal top,” says fashion historian Sara Idacavage, an instructor at the University of Georgia.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 7, 2023

The spread of the virus and the number of deaths in its wake, two measures that were once yoked together, have diverged more than ever before, epidemiologists said.

From New York Times ● Jun. 20, 2022

The ultimate explanation of Lawrence’s error came, perhaps inevitably, from Rutherford, who demonstrated once again the potency of his theoretical instincts when they were yoked to the experimental precision of the Cavendish.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

But there’s a lot of this election cycle left to go, and voluntarily yoking themselves to something a lot of people would really hate is a bold choice.

From Slate ● Mar. 21, 2024

That idea ran counter to blocos’ freewheeling nature, plus some organizers expressed worry it was a further attempt to “privatize” Carnival by yoking them with corporate sponsorship.

From Washington Times ● Apr. 20, 2022

Part of the reason for yoking the climate bills to transportation was to force action on a much-needed transportation package.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 9, 2021

Meanwhile, more and more of us are yoking ourselves to increasingly narrow ideological and oratorical identities.

From New York Times ● May 19, 2018

Then the inspanning, the yoking up of the oxen again, and the start once more.

From Diamond Dyke The Lone Farm on the Veldt - Story of South African Adventure by W. Boucher