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neck

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology 1

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FromMiddle Englishnekke,nakke,fromOld Englishhnecca,*hnæcca(“neck, nape”),fromProto-Germanic*hnakkô(“nape, neck”),fromProto-Indo-European*knog-,*kneg-(“back of the head, nape, neck”).Cognate withScotsnek(“neck”),North Frisianneek,neeke,Nak(“neck”),Saterland FrisianNäkke(“neck”),West Frisiannekke(“neck”),Dutchnek(“neck”),German Low GermanNack(“neck”),GermanNacken(“nape of the neck”),Danishnakke(“neck”),Swedishnacke(“nape of the neck”),Icelandichnakki(“neck”),Tocharian Akñuk(“neck, nape”).Possibly a mutated variant of *kneug/k(compareOld Englishhnocc(“hook, penis”),Welshcnwch(“joint, knob”),Latvianknaūķis(“dwarf”).Doubletofnek.More atnook.Displacedhalse(“neck, throat”)andswire(“neck”).

A human neck.

Pronunciation

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  • Audio(US):(file)
  • IPA(key):/nɛk/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes:-ɛk

Noun

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neck(pluralnecks)

An Australasian Darter extends her long neck.
  1. (anatomy)The part of thebodyconnecting theheadand thetrunkfound in humans and some animals.
    Giraffes have longnecks.
    • 2019October 15,ZA/UM,Robert Kurvitz,quoting You,Disco Elysium,→OCLC:
      Mother, help me, there's a head attached to myneckand I'minit.
  2. The corresponding part in some other anatomical contexts.
  3. The part of ashirt,dressetc., which fits a person'sneck.
  4. Thetaperedpart of abottletoward the opening.
  5. (botany)The slender tubelikeextensionatop anarchegonium,through which thespermswim to reach theegg.
    • 1992,Rudolf M[athias]Schuster,The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian,volume V, Chicago, Ill.:Field Museum of Natural History,→ISBN,page 5:
      Archegonia are surrounded early in their development by the juvenile perianth, through the slender beak of which the elongatedneckof the fertilized archegonium protrudes.
  6. (music)Theextensionof anystringedinstrumenton which afingerboardis mounted
  7. A long narrowtractoflandprojecting from the main body, or a narrow tract connecting two larger tracts.
  8. (engineering)A reduction in size near the end of an object, formed by agroovearound it.
    aneckforming the journal of a shaft
  9. Theconstrictionbetween therootandcrownof atooth.
  10. (architecture)Thegorgerinof acapital.
  11. (geology)Avolcanic plug,solidified lava filling the vent of an extinct volcano.
  12. (firearms)The small part of agunbetween thechaseand theswellof themuzzle.
  13. (figurative)A person'slife.
    to risk one'sneck;to save someone'sneck
  14. (informal,MLE,slang)Afalsehood;alie.
  15. (slang)Fellatio
    • 2016,“Pimptations”, performed by Smino:
      Shorty thrownecklike a geese
      She make me speak Portuguese
    • 2018,“Florida Thang”, inThe South Got Something To Say,performed by Pouya:
      She dropneckfor a check and a paystub
  16. (nowhistorical)A bundle of wheat used in certain English harvest ceremonies.
    • 1837,R. A. R.,The Everyday Book,page1169:
      The person with 'theneck'stands in the centre, grasping it with both his hands
    • 1911,James George Frazer,The Golden Bough,volume 7, page266:
      "Theneck"is generally hung up in the farmhouse, where it remains for two or three years.
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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part of body connecting the head and the trunk
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
See also
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Verb

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neck(third-person singular simple presentnecks,present participlenecking,simple past and past participlenecked)

  1. (transitive,slang)Tohangby the neck;strangle;kill,eliminate.
    Goneckyourself.
  2. (intransitive,informal,chieflyUS)Tomake love;to intentlykissorcuddle;tocanoodle.
    Synonyms:French kiss,grope,pet,smoodge,snog,snuggle,smooch
    Alan and Betty wereneckingin the back of a car when Betty's dad caught them.
    • 1994[1993],Irvine Welsh,Trainspotting,London: Minerva,→ISBN,page326:
      Molly had been in love with Sick Boy since heneckedwith her in a seedy disco-bar in Leith a few weeks ago. Sick Boy had made a drunken point about HIV transmission and to illustrate it had spent most of the night french-kissing her.
  3. (transitive,slang)Todrinkorswallowrapidly.
    Synonym:chug
    • 2005,Stephen Price,Monkey Man,page146:
      Actually, mostly I swan around in my silver sports car,neckingdrugs, and feeling sorry for myself.
    • 2006,Sarah Johnstone, Tom Masters,London:
      In the dim light, punters sit sipping raspberry-flavoured Tokyo martinis, losing the freestyle sushi off their chopsticks orneckingAsahi beer.
    • 2019January 26,Kitty Empire[pseudonym], “The Streetsreview – the agony and ecstasy of a great everyman”, inKatharine Viner,editor,The Guardian‎[1],London:Guardian News & Media,→ISSN,→OCLC,archived fromthe originalon8 April 2019:
      The 40-year-old [Mike Skinner] is happy to put his body on the line in other ways, swapping a mug of tea for a fan's double pint of lager and messilyneckingit in one.
  4. (intransitive)To decrease in diameter.
    • 2007,John H. Bickford,Introduction to the Design and Behavior of Bolted Joints,page272:
      Since this temperature would place the bolt in its creep range, it will slowly stretch,neckingdown as it does so. Eventually it will get too thin to support the weight, and the bolt will break.
Derived terms
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Translations
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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Etymology 2

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FromDanishnøkke,Swedishnäck.

Noun

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neck(pluralnecks)

  1. (folklore)Ashapeshiftingwaterspiritin Germanicmythologyand folklore; anix.
    Synonyms:nis,nix,nixie,nixy
    • 1828,Thomas Keightley,The Fairy Mythology,volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page234:
      TheNeckno more upon the river sings.
      And no Mermaid to bleach her linen flings
      Upon the waves in the mild solar ray.
Translations
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Anagrams

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French

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Etymology

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BorrowedfromEnglishneck.

Noun

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neckm(pluralnecks)

  1. (geology)neck(solidified lava filling the vent of an extinct volcano)

Italian

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowingfromEnglishneck.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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neckm

  1. (geology)neck(solidified lava filling the vent of an extinct volcano)
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