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| neck [ nek ] |
noun (plural necks) |
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| Definition: |
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1. part between head and body: the part of the body that joins the head to the rest of the body
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2. garment part around neck: the part of a garment that goes around or lies below the wearer's neck
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3. cut of meat: a cut of meat from the neck of an animal
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4. long opening: a long narrow opening
  the neck of a bottle
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5. strip of land or water: a long narrow strip of land or stretch of water
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6. long narrow fingerboard: the long narrow fingerboard that projects out of the body or soundbox of a handheld string instrument such as a guitar or violin
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7. winning margin: in horseracing, a narrow winning margin equal to the distance between a horse's nose and its shoulder
won the race by a neck
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8. something important risked or saved: somebody's life, job, reputation, or other important asset that has been placed at risk or saved from danger
(
informal
)
telling a lie to save her neck
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9. marine biology
Same as siphonn (sense 3)
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verb (past and past participle necked, present participle neck·ing, 3rd person present singular necks) |
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| Definition: |
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1. intransitive verb kiss and cuddle: to kiss and embrace sexually, usually sitting or lying with clothes on
teenagers necking in the car
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2. transitive verb cooking kill poultry: to kill a bird to be cooked by breaking its neck or chopping its head off
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| [ Old English hnecca "nape" < Indo-European, "high point, ridge"] |
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| necked adjective |
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be breathing down somebody's neck
1. to be close behind somebody
2. to be putting pressure on somebody to do something more quickly
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be in something up to your neck to be very much involved in something, often something dishonest or illegal
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break your neck to try very hard to achieve something (informal)
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get it in the neck to be punished or scolded severely (informal)
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neck and neck level in a competition and with an equal chance of winning (informal)
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neck of the woods a particular area or part of the country (informal)
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stick your neck out to take a risk by saying or doing something that could bring blame or censure (informal)
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