yoke 
a pair of draft-animals, particularly oxen, are 
fastened together, usually consisting of a piece 
Yoke. 
tt. b€>dy ; e, bows of bent wood ; c, keys for fai>tenin^ bows ; 
(i, clip ; f, draft-ring. 
of timber, hollowed or made curving near each 
end, and fitted with bows for receiving the 
necks of the animals. From a ring or hook fitted to 
the hody a chain extends to the thing to be drawn, or to 
the yoke of another pair of animals behind. 
A red heifer . . . upon which never came yoke. 
Num. xix. 2. 
In time the savage bull doth bear the yoke. 
Shak., Much Ado, i. 1. 263. 
2. Hence, something resembling this apparatus 
in form or use. (a) A frame made to fit the shoulders 
and neck of a person, used for cairying a pair of buckets 
or panniers, one at each end of the frame. 
She bad seized and adjusted the wooden yoke across 
her shoulders, ready to bear the brinimlng niilk-pails to 
the dairj-. Mrs. Gaskell, Sylvia's Lovers, xv. 
(6) A frame of wood attached to the neck of an animal to 
prevent it from creeping under a fence or gate, or from 
jumping over a fence, (c) A crosa-bar or cui-ved piece 
from which a large bell is suspended for ringing, (d) 
Aaut, a bar attached to the rudder-head, and projecting 
in each direction sidewise. To the ends are attached the 
yoke-ropes or yoke-lines, which are pulled by the steers- 
man in rowboats, or pass to the drum on the axis of 
the steering-wheel in larger craft, (e) A kind of band 
or supporting piece to which are fastened the plaited, 
gathered, or otherwise falling and depending parts of a 
garment, and which by its shape causes these parts to 
hang in a certain way : as, the yoke of a shirt, which is a 
double piece of stuff carried around the neck and over 
the shoulders, and from which the whole body of the 
shirt hangs ; the yoke of a skirt, which supports the full- 
ness from the hips downward. 
There was a yoke of mulberry colored velvet, which was 
applied also at the tops of the sleeves. 
The SpeciaUrr (St. Louis), XL 327. 
(/) A branch-pipe, or a two-way coupling for pipes, 
particularly twin hot- and cold-water pipes that unite in 
their discharge, (g) In a grain-elevator, the Iiead-frame 
or top of the elevator, where the elevator-belt or lifter 
passes over the upper drum, and where the cups dis- 
charge into tlie shoot. (A) A carriage-clip for uniting 
two parts of the runiiing-gear. (i) A double journal- 
bearing having two journals united \>y bars or rods, that 
pass on eiich side of the pulley, the shafting being sup- 
ported by b(»th journals : used in some forms of dynamos 
to carry the armature ; a yoke-arbor, (j) A pair of iron 
clamps of semicircular shape, with a cross screw and 
nut at each end for tightening them around heavy pipes 
or other objects, for attaching the ropes when hoisting 
or lowering into i>osition by power. J. S. Phillips, Ex- 
plorers' Companion, (k) In wheeln-righting, tlie overlap 
tire-bolt waslier used at the joints of the fellies. E. H. 
Knight, {t) In an electromagnet consisting of two parallel 
cores joined across one pair of ends to form a U- or horse- 
shoe-shaped magnet,the cross-bar joining the ends-is called 
the yoke of the magnet. 
3. An emblem, token, or mark of servitude, 
slavery, and sometimes of suffering generally. 
As a mark of humiliation and entire submission, the 
Romans caused their prisoners of war to pass under a 
yoke. This yoke was sometimes an actual ox-yoke, and 
was Bometimes symbolized by a spear resting across two 
others fixeil upright in the ground. 
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me. . . . For my 
yoke is easy and my burden is light. Mat. xi. 29, 30. 
Like fooles, they doe submit their necke 
Vnto the slavish yoke & proudest checke 
Of Romes insulting tyrant. 
Times' WhisUe (E. E. T. S.), p. 52. 
4. Something which couples, connects, or binds 
together; a bond of connection; a link; a tie. 
Companions . . . 
Who.se souls do bear an equal yoke of love. 
Shak., M. of V., iii. 4. 13. 
You see I am tied a little to my yoke; 
Pray, pardon me ; would ye hail both such lovinii wives ! 
Fletcher, Rule a Wife, ii. 2. 
5. A chain or ridge of liills ; also, a single hill 
in a chain: obsolete, but still retained in some 
place-names: as, Troutbeck Yoke. [Lake Dis- 
trict, Eng.]— 6. A pair; couple; brace: said 
of things united by some link, especially of 
draft-animals: very rarely of persons, in con- 
tempt. 
Another a-non r>-ght ncde seyde he hadde 
To folwen fif jofre-f, . . . and greithliche hem dryue. 
Pilars Plowman (('), viii. 29r». 
These that accuse him . . . are a voA-^ of his discarded 
men. Shak., M. ^V. of \V., ii. 1. 181. 
7. As much land as may be x>lowed by a pair of 
oxen in a day; hence, as much work'geuerally 
as is done at a stretch; also, a part of the work- 
ing-day, as from meal-time to meal-time, in 
7022 
which labor is carried on without interruption. 
Compare yokelet. 
Ploughmen in this county have been in the habit of 
making two yokes a day in summer— that is, ploughing 
from morning until dinner-time, which ia usually at twelve 
o'clock ; then, when dinner is over, resuming their work, 
which Is continued till half-past five or six. 
A', and Q., 7th ser., X 19. 
Spring yoke, in a railroad-car, a wrought-iron bar shaped 
like an inverted V, placed on a journal-box as a support for 
a spring. Also called spring saddle. See cut under car- 
truck. =^Yn,Q, Brace, i^ic. See j^airl. 
yoke^ (yok), r. ; pret. and pp, lyo^'frf, ppr. yok- 
ing. [Formerly also yoak; < ME. ^oken, ^eoken 
(LGt^Joken = G.Jochen = h.jngarc); from the 
noun.] I. trans* 1, To put a yoke on. 
Away she hies, 
And yokea her silver doves. 
Shak., Venus and Adonis, 1. 1190. 
The gentle Birds liow'd down their willing heads, 
Not to be yoakedy but adorned by 
The dainty harness. J. Beaumont, Psyche, iii. 68. 
2. To join or coiiple by means of a yoke. 
For o Griffoun there wil here, fieynge to his Nest, a gret 
Hors, or 2 Oxen zoked to gidere, aa thei gon at the 
Plowghe. Mandeville, Travels, p. 269. 
3. To join ; couple; link; unite. 
O then . . . my name 
Be yoked with his that did betray the Beat ! 
Shak., W. T., i. 2. 419. 
But, Izrael ! 
Alas ! why yoakst thou God with Baal? 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartaa'a Weeks, ii., Tlie Schisme. 
Rather than to be yoked with this bridegroom is ap- 
pointed me, I would take up any husband. 
B. Jonson, Bartliolomew Fair, iv. 2. 
4. To restrain; confine; oppress; enslave. 
They thought it better to be somewhat hardly yoked at 
home than forever abroad discredited. 
Hooker, Eccles. Polity, Pref., ii. 
Then were they yoak'd with Garrisons, and the places 
consecrate to thir ]>loo(lie superstitions destroi'd. 
Milton, Mist. Eng., ii. 
As well be yoked by Despotism's hand 
As dwell at large in Britain's charter'd land. 
Coicper, Tal)le-Talk, 1. 258. 
5. To put horses or other draft-animals to. 
Compare the colloquial phrase to harness a 
wagon. 
They hae yoked carts and wains, 
To ca' their dead away. 
Auld Maitland (Child's Ballads, VI. 226). 
Ye need na yoke the pleugb. 
Burns, Death and Dr. Hornbook. 
Yoked bottle, in cernm., a double bottle : so called from 
the baiul or bar of baked clay which connects the two ves- 
sels comprising it. 
II. intrans. To be joined together; go along 
with. 
The care 
That yokes witli empire, 
Tennyson, To the Queen. 
yoke*^ (yok), r. and V. A dialectal variant of 
yox, yex. Also yolk. 
Whose ugly locks and yolkinge voice 
Did make all men afeard. 
MS. Ashmole 208. {Hallitvell) 
yokeage (yo'kaj), n. Same as rokeage. 
yoke-arbor (yok'ar'bor), n. A form of double 
jouviial-box for pulley-spindles, having a curved 
arm extending from one bearing to the other 
on each side of the pulley, and serving to pro- 
tect the belt from chafing, E. H. Knight. 
yoke-bone (yok'bon). ». The jugal or malar 
bone, entering into the formation of the zy- 
goma. See cut under skull, 
yoke-devil (yok'dev''''l), n. A companion devil. 
[Rare.] 
Treason and murder ever kept together, 
As two yoke-devils sworn to cither's purpose. 
Shak., Hen. V., ii. 2- 106. 
yoke-elm (yok'elm), n. See hornbeam. 
yokefellow (y6k'fel''''6), «. One associated 
with another in labor, or in a task or undertak- 
ing; also, one connected with another by some 
tie or bond, as marriage; a partner; an asso- 
ciate; a mate. 
I intreat thee also, true ynkefelloiv, help those women 
which laboured with me in the gospel. Phil, iv. 3. 
Your wife is your own Hesh, the staff of your age, your 
yoke-fellow, with whose help you draw through the mire 
of this transitory world. 
Beau, and FL, Knight of Burning Pestle, iii. 5. 
yokeU (yo'kl), «. [Sg. a\so yochel,yochle; ori- 
gin obscure. Cf. gatrk, gowk.'] A rustic or 
countryman; especially, a country bumpkin. 
Yokels looking up at the tinselled dancers and poor old 
rouged tumblers. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Pref. 
The coach was none of your steady-going, yokel coaches. 
l)Ut a swaggering, rakish, dissipated London coach ; up all 
night, and lying l)y all day, and leading a devil of a life. 
Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, xixvi. 
yokel''^, I*. Same as hickwall. 
yolk 
yokelet (yok'let), n. [< yoke + -let.l A small 
farm. HallUcell. [Prov. Eng.] 
yoke-line, yoke-rope (ydk'lin, -rop), «. See 
yoke^f n.j 2 {d). 
yokelisk (yd'kl-ish), a. [< yokeU + -ish.'] Be- 
longing to or characteristic of a yokel; rustic. 
[Rare.] 
A very rural population, with somewhat yokelish no- 
tions. Jour. Anthrop. In^., XVL 236. 
yoke-mate (yok'mat), ?^. Same as yokefellow. 
yoke-toed (yok'tod), a. In ornith.., pair-toed; 
zygodactyl, as a woodpecker or cuckoo. See 
cut under pair-toed. 
Such arrangement is called zygodactyle or zygodactyl- 
ous; and birds exhibiting it are aaid to be yoke-toed, 
Coues, Key to >'. A- Birds, p. 126. 
yoking (yo'king), w. [Verbal n. oiyoke^, r.] 1, 
The act of putting a yoke on ; the act of joining 
or coupling. — 2. As much work as is done by 
draft-animals at one time ; hence, generally, as 
much work as is done at a stretch. 
At length we had a hearty yokirC 
At sang about. 
Bums, First Epistle to J. Lapraik. 
I ne'er gat unygude by his doctrine, . . . bnt a sour fit 
o' the batts wi' sitting amang the wat moss-hags for four 
hours at a yoking. Scott, Old Mortality, viii. 
Yokohama fowls. Same as Japanese long-tailed 
fowls (which see, under Japanese), 
yoky (yo'ki), a. [< yoke^ + -yi.] 1. Yoked. 
[Rare.] 
Seated in a chariot burning bright, 
Drawn by the strength of yoky dragons' necks. 
Marlowe, Dr. Faustus, vi., chorus, 1. 6. 
2. Pertainingtoorconsistingofayoke. [Rare.] 
So unremov^d stood these steeds ; . . . 
. . . their manes, that flouriah'd with the flre 
Of endless youth allotted them, fell through the yoky 
sphere. Chapman, Iliad, xvii. 382. 
Yolt, n. An obsolete variant of Tule. 
yoldt. An obsolete preterit and past participle 
of yield. 
yoldent,i>- ^- [Obs. pp. oiyield.'] Yielded; sur- 
rendered; submissive. 
With loke doun cast and humble i-yolden chere. 
Chaucer, T'roilua, Iii. 96. 
In humble spirit is set the temple of the Lord, . . . 
Whose Church is built of love, and deckt with hot desire. 
And simple faith ; the yolden ghost his mercy doth require. 
Surrey, Pai aphrase of part of Eccl. iv. 
Yoldia (yol'di-a), n. [NL. (Moller, 1842), named 
after Count Yoldi of Sweden.] A genus of bi- 
valves, of the family yuculidse (or Ledidse)^ re- 
lated to the ark-shells. The several species are of 
boreal distribution ; they resemble the members of the 
genua Leda, but have long slender siphons, a compressed 
long oval shell, beaked and slightly gaping lichind, and 
covered with shining epidermis. 1'. arctica, Y. linuUida, 
and Y. thracisefomiis are examples; the latter is found 
in deep water off the Kew England coast. 
yolding (yol'ding), n. Same as yoldiing. ^Yel- 
low yolding. Same as yello^chammer, 1. 
yoldring, yoldrin (yol'dring, -dxin), w. Same 
as yeldring, yowley. [Prov. Eng.] 
But you heed me no more than a goss-hawk minds a yel- 
low yoldring. Scott, Abbot, xvii. 
yolet, V. i. An obsolete variant of yawl^, 
yolk^ (yok)j «. [Also yelk; < ME. yolke^yeVke, < 
AS. geolca, yolk, lit. *the yellow part,' < geoluj 
yellow: see yellow.'} 1. The yellow and princi- 
pal substance of an egg, as distinguished from 
the white; that protoplasmic content of the 
ovum of any animal which forms the embiyo in 
germination, with or without some additional 
substance which serves to nourish the embryo 
during its fonnation. as distinguished from a 
mass of albumen which may surround it, and 
from the egg-pod or shell which incloses the 
whole; the vitellus, whether formative wholly 
or in part. In holoblastic ova, which are usually of mi- 
nute or microscopic size, the whole content of the cell- 
wall is yolk which undergoes complete segmentation, 
and is therefore formative or germinal vitellus, or mor- 
pholecithus. In large meroblastic eggs, however, auch as 
those we eat of various birds and reptiles, the true germ- 
yolk forms only the nucleus and a relatively small part of 
the whole yolk-ball, which then consists mainly of food- 
yolk or tropholecithus. This is the yolk of ordinary 
language, forming a relatively large baJl of usually yel- 
low and minutely granular substance which floats in a 
mass of white or colorless albumen, inclosed in a deli- 
cate i>ellicle, or vitelline membrane, and is steadied or 
stayed in position by certain strands of stringy albumen 
forming the chalazse. The quantity of germ- and of food- 
yolk relatively to each other and also to the amount of 
white varies much in different eggs, as does also the rela- 
tive position of the two kinds of yolk. (See ectoUcithal, 
centroleeithal.) In the largest eggs, as of birds, the great 
bulk results from the copiousness of the white and of the 
food-yolk, and the gemi-yolk appears only at a point on 
the surface of the latter, where it forms the so-called 
tread or cicatricula. Some eggs contain more than one 
yolk, but this is rare and anomalous. See egg, omtm, and 
vitellus; also segmentation of the vitellus (under segmen- 
tation), and cuts under gastrtdation. 
