yoke

noun

\ ˈyōk

plural yokes

Definition of yoke

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : a wooden bar or frame by which two draft animals (such as oxen) are joined at the heads or necks for working together

b : an arched device formerly laid on the neck of a defeated person

c : a frame fitted to a person's shoulders to carry a load in two equal portions

d : a bar by which the end of the tongue of a wagon or carriage is suspended from the collars of the harness

e(1) : a crosspiece on the head of a boat's rudder

(2) : an airplane control operating the elevators and ailerons

f : a frame from which a bell is hung

g : a clamp or similar piece that embraces two parts to hold or unite them in position

2 plural usually yoke : two animals yoked or worked together

3a(1) : an oppressive agency

(2) : servitude, bondage

b : tie, link especially : marriage

4 : a fitted or shaped piece at the top of a skirt or at the shoulder of various garments

yoke

verb

yoked; yoking

Definition of yoke (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1a(1) : to put a yoke on

(2) : to join in or with a yoke

b : to attach a draft animal to also : to attach (a draft animal) to something

2 : to join as if by a yoke

3 : to put to work

intransitive verb

: to become joined or linked

Synonyms & Antonyms Example Sentences Learn More About yoke

Examples of yoke in a Sentence

Noun a people able at last to throw off the yoke and to embrace freedom Verb The two oxen were yoked together. yoked several ideas together to come up with a new theory

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun In that May 10 case, the passenger commandeered the yoke and safely landed the aircraft, guided by air traffic control. — Andrea Sachs, Washington Post, 2 June 2022 The spartan interior features a yoke-like steering wheel, small screens for its side-view cameras, sporty racing seats and a head-up display. — Peter Lyon, Forbes, 28 May 2022 The yoke-steering version also gets a different instrument cluster that is an inch and half higher and slightly farther from the driver. — Csaba Csere, Car and Driver, 2 May 2022 For his next trick, Hall will release a video of himself doing a 500-pound yoke carry for five hours across a dry lake bed. — Men's Health, 28 Apr. 2022 The rush to express eagerness for Ukraine to come under the Russian yoke—or to even applaud Putin for invading a sovereign and democratic country—could be understood as an attempt to fill that America First vacuum. — Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 22 Mar. 2022 State media has also been playing on a popular perception in Russia that Ukraine is under the yoke of corrupt and inept leadership. — Ann M. Simmons, WSJ, 1 May 2022 Less than a year after shaking off the yoke of dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, a review of the habous system was atop their agenda in 2012. — Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 Apr. 2022 Its struggle to emerge from the yoke of Soviet aggression during the Cold War became a stirring example of courage in the name of freedom. — Washington Post, 28 Mar. 2022 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb At the same time, the slowing of Moore’s Law has triggered a pre-Cambrian explosion of chip design startups, some with radical new ideas for how to configure chips and yoke them together. — Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 13 May 2022 Elder also has emerged as the favorite target of Newsom, who has done his best to yoke the conservative to former President Trump, who is widely unpopular in California. — Phil Willon, Los Angeles Times, 25 Aug. 2021 Democrats plan to yoke the entire party, especially vulnerable members in tough districts, to Greene in the midterms. — Melanie Zanona, CNN, 6 Aug. 2021 Trump, meanwhile, managed to yoke the meeting to his administration’s campaign to buttress Israel on the world stage. — Washington Post, 15 Sep. 2020 Progress required that citizens yoke themselves to an immoral economy in ever more complex ways. — R.h. Lossin, The New York Review of Books, 4 Sep. 2020 Munch has the daring to yoke this world-menacing science fiction and world-historical politics to peculiarly intimate settings. — Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 25 June 2020 Yet none of the other technocrats succeeded in heading a second government, as Mr Conte has done since last September, when the M5S switched partners to yoke itself to the centre-left Democratic Party. — The Economist, 27 June 2020 Still, these mutually resentful women can’t disengage: their womanhood, and an accompanying unease in the world, keep them yoked together, entangled in talk. — Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 20 Apr. 2020 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'yoke.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.