neck

Less common meanings

6. 6
   kiss and cuddleverbcolloquialUSintransitive

   To kiss and cuddle amorously with someone; to canoodle.

   The two of them necked in the shadows behind the gym.

   Teenagers neck at the drive-in long after the film ends.

   UsageUsually without an object: couples neck, or one person necks with another.

   Similarkiss, smooch, snog, pet, canoodle

   Note

   Chiefly an American word, though it travels. Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting (1993) has Sick Boy necking with Molly in a disco-bar in Leith. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Irvine Welsh wrote Trainspotting, first published in 1993. en.wikipedia.org
   • Trainspotting describes Sick Boy necking with Molly in a disco-bar in Leith. en.wiktionary.org
7. 7
   life at risknounfigurativelycountable

   A person's life, thought of as something that can be put in danger or saved.

   A good lawyer can save your neck when everything seems lost.

   He stuck his neck out to defend a colleague nobody else would back.

   UsageMostly in set phrases: risk your neck, save someone's neck, stick your neck out.

   Similarskin, hide, life

   Note

   Stick one's neck out leans toward taking a public risk, often on someone else's behalf.

8. 8
   nouncountable

   A narrowed part of an anatomical structure, such as the part of a bone below its head or of a tooth between crown and root.

   The surgeon repaired a fracture at the neck of the femur.

   Inflammation had developed around the neck of the bladder.

9. 9
   drink fastverbslangtransitive

   To gulp down a drink rapidly.

   She necked a glass of water and ran back outside.

   They neck their drinks and head straight to the dance floor.

   UsageCommon in neck a pint and neck a beer.

   Similarchug

   Oppositesip

   Note

   The image is of pouring something straight down the throat. Kitty Empire wrote in 2019 of Mike Skinner necking one in one go. Stephen Price's Monkey Man (2005) shows drugs being necked too. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • Kitty Empire described Skinner’s drinking in 2019. theguardian.com
   • Stephen Price wrote Monkey Man. literatureireland.com
   • Monkey Man contains an example of drugs being necked. en.wiktionary.org
10. 10
    thin when stretchedverbintransitive

    To decrease in diameter, especially at a localized point where a material thins under tension.

    As the steel bar is stretched, it begins to neck just before fracture.

    The specimen necked sharply at its midpoint during the tensile test.

    Similarnarrow, thin, constrict

    Note

    Engineers often add down. In John H. Bickford's Introduction to the Design and Behavior of Bolted Joints, a bolt in its creep range slowly stretches and keeps necking down until it is too thin to carry its load and breaks. The thinning is localized, and it can be a visible warning before a ductile part fails. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • John H. Bickford wrote Introduction to the Design and Behavior of Bolted Joints. ndl.ethernet.edu.et
    • Bickford describes a bolt slowly stretching and necking in its creep range until it cannot support its load and breaks. ndl.ethernet.edu.et
    • Necking involves localized thinning under tension. en.wikipedia.org
    • Necking can provide visible warning, but ductile parts can also fail by fatigue without noticeable plastic deformation. ect.ac.uk
11. 11
    nouncountable

    A place near an object's end where a circumferential groove makes it thinner.

    The shaft was machined with a neck to hold the retaining ring.

    Stress tends to concentrate at the neck of the fastener.

    Note

    A machinist's neck is cut on purpose. A groove is turned around a shaft or fastener near its end, leaving a thinner section that can seat a retaining ring, locate a mating part, or form the journal of a shaft. Keep it apart from the verb for thinning under strain: there a bar narrows by itself as it is pulled toward breaking. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • A machinist's neck is an intentionally machined circumferential groove that reduces a cylindrical part's diameter and can hold a retaining ring. files.eric.ed.gov
    • A machined neck can help locate a mating part by allowing it to seat flush. dspace.library.khai.edu
    • Tensile necking reduces a bar's cross-section under pulling force, rather than by machining, and can precede fracture. ahssinsights.org
12. 12
    plant organnouncountable

    On an archegonium, the slender tubular part at the top, which sperm swim through to reach the egg.

    The archegonium's neck elongates and opens to allow sperm to enter.

    Once the canal cells break down, the neck provides a passage for the swimming sperm.

    Note

    Here the neck is a passage that opens only at maturity. Its neck canal cells break down, leaving a fluid-filled channel through which flagellated sperm swim down to the venter and the egg. Rudolf M. Schuster's The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America (1992) describes the elongated neck of a fertilized archegonium pushing out through the slender beak of the perianth. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • The archegonial neck opens at maturity as its canal cells disintegrate. www-archiv.fdm.uni-hamburg.de
    • The resulting channel contains fluid through which sperm reach the egg. journals.uchicago.edu
    • The sperm are flagellated, and the egg occupies the venter. phycolab.ua.edu
    • Schuster's cited publication dates from 1992. herbarium.science.oregonstate.edu
    • Schuster describes the fertilized archegonium's elongated neck protruding through the perianth's slender beak. en.wiktionary.org
13. 13
    columnnouncountable

    The plain band at the top of a column's shaft, just below the capital proper; the gorgerin.

    The architect specified a plain neck below each Doric capital.

    Restorers cleaned the weathered neck where the shaft meets the capital.

    Similargorgerin

    Note

    Its place on the column is exact. It sits above the astragal, the small molding that finishes the shaft, and below the projecting echinus or its equivalent. Gorgerin is the technical name for this plain band, and neck is the plainer English one. Either can be used when describing a capital. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • The neck lies above the astragal. en.wikipedia.org
    • The astragal is the molding at the junction of the shaft and capital. columnsdirect.com
    • The neck lies below the echinus. en.wikipedia.org
    • Neck and gorgerin name the same part of a capital. en.wiktionary.org
14. 14
    gun barrelnouncountable

    The narrow section of a gun barrel between the chase and the swell of the muzzle.

    The founder cast the neck of the barrel slightly thicker for added strength.

    A crack appeared at the gun's neck, just behind the muzzle.

    Note

    Old ordnance named the parts of a cannon barrel in order from breech to mouth. The neck is the short narrowing just behind the mouth of the piece, between the long chase and the flared swell of the muzzle. The word belongs to historical ordnance and the gun founder's trade, not to everyday talk about modern firearms. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • Historical ordnance descriptions named barrel parts in sequence from the breech toward the muzzle. gutenberg.org
    • The neck is the narrowed part near the muzzle, beyond the chase and behind the muzzle swell. gutenberg.org
15. 15
    nounslangvulgaruncountable

    Slang for oral stimulation of a man's genitals; fellatio.

    Rumor had it she gave him neck behind the bleachers.

    He spent the night bragging about the neck he got from a girl at the bar.

    UsageUsed without a, with verbs like give and throw: give neck.

    Similarhead

    Note

    Explicit slang, at home in hip-hop lyrics and nowhere near polite company. It pairs with verbs of giving: give neck, throw neck, drop neck, as in Smino's "Pimptations" (2016) and Pouya's "Florida Thang" (2018). Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Smino's “Pimptations” dates to 2016 and contains “throw neck”. en.wiktionary.org
    • Pouya's “Florida Thang” dates to 2018 and contains “drop neck”. en.wiktionary.org
16. 16
    noun

    A volcanic plug of solidified lava that fills the vent of an extinct volcano and is later left exposed by erosion.
17. 17
    verbslang

    To hang by the neck, strangle, or otherwise kill; by extension, to eliminate or put an end to something.
18. 18
    noundialectalMulticultural London English

    A falsehood or lie.
19. 19
    noun

    In Germanic myth and folklore, a water spirit able to change its shape; a nix.
20. 20
    noun

    The last sheaf of wheat to be cut, used in certain traditional English harvest ceremonies.

    The person with 'the neck' stands in the centre, grasping it with both his hands

    1837, R. A. R., The Everyday Book