# neck

Pronunciation: US say "NEK" /nɛk/; UK

## Noun

1. The part of the body connecting the head to the trunk in humans and many animals.
   - Simple: The part of the body that joins the head to the rest of the body.
   - _The doctor examined the swelling on the patient's neck._
   - _Giraffes have a remarkably long neck for reaching high branches._
2. The part of a shirt, dress, or similar garment that fits around the neck.
   - Simple: The part of a shirt or dress that fits around a person's neck.
   - _The neck of the dress was embroidered with tiny beads._
   - _He complained that the neck of his shirt had stretched out of shape._
3. On a stringed instrument, the long projecting part that carries the fingerboard.
   - Simple: The long part of a guitar or violin where you press the strings.
   - _The violin's neck had to be repaired after the fall._
   - _A wider neck makes some chords easier to reach._
4. The narrowing upper part of a bottle that leads toward its opening.
   - Simple: The narrow part of a bottle near the top, where it opens.
   - _She wiped the neck of the wine bottle before pouring a glass._
   - _The narrow neck made it hard to clean the inside of the flask._
5. A long, narrow strip of land projecting from a larger area, or joining two larger ones.
   - Simple: A narrow strip of land that sticks out or joins two larger areas.
   - _The fort guarded the neck of land leading into the peninsula._
   - _Erosion has slowly worn away the sandy neck connecting the two beaches._
7. A person's life, thought of as something that can be put in danger or saved.
   - Simple: A person's life, especially when it is seen as being at risk.
   - _A good lawyer can save your neck when everything seems lost._
   - _He stuck his neck out to defend a colleague nobody else would back._
8. 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.
   - Simple: A narrow part of something in the body, like the thin part of a bone near its end or of a tooth.
   - _The surgeon repaired a fracture at the neck of the femur._
   - _Inflammation had developed around the neck of the bladder._
11. A place near an object's end where a circumferential groove makes it thinner.
   - Simple: A narrow groove cut around an object near its end, making that part thinner.
   - _The shaft was machined with a neck to hold the retaining ring._
   - _Stress tends to concentrate at the neck of the fastener._
12. On an archegonium, the slender tubular part at the top, which sperm swim through to reach the egg.
   - Simple: The thin tube at the top of a plant's egg organ, 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._
13. The plain band at the top of a column's shaft, just below the capital proper; the gorgerin.
   - Simple: The narrow band at the top of a column, just below the wider carved part.
   - _The architect specified a plain neck below each Doric capital._
   - _Restorers cleaned the weathered neck where the shaft meets the capital._
14. The narrow section of a gun barrel between the chase and the swell of the muzzle.
   - Simple: The thin part of a cannon's barrel just behind the wider mouth at the front.
   - _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._
15. Slang for oral stimulation of a man's genitals; fellatio. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A slang word for oral sex performed on a man.
   - _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._

## Verb

6. To kiss and cuddle amorously with someone; to canoodle. *(colloquial, US)*
   - Simple: To kiss and hold someone closely in a romantic way.
   - _The two of them necked in the shadows behind the gym._
   - _Teenagers neck at the drive-in long after the film ends._
9. To gulp down a drink rapidly. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To drink something down very quickly in one go.
   - _She necked a glass of water and ran back outside._
   - _They neck their drinks and head straight to the dance floor._
10. To decrease in diameter, especially at a localized point where a material thins under tension.
   - Simple: To get narrower in one spot, like stretched metal thinning before it snaps.
   - _As the steel bar is stretched, it begins to neck just before fracture._
   - _The specimen necked sharply at its midpoint during the tensile test._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A volcanic plug of solidified lava that fills the vent of an extinct volcano and is later left exposed by erosion.
- (verb) To hang by the neck, strangle, or otherwise kill; by extension, to eliminate or put an end to something.
- (noun) A falsehood or lie.
- (noun) In Germanic myth and folklore, a water spirit able to change its shape; a nix.
- (noun) The last sheaf of wheat to be cut, used in certain traditional English harvest ceremonies.

## Origin

From Middle English nekke, from Old English hnecca ("neck, nape"), from Proto-Germanic *hnakkô and probably ultimately a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "back of the head, nape, neck." It is related to Dutch nek, German Nacken, and Swedish nacke, and it replaced the older English words halse and swire.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/neck (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).