# yolk

Pronunciation: say "YOHK" US /joʊk/, UK /jəʊk/

## Noun

1. The yellow, rounded part of an egg, surrounded by the white, that nourishes the developing young.
   - Simple: The round yellow part inside an egg, which feeds the young animal growing there.
   - _The chick embryo draws its nourishment from the yolk as it develops._
   - _A good hollandaise depends on yolks that are warmed slowly so they don't scramble._
2. The grease in a sheep's fleece, also called lanolin.
   - Simple: The natural grease in a sheep's wool.
   - _Shearers' hands grow soft from the yolk in the fleeces they handle all day._
   - _The scouring plant recovers the yolk from raw wool and sells it to cosmetics makers._

## Verb

3. To produce yolk, as a female animal does while developing her eggs.
   - Simple: To make yolk inside the body, as female animals do before laying eggs.
   - _Female turtles yolk up their eggs in the weeks before nesting._
   - _The scan showed the snake was already yolking, so a clutch was likely within weeks._

## Origin

From Middle English yolke, yelke, from Old English ġeolca (“the yellow part, yolk”), from ġeolu (“yellow”).

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