yoke
part of speech
noun (a yoke, yokes); verb (yoke, yokes, yoked, yoking)
meaning for a pupil
1) A yoke is a wooden bar fixed across the necks of two animals, usually oxen, so they can pull a plough or cart together. tree →
2) A yoke is also a bar across a person's shoulders for carrying two buckets. tree →
3) To yoke (verb) means to join animals with a yoke, or to join two things together. tree →
4) (formal, Bible) A yoke is something that controls people or is a heavy burden: «the yoke of slavery». tree →
5) (Ireland, slang) A «yoke» is any thing or gadget whose name you can't remember. tree →
sense in the lessons
In history and farming lessons, oxen were yoked to plough fields. In the Bible and church, Jesus says, «My yoke is easy and my burden is light» (Matthew 11:30), meaning following him is not crushing. In history lessons, nations threw off the yoke of an empire. In Irish speech, «Pass me that yoke» is everyday slang. Phrases: «under the yoke of», «throw off the yoke», «yoked together».
examples
- The farmer put the yoke on the two oxen. tree →
- The milkmaid carried two pails on a wooden yoke. tree →
- The people threw off the yoke of the cruel king. tree →
- (Bible) Jesus said, «My yoke is easy and my burden is light.» tree →
- The two horses were yoked together to pull the cart. tree →
- (Ireland, slang) «Where's the yoke for the telly?» Dad asked, meaning the remote. tree →
- The yoke snapped with a twang, and they lumbered off together. tree →
note
Countable: yoke, yokes. Homophone trap: «yoke» (wooden bar) and «yolk» (the yellow middle of an egg) sound the same, «yoke». The Irish slang sense is informal and friendly.
In the corpora
- And now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder.
- It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «yoke» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.