yoke

Ever seen a picture of a farm girl carrying two buckets of water hanging from ropes attached to a stick she's balancing across her shoulders? That stick on her shoulders is a yoke.

Yoke also can mean the stick that connects two work animals together, or the act of connecting two things together as with a yoke. A classic tool of farmers for centuries, the yoke has also become a symbol of oppression — no one wants to live under the yoke of a tyrant's rule. Do not confuse yoke with yolk, the yellow part of an egg.

Definitions of yoke
  1. noun
    support consisting of a wooden frame across the shoulders that enables a person to carry buckets hanging from each end
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    type of:
    support
    any device that bears the weight of another thing
  2. noun
    stable gear that joins two draft animals at the neck so they can work together as a team
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    type of:
    saddlery, stable gear, tack
    gear for a horse
  3. noun
    a pair of draft animals joined by a yoke
    “pulled by a yoke of oxen”
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    type of:
    pair
    two people considered as a unit
  4. verb
    link with or as with a yoke
    “yoke the oxen together”
    synonyms: link
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    type of:
    attach
    cause to be attached
  5. verb
    put a yoke on or join with a yoke
    “Yoke the draft horses together”
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    Antonyms:
    unyoke
    remove the yoke from
    types:
    inspan
    attach a yoke or harness to
    type of:
    attach
    cause to be attached
  6. verb
    become joined or linked together
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    type of:
    conjoin, join
    make contact or come together
  7. noun
    a connection (like a clamp or vise) between two things so they move together
    synonyms: coupling
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    type of:
    connecter, connection, connective, connector, connexion
    an instrumentality that connects
  8. noun
    two items of the same kind
    synonyms: brace, couple, couplet, distich, duad, duet, duo, dyad, pair, span, twain, twosome
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    types:
    doubleton
    (bridge) a pair of playing cards that are the only cards in their suit in the hand dealt to a player
    type of:
    2, II, deuce, two
    the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
  9. noun
    an oppressive power
    “under the yoke of a tyrant”
    “they threw off the yoke of domination”
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    type of:
    oppression
    the state of being kept down by unjust use of force or authority: "after years of oppression they finally revolted"
  10. noun
    fabric comprising a fitted part at the top of a garment
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    types:
    tucker
    a detachable yoke of linen or lace worn over the breast of a low-cut dress
    type of:
    cloth, fabric, material, textile
    artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting or crocheting natural or synthetic fibers
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