The Collaborative International Dictionary
Neck \Neck\ (n[e^]k), n. [OE. necke, AS. hnecca; akin to D. nek the nape of the neck, G. nacken, OHG. nacch, hnacch, Icel. hnakki, Sw. nacke, Dan. nakke.]
The part of an animal which connects the head and the trunk, and which, in man and many other animals, is more slender than the trunk.
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Any part of an inanimate object corresponding to or resembling the neck of an animal; as:
The long slender part of a vessel, as a retort, or of a fruit, as a gourd.
A long narrow tract of land projecting from the main body, or a narrow tract connecting two larger tracts.
(Mus.) That part of a violin, guitar, or similar instrument, which extends from the head to the body, and on which is the finger board or fret board.
(Mech.) A reduction in size near the end of an object, formed by a groove around it; as, a neck forming the journal of a shaft.
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(Bot.) the point where the base of the stem of a plant arises from the root. Neck and crop, completely; wholly; altogether; roughly and at once. [Colloq.] Neck and neck (Racing), so nearly equal that one cannot be said to be before the other; very close; even; side by side. Neck of a capital. (Arch.) See Gorgerin. Neck of a cascabel (Gun.), the part joining the knob to the base of the breech. Neck of a gun, the small part of the piece between the chase and the swell of the muzzle. Neck of a tooth (Anat.), the constriction between the root and the crown. Neck or nothing (Fig.), at all risks. Neck verse.
The verse formerly read to entitle a party to the benefit of clergy, said to be the first verse of the fifty-first Psalm, ``Miserere mei,'' etc.
--Sir W. Scott.-
Hence, a verse or saying, the utterance of which decides one's fate; a shibboleth. These words, ``bread and cheese,'' were their neck verse or shibboleth to distinguish them; all pronouncing ``broad and cause,'' being presently put to death. --Fuller. Neck yoke.
A bar by which the end of the tongue of a wagon or carriage is suspended from the collars of the harnesses.
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A device with projecting arms for carrying things (as buckets of water or sap) suspended from one's shoulders.
On the neck of, immediately after; following closely; on the heel of. ``Committing one sin on the neck of another.''
--W. Perkins.Stiff neck, obstinacy in evil or wrong; inflexible obstinacy; contumacy. ``I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck.''
--Deut. xxxi. 27.To break the neck of, to destroy the main force of; to break the back of. ``What they presume to borrow from her sage and virtuous rules . . . breaks the neck of their own cause.''
--Milton.To harden the neck, to grow obstinate; to be more and more perverse and rebellious.
--Neh. ix. 17.To tread on the neck of, to oppress; to tyrannize over.
Crop \Crop\ (kr[o^]p), n. [OE. crop, croppe, craw, top of a plant, harvest, AS. crop, cropp, craw, top, bunch, ear of corn; akin to D. krop craw, G. kropf, Icel. kroppr hump or bunch on the body, body; but cf. also W. cropa, croppa, crop or craw of a bird, Ir. & Gael. sgroban. Cf. Croup, Crupper, Croup.]
The pouchlike enlargement of the gullet of birds, serving as a receptacle for food; the craw.
The top, end, or highest part of anything, especially of a plant or tree. [Obs.] ``Crop and root.''
--Chaucer.-
That which is cropped, cut, or gathered from a single felld, or of a single kind of grain or fruit, or in a single season; especially, the product of what is planted in the earth; fruit; harvest.
Lab'ring the soil, and reaping plenteous crop, Corn, wine, and oil.
--Milton. Grain or other product of the field while standing.
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Anything cut off or gathered.
Guiltless of steel, and from the razor free, It falls a plenteous crop reserved for thee.
--Dryden. Hair cut close or short, or the act or style of so cutting; as, a convict's crop.
(Arch.) A projecting ornament in carved stone. Specifically, a finial. [Obs.]
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(Mining.)
Tin ore prepared for smelting.
Outcrop of a vein or seam at the surface.
--Knight.
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A riding whip with a loop instead of a lash.
Neck and crop, altogether; roughly and at once. [Colloq.]
Wiktionary
adv. (context obsolete English) completely and with violence