neck  (n ĕk)
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n.1. Anatomy a. The part of the body joining the head to the shoulders or trunk. b. A narrow or constricted area of a bodily structure, as of a bone, that joins its parts; a cervix. c. The part of a tooth between the crown and root. 2. The part of a garment around or near the neck. 3. A relatively narrow elongation, projection, or connecting part: a neck of land; the neck of a flask. 4. Music The narrow part along which the strings of an instrument extend to the pegs. 6. Geology Solidified lava filling the vent of an extinct volcano. 7. The siphon of a bivalve mollusk, such as a clam. 8. A narrow margin: won by a neck. v. necked, neck·ing, necks v.intr. Informal To kiss and caress amorously. v.tr. To strangle or decapitate (a fowl). Idioms: neck and neck So close that the lead between competitors is virtually indeterminable. up to (one's) neck Deeply involved or occupied fully: I'm up to my neck in paperwork.
[Middle English nekke, from Old English hnecca.]
neckless adj.  (click for a larger image) neckShiprock Peak, a volcanic neck, near Shiprock, New Mexico |
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