yoke

Word family

yoke1 /jəʊk $ joʊk/ noun [countableC] → yolk

1. TAa wooden bar used for keeping two animals together, especially cattle, when they are pulling heavy loads (牛)轭

2. TZa frame that you put across your shoulders so that you can carry two equal loads which hang from either side of it 〔挑东西用的〕轭状扁担

3 the yoke of something literaryLIMIT something that restricts your freedom, making life difficult 某事物的束缚[羁绊]

the yoke of tradition

传统的枷锁

Examples from the Corpus

the yoke of something• They longed to break free from the yoke of Communism.• Only through such an accidental, miraculous chance could anyone expect to shake off the yoke of grimly limited prospects.• True, the judiciary has changed for the better since shaking off the yoke of the executive.• At times the yoke of his vocation was almost unbearable, although there is no indication that he ever regretted assuming it.• While I understood none of this, Edna was tied to the yoke of undesired motherhood.• Audiences yearn to groan under the yoke of suffering they may never have experienced.• Visiting women from other countries struggling under the yoke of imperialism spoke to and advised us.• She survived until my sushi-maker served up the requisite salmon roe topped with the yoke of a tiny ostrich egg.

4. DCCa part of a skirt or shirt just below the waist or collar, from which the main piece of material hangs in folds 裙腰；上衣抵肩

Examples from the Corpus

yoke• At the moment his shoulders simply felt bowed, as if some one had laid a yoke across them.• For centuries, every autumn horses like Duchess were harnessed to a yoke.• He was wearing dark trousers and a blue serge shirt with a yoke across the front.• The next stage is removing the white and yoke.• They are like a great yoke sitting on our shoulders.• Only through such an accidental, miraculous chance could anyone expect to shake off the yoke of grimly limited prospects.• Looping a seatbelt over the yoke or stick won't really help much in high winds or gusty conditions.• At times the yoke of his vocation was almost unbearable, although there is no indication that he ever regretted assuming it.