yoke ~ yolk
[the same pronunciation that rhymes with “coke”]
“Yoke”, as a noun, is ‘a wooden cross bar or frame with loops or bows at either end, fitted or tied round the necks of a pair of draught animals, to make them work together; a pair of draught animals such as oxen, horses, etc. tied to a wooden cross bar or frame; a bar or wood or a frame with a pail or bucket or some other load on either side fitted or carried on a person’s shoulder; a bar used to connect the collar of a horse to the pole of a wagon or cart; a crosspiece to which steering cables are attached on a boat’s rudder; a piece of garment that is tightly fitted around the neck and shoulders or at the hips from which the main piece of a loose material hangs in folds; a clamp or vice in a machine that holds two parts together and/or controls its movement; a simple structure made by keeping two spears upright with a third one placed across them which was used to make the captured enemies walk under them as an act of insult’, as a verb, it is ‘to tie draught animals to a yoke; to connect two ideas, people or things together; to force people into bounded labour’,
e.g.
The farmer has a yoke of fine oxen.
The fruit vendor carried his load on a yoke, and went around the place.
The tribal people suffered physically and mentally under the yoke of slavery.
The Lord asked his groom to yoke the horses.
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“Yolk” (as a noun) is ‘the yellow, main part in the centre of the white substance of an egg of a bird or reptile (crawling animals); the oily (grease/sweat) substance in the natural sheep’s wool’,
e.g.
Some people cannot digest the yolk of an egg.
The old proverb say: ‘Who breaks the egg will find the yolk.’ [i.e. who makes some effort to do something will get the benefits]
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Author: B C Kumar
Mr. Kumar, an English language teacher, having taught in many countries around the world including Ethiopia and Oman shares this English Language Reference website using material that he has written and compiled during the past 20 years.
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