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yoke

Farming
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A yoke is a wooden bar or frame fitted to draught animals so they can pull a plough, cart, or other load together.

Detailed Definition
A yoke joins animals, commonly oxen, and transfers their combined strength to agricultural equipment. It represents cooperation and controlled power, but also burden and submission. In poetry, the yoke may symbolise labour, marriage, duty, oppression, servitude, or shared fate. To bear a yoke is to accept restraint or responsibility; to break it is to seek freedom. Biblical and political writing frequently draws upon this farm implement because its physical pressure makes abstract domination immediately understandable.
Example
Example in poetry:
A yoke joining oxen can symbolise cooperation and shared labour; Bearing a yoke may represent oppression, duty, or heavy responsibility; Breaking the yoke can become an image of liberation from political or personal control; An ill-fitting yoke wounding an animal may expose the suffering caused by systems that value work above wellbeing.
Additional Notes
A yoke is a shaped bar or frame that joins draught animals, especially oxen, so they can pull together. It transfers force while restricting movement, which explains its rich figurative use. In poetry, bearing a yoke may mean accepting labour, marriage, duty, oppression, or shared fate; breaking it signifies liberation. Related terms include ox, oxen, draught animal, plough, cart, harness, burden, servitude, team, and bondage.
Other Meanings of “yoke”
Also Known As
ox yoke neck yoke
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