neck

Etymology 1

From Middle English nekke, nakke, from Old English hnecca, *hnæcca (“neck, nape”), from Proto-Germanic *hnakkô (“nape, neck”), from Proto-Indo-European *knog-, *kneg- (“back of the head, nape, neck”). Cognate with Scots nek (“neck”), North Frisian neek, neeke, Nak (“neck”), Saterland Frisian Näkke (“neck”), West Frisian nekke (“neck”), Dutch nek (“neck”), German Low German Nack (“neck”), German Nacken (“nape of the neck”), Danish nakke (“neck”), Swedish nacke (“nape of the neck”), Icelandic hnakki (“neck”), Tocharian A kñuk (“neck, nape”). Possibly a mutated variant of *kneug/k (compare Old English hnocc (“hook, penis”), Welsh cnwch (“joint, knob”), Latvian knaūķis (“dwarf”). Doublet of nek. More at nook. Displaced halse (“neck, throat”) and swire (“neck”).

noun

1. (anatomy) The part of the body connecting the head and the trunk found in humans and some animals.
   Giraffes have long necks.
2. The corresponding part in some other anatomical contexts.
3. The part of a shirt, dress etc., which fits a person's neck.
4. The tapered part of a bottle toward the opening.
5. (botany) The slender tubelike extension atop an archegonium, through which the sperm swim to reach the egg.
6. (music) The extension of any stringed instrument on which a fingerboard is mounted
7. A long narrow tract of land projecting from the main body, or a narrow tract connecting two larger tracts.
8. (engineering) A reduction in size near the end of an object, formed by a groove around it.
   a neck forming the journal of a shaft
9. The constriction between the root and crown of a tooth.
10. (architecture) The gorgerin of a capital.
11. (geology) A volcanic plug, solidified lava filling the vent of an extinct volcano.
12. (firearms) The small part of a gun between the chase and the swell of the muzzle.
13. (figurative) A person's life.
    to risk one's neck; to save someone's neck
14. (informal, MLE, slang) A falsehood; a lie.
15. (slang) Fellatio
    Shorty throw neck like a geese She make me speak Portuguese 2016, “Pimptations”, performed by Smino
    She drop neck for a check and a paystub 2018, “Florida Thang”, in The South Got Something To Say, performed by Pouya
16. (now historical) A bundle of wheat used in certain English harvest ceremonies.
    The person with 'the neck' stands in the centre, grasping it with both his hands 1837, R. A. R., The Everyday Book, page 1169
    "The neck" is generally hung up in the farmhouse, where it remains for two or three years. 1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 7, page 266

verb

1. (transitive, slang) To hang by the neck; strangle; kill, eliminate.
   Go neck yourself.
2. (intransitive, informal, chiefly US) To make love; to intently kiss or cuddle; to canoodle.
   Alan and Betty were necking in the back of a car when Betty's dad caught them.
3. (transitive, slang) To drink or swallow rapidly.
   Actually, mostly I swan around in my silver sports car, necking drugs, and feeling sorry for myself. 2005, Stephen Price, Monkey Man, page 146
   In the dim light, punters sit sipping raspberry-flavoured Tokyo martinis, losing the freestyle sushi off their chopsticks or necking Asahi beer. 2006, Sarah Johnstone, Tom Masters, London
   The 40-year-old Mike Skinner] is happy to put his body on the line in other ways, swapping a mug of tea for a fan's double pint of lager and messily necking it in one. 26 January 2019, Kitty Empire [pseudonym], “The Streets review – the agony and ecstasy of a great everyman”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2019-04-08
4. (intransitive) To decrease in diameter.
   Since this temperature would place the bolt in its creep range, it will slowly stretch, necking down as it does so. Eventually it will get too thin to support the weight, and the bolt will break. 2007, John H. Bickford, Introduction to the Design and Behavior of Bolted Joints, page 272

Etymology 2

noun

1. (folklore) A shapeshifting water spirit in Germanic mythology and folklore; a nix.