(1.) Fitted on the neck of oxen for the purpose of binding to them the traces by which they might draw the plough, etc. (Numbers 19:2; Deuteronomy 21:3). It was a curved piece of wood called 'ol.

(2.) In Jeremiah 27:2; 28:10, 12 the word in the Authorized Version rendered "yoke" is motah, which properly means a "staff," or as in the Revised Version, "bar."

These words in the Hebrew are both used figuratively of severe bondage, or affliction, or subjection (Leviticus 26:13; 1 Kings 12:4; Isaiah 47:6; Lamentations 1:14; 3:27). In the New Testament the word "yoke" is also used to denote servitude (Matthew 11:29, 30; Acts 15:10; Galatians 5:1).

(3.) In 1 Samuel 11:7, 1 Kings 19:21, Job 1:3 the word thus translated is tzemed, which signifies a pair, two oxen yoked or coupled together, and hence in 1 Samuel 14:14 it represents as much land as a yoke of oxen could plough in a day, like the Latin jugum. In Isaiah 5:10 this word in the plural is translated "acres."

Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) A bar or frame of wood by which two oxen are joined at the heads or necks for working together.

2. (n.) A frame or piece resembling a yoke, as in use or shape.

3. (n.) A frame of wood fitted to a person's shoulders for carrying pails, etc., suspended on each side; as, a milkmaid's yoke.

4. (n.) A frame worn on the neck of an animal, as a cow, a pig, a goose, to prevent passage through a fence.

5. (n.) A frame or convex piece by which a bell is hung for ringing it. See Illust. of Bell.

6. (n.) A crosspiece upon the head of a boat's rudder. To its ends lines are attached which lead forward so that the boat can be steered from amidships.

7. (n.) A bent crosspiece connecting two other parts.

8. (n.) A tie securing two timbers together, not used for part of a regular truss, but serving a temporary purpose, as to provide against unusual strain.

9. (n.) A band shaped to fit the shoulders or the hips, and joined to the upper full edge of the waist or the skirt.

10. (n.) Fig.: That which connects or binds; a chain; a link; a bond connection.

11. (n.) A mark of servitude; hence, servitude; slavery; bondage; service.

12. (n.) Two animals yoked together; a couple; a pair that work together.

13. (n.) The quantity of land plowed in a day by a yoke of oxen.

14. (n.) A portion of the working day; as, to work two yokes, that is, to work both portions of the day, or morning and afternoon.

15. (v. t.) To put a yoke on; to join in or with a yoke; as, to yoke oxen, or pair of oxen.

16. (v. t.) To couple; to join with another.

17. (v. t.) To enslave; to bring into bondage; to restrain; to confine.

18. (v. i.) To be joined or associated; to be intimately connected; to consort closely; to mate.