Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

cheek

Syllabification: (cheek)
Pronunciation: /CHēk/

Translate cheek | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of cheek

noun

  • 1either side of the face below the eye:tears rolled down her cheeks
  • either of the inner sides of the mouth:Sam had to bite his cheeks to keep from laughing
  • informal either of the buttocks.
  • either of two side pieces or parts in a structure.
  • 2 [in singular] impertinent talk or behavior:he had the cheek to complain that’s enough of your cheek!

Phrases

cheek by jowl

close together; side by side:the houses were packed cheek by jowl along the coast
[from a use of jowl in the sense 'cheek'; the phrase was originally cheek by cheek]

cheek to cheek

(of two people dancing) with their heads close together in an intimate way.

turn the other cheek

refrain from retaliating when one has been attacked or insulted.
[with biblical allusion to Matt. 5:39]

Derivatives

cheeked

adjective
[in combination]:rosy-cheeked

Origin:

Old English cē(a)ce, cēoce 'cheek, jaw'; related to Dutch kaak

cheek in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of cheek in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

  |  Cite

Word of the day

kempt

/ kɛm(p)t /
adjective
maintained in a neat and clean condition …