yoke1

noun

• 1a wooden crosspiece that is fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to the plough or cart that they are to pull.
• used to refer to something regarded as oppressive or restrictive:the yoke of imperialism
• (in ancient Rome) an arch of three spears representing a yoke, under which a defeated army was made to march.
• (plural same or yokes) a pair of animals yoked together:a yoke of oxen
• archaic the amount of land that one pair of oxen could plough in a day.

• 2a part of a garment that fits over the shoulders and to which the main part of the garment is attached: the pinafore fell amply from a short yoke

• 3a frame fitting over the neck and shoulders of a person, used for carrying pails or baskets.

• 4the crossbar of a rudder.
• a bar of soft iron between the poles of an electromagnet.

• 5chiefly North American a control lever in an aircraft.

verb

• put a yoke on (a pair of animals); couple or attach with or to a yoke:a plough drawn by a camel and donkey yoked together
• cause (two people or things) to be joined in a close relationship:Hong Kong’s dollar has been yoked to America’s