hock

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

hock, n. [So called from Hochheim, in Germany.].

 A Rhenish wine, of a light yellow color, either sparkling or still. The name is also given indiscriminately to all Rhenish wines.

hock, n. [ AS. hh the heel; prob. akin to Icel. hāsinn hock sinew, Dan. hasc, G. hechse, hächse, LG. hacke, D. hak; also to L. coxa hip (cf. Cuisses), Skr. kaksha armpit. Heel.].

•  The joint in the hind limb of quadrupeds between the leg and shank, or tibia and tarsus, and corresponding to the ankle in man.  [1913 Webster]
•  The popliteal space; the ham.  [1913 Webster]

hock, v. t. 

•  To disable by cutting the tendons of the hock; to hamstring; to hough.  [1913 Webster]
•  To pawn; as, to hock one's jewelry.  [PJC]

hock, n. 

•  The state of having been pawned; usually preceded by in; as, all her jewelry is in hock.  [PJC]
•  The state of being in debt; as, it took him two years to get out of hock.  [PJC]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

hock, n.
1 the joint of a quadruped's hind leg between the knee and the fetlock.
2 a knuckle of pork; the lower joint of a ham.

hock, n. Brit. a German white wine from the Rhineland (properly that of Hochheim on the river Main).

hock, v. & n. esp. US colloq.
--v.tr. pawn; pledge.
--n. a pawnbroker's pledge.

Idiom

in hock
1 in pawn.
2 in debt.
3 in prison.

Etymology

Du. hok hutch, prison, debt

THESAURUS

hock

ankle, bail, bayonet legs, bond, bottomry, bowlegs, calf, cnemis, deposit, drumstick, earnest, earnest money, escrow, foreleg, gage, gamb, gambrel, gigot, go bail, ham, handsel, hind leg, hostage, hypothecate, impignorate, jamb, knee, leg, limb, mainprise, mortgage, pawn, pignus, pledge, podite, popliteal space, post, put in hock, put in pawn, put up, recognizance, replevin, replevy, scissor-legs, shank, shin, spout, stake, stems, stumps, surety, tarsus, token payment, trotters, undertaking, vadimonium, vadium