neck 1 S2 W2 / nek / 名词

1 part of the body [可数名词] the part of your body that joins your head to your shoulders, or the same part of an animal or bird

around sb’s neck

Jean wore a string of pearls around her neck.

Mike rubbed the back of his neck.

You have a lot of tension in your neck muscles.

He patted his horse’s neck.

She had a mass of golden hair, which she wore in a coil at the nape (= back ) of her neck .

The dog picked up the puppy and carried it by the scruff (= back ) of the neck into the house.

2 clothing [可数名词] the part of a piece of clothing that goes around your neck

neck of

The neck of his shirt was open.

The sweater has a round neck and long sleeves.

V-necked/open-necked etc

a navy V-necked sweater → crew neck , polo neck , scoop neck , turtleneck , V-neck

3 narrow part [可数名词] the narrow part of something, usually at the top

neck of

Lara put the cork back in the neck of the bottle.

a crack in the neck of the violin

4 be up to your neck in something

a) to be very busy with something :

She’s up to her neck in work.

b) to be in a difficult situation that is hard to escape from :

Jim’s up to his neck in debt.

5 neck and neck (with somebody) informal if two competitors or groups are neck and neck in a competition or race, they are level with each other :

Opinion polls show the two main parties are running neck and neck.

6 in this/sb’s neck of the woods informal in a particular area or part of the country :

I haven’t been in this neck of the woods for years.

7 get it in the neck British English spoken to be punished or criticized :

If we don’t make some changes we’ll all get it in the neck.

8 by a neck informal if a race, especially a horse race, is won by a neck, the winner is only a very short distance in front :

Our horse won by a neck.

9 attitude [不可数名词] ( also brass neck ) British English informal a confident attitude that makes you able to do unreasonable or shocking things without feeling embarrassed 同义词 nerve , cheek :

I don’t know how they have the neck to charge that much!

10 land [可数名词] a narrow piece of land that comes out of a wider part :

a neck of land between a lake and the sea

11 (hang) around your neck if something hangs around your neck, it keeps causing you problems → be breathing down sb’s neck at breathe ( 5 ) , → I’ll wring sb’s neck at wring ( 6 ) , → pain in the neck at pain 1 ( 3 ) , → risk your neck at risk 2 ( 1 ) , → save sb’s neck at save 1 ( 11 ) , → stick your neck out at stick out ( 3 )