A yoke is a wooden frame that fits around the necks of two animals, usually oxen, so they can work together to pull a heavy load like a plow or wagon. The yoke rests on their shoulders and connects them side by side, making it possible for them to combine their strength. For thousands of years, before tractors existed, farmers used yokes to help their animals pull plows through fields to prepare soil for planting.

The word also describes anything that connects two things or holds them together. In an egg, the yellow yolk (spelled differently) sits in the center, but a yoke in clothing is the fitted part around the shoulders of a shirt or dress that the rest of the fabric hangs from.

As a verb, to yoke means to join or link things together. People also use yoke to describe something that weighs a person down or limits their freedom, like a burden they must carry. A student might feel yoked by too much homework. This meaning comes from how a yoke physically restrains animals, forcing them to go where their owner directs. When someone throws off a yoke, they're breaking free from something that controlled or restricted them.