cheek

Meanings

Noun

• The soft skin on each side of the face, below the eyes; the outer surface of the sides of the oral cavity.
• The lower part of the buttocks that is often exposed beneath very brief underwear, swimwear, or extremely short shorts.
• Impudence.
• One of the genae, flat areas on the sides of a trilobite's cephalon.
• One of the pieces of a machine, or of timber or stonework, that form corresponding sides or a similar pair.
• The branches of a bridle bit. .
• Either side of an axehead.
• The middle section of a flask, made so that it can be moved laterally, to permit the removal of the pattern from the mould.

Verb

• To be impudent towards.
• To pull a horse's head back toward the saddle using the cheek strap of the bridle.

Origin

• From Middle English cheeke, cheke, cheoke, choke, from Old English ċēce, ċēace, ċēoce, from Proto-Germanic *kekǭ, *kēkǭ, *kakǭ, *kaukǭ, *keukǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵyewh₁-.
• Cognate with Saterland Frisian Sooke, West Frisian tsjeak, Dutch kaak, Swedish käke, Norwegian kjake, Old Norse kók.