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cheek

noun
/t͡ʃiːk/

Etymology

From Middle English cheeke, cheke, cheoke, choke, from Old English ċēce, ċēace, ċēoce (“cheek; jaw”), from Proto-West Germanic *kākā, *keukā (“jaw, cheek”), from Proto-Germanic *kēkǭ, *keukǭ (“jaw; palate; pharynx”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ǵyewh₁- (“to chew”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Sooke (“cheek”), West Frisian tsjeak (“jaw”), Dutch kaak (“jaw; cheek”), Swedish käke (“jaw; jowl”), Norwegian kjake (“jaw”), Old Norse kók (“mouth; gullet”).

  1. derived from *ǵyewh₁-✻ — “to chew”
  2. inherited from *kēkǭ✻
  3. inherited from *kākā✻
  4. inherited from ċēce
  5. inherited from cheeke

Definitions

  1. The soft skin on each side of the face, below the eyes

    The soft skin on each side of the face, below the eyes; the outer surface of the sides of the oral cavity.

    • There are some shrewd contents in yon same paper, / That steals the colours from Bassanio's cheek: / Some dear friend dead; else nothing in the world / Could turn so much the constitution / Of any constant man. What, worse and worse!— […]

  2. The lower part of the buttocks that is often exposed beneath very brief underwear,…

    The lower part of the buttocks that is often exposed beneath very brief underwear, swimwear, or extremely short shorts.

  3. Impudence.

    • You’ve got some cheek, asking me for money!
  4. ›+ 11 more definitions

    1. One of the genae, flat areas on the sides of a trilobite's cephalon.

    2. One of the pieces of a machine, or of timber or stonework, that form corresponding sides…

      One of the pieces of a machine, or of timber or stonework, that form corresponding sides or a similar pair.

      • the cheeks of a vice
      • the cheeks of a gun carriage

    3. The branches of a bridle bit.

    4. Either side of an axehead.

    5. The middle section of a flask, made so that it can be moved laterally, to permit the…

      The middle section of a flask, made so that it can be moved laterally, to permit the removal of the pattern from the mould.

    6. To be impudent towards.

      • Don't cheek me, you little rascal!
      • We did not like him much because he kissed us and was preachy when we cheeked pretty Tallie, who did not rule over us as Dede did […]
      • We cheeked him over the fence until he chased us off, and then we went down to the Walton Road and cheeked the carters, keeping on the other side of the hedge so.

    7. To pull a horse's head back toward the saddle using the cheek strap of the bridle.

      • Such horses might need to be "cheeked" for a while.
      • Thurman caught the bridle headstall and cheeked the horse's head near his left knee when he swung aboard.
      • He cheeked the horse and stepped into the saddle.

    8. To put or keep something in one’s cheek.

      • The squirrel cheeked some nuts before heading back to its nest.

    9. A pre-Norman surname.

    10. An unincorporated community in Carter County, Oklahoma, United States.

    11. An unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Texas, United States, established by…

      An unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Texas, United States, established by John R. Cheek.

The neighborhood

Derived

bench cheek, booty cheek, butment cheek, butt-cheek, cheek-bone, cheek bone, cheekbone, cheek-by-jowl, cheek by jowl, cheeked, cheeker, cheek for chowl, cheekful, cheek guard, cheekie, cheekini, cheekless, cheekpiece, cheek plate, cheek pouch, cheek to cheek, cheek to jowl, cheek-to-jowl, cheek tooth, cheeky, chock full, doorcheek, face cheek, fixed cheek, free cheek, slapped cheek syndrome, spiny-cheek sleeper, tongue firmly in cheek, tongue in cheek, tongue-in-cheek, to one's own cheek, tuftedcheek, turn the other cheek, with one's tongue in one's cheek, with tongue in cheek · +4 more

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for cheek. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA