cheek

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”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: chēk, IPA^(key): /t͡ʃiːk/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːk

Noun

cheek (countable and uncountable, plural cheeks)

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

   Synonym: (obsolete) wang

   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

     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!— […]

3. (anatomy, informal, usually in the plural) The lower part of the buttocks that is often exposed beneath very brief underwear, swimwear, or extremely short shorts.

   Synonyms: arsecheek, asscheek, butt cheek, nether cheek

4. (figurative, informal, uncountable) Impudence.

   Synonyms: impertinence, impudence, (slang) brass neck, (informal) nerve, (informal, especially US) sass, chutzpah

   You’ve got some cheek, asking me for money!

5. (biology, informal) One of the genae, flat areas on the sides of a trilobite's cephalon.
6. 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'

   1. (nautical) pump-cheek, pump-cheeks, a piece of wood cut out fork-shaped in which the brake is fastened by means of a bolt and can thus move around and move the upper box of the pump up and down
7. (in the plural) The branches of a bridle bit. .^[1]
8. Either side of an axehead.
9. (metalworking) 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

cheek (third-person singular simple present cheeks, present participle cheeking, simple past and past participle cheeked)

1. To be impudent towards.

   Don't cheek me, you little rascal!

   • 1942, Emily Carr, “Sunday”, in The Book of Small, Toronto, Ont.: Oxford University Press, →OCLC:

     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 […]

   • 1948, George Orwell, Coming Up for Air:

     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.

   • 2013, Louise Candlish, The Disappearance of Emily Marr:

     'Well, I do live next door,' I said, in no way antagonistically, and yet I immediately felt as if I had cheeked the headmistress.

2. To pull a horse's head back toward the saddle using the cheek strap of the bridle.
   • 1964, John Hendrix, If I Can Do It Horseback: A Cow-Country Sketchbook, page 183:

     Such horses might need to be "cheeked" for a while.

   • 2009, Dusty Richards, The Sundown Chaser:

     Thurman caught the bridle headstall and cheeked the horse's head near his left knee when he swung aboard.

   • 2012, J. Evetts Haley, Charles Goodnight: Cowman and Plainsman:

     He cheeked the horse and stepped into the saddle.

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

   The squirrel cheeked some nuts before heading back to it's nest.

References

Anagrams

• Keech, keech

Noun

cheek

1. Alternative form of cheke