Definition of "hock" []

• The tarsal joint of the hind leg of a digitigrade quadruped, such as a horse, corresponding to the human ankle but bending in the opposite direction. (noun)
• A joint in the leg of a domestic fowl similar to the hock of a quadruped. (noun)
• A small cut of meat, especially ham, from the front or hind leg directly above the foot. (noun)
• To disable by cutting the tendons of the hock; hamstring. (verb-transitive)
• Chiefly British Rhine wine. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Because it's almost as wide as the Taconic State Parkway, I thought I ran an even greater risk than usual of caroming off the roadway's guardrails and rock faces and spending the rest of my life in hock as I tried to repay Range Rover for the repairs."
• "The ruddbot is in hock to the mining unions and the miners whereas Abbot only represents the miners. methinks this puts the Ruddbot in a weaker postion."
• "The Obama inner circle hasn't yet been able to wrest control of the agency from all those career scientists, who apparently are in hock to industry."