cheek

▪ I. cheek, n.
    (tʃiːk)
    Forms: 1 céce, céace, (ceike, ceke, ceoce), 3 cheoke, 3–7 chek(e, 4 chooke, choke, cheake, (chyke, cheche), 4–7 cheeke, 5 chik(e, (6 Sc. cheik), 6– cheek.
    [OE. (Anglian) céce, (WS.) céace (from c⊇ǽce, cǽce) fem.:—WGer. type *kâkâ; whence also MDu. câke, Du. kaak, MLG. and mod.LG. kâke, kêke. It is doubtful whether the late WSax. instance of ceoke is other than an error: if it were really céoce, it might agree with Frisian forms which appear to point to an OTeut. type *keukôn-, beside the *kæ̂kôn- implied by WGer. *kâkâ. No related forms are known outside Teut.
    The ME. variant choke, chook, may go with ceoke; but see choke n.²]
    I. In the animal body.
    † 1. a. The jaw, jaw-bone; later called ‘cheek-bone’. Obs.

c 825 Vesp. Psalter xxxi(i). 9 Cecan heara ᵹeteh. c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 157 Mandibula, ceacban, vel ceacan, vel cinban. a 1225 Ancr. R. 70 Þe two cheoken beoð þe two grinstones. Þe tunge is þe cleppe. c 1386 Chaucer Monk's T. 48 And hadde no wepen but an asses cheeke.

    † b. pl. (also sing.) The chaps, chops, or fauces; the swallow. Obs.

c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 48 Wiþ þara ceacna ᵹeswelle. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 73 Cleued be mi tunge to mine cheken [adhereat lingua mea faucibus meis, etc.]. 1382 Wyclif Ecclus. xxxi. 72 Ne opene thou out thi cheeke rathere. c 1450 Metr. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 626 Cheke, faux.

    † c. Used like beard, teeth, etc. in defiance, cursing. maugre thy (his, etc.) chekes: see maugre.

1362 Langland P. Pl. A. iv. 37 Hou þat Wrong..Rauischede Rose Reynaldes lemmon, And Mergrete of hire Maydenhod maugre hire chekes. 1377 Ibid. B. vi. 158 We wil haue owre wille, maugre þi chekes. a 1553 Udall Roister Doister v. iv Roister Doisters champion, I shrewe his best cheeke.

    2. a. The fleshy lateral wall of the mouth; the side of the face below the eye, in man or beast.

c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. v. 39 Gif hua ðec slaes in suiðra ceica ðin. c 975 Rushw. G. ibid., On ðæt swiðran ceke [Ags. G. wenge, Hatton G. wænge]. c 1000 Vocab. in Wr.-Wülcker 290/25 Male ceocan. a 1225 Ancr. R. 106 Me to-beot his cheoken. a 1300 Cursor M. 24533 Bath frunt and chek [v.r. cheke], Muth and nese, and eien eke. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 615 Ys chyke þat swerd þo cam so neȝ [orig. draft, His cheche þat swerd cam ful neyȝ]. 1486 Bk. St. Alban's C vj b, When thou seeth thy hauke vppon his mouth and his chekis blobbed. 1535 Coverdale Deut. xxxiv. 7 His..chekes were not fallen. a 1550 Christis Kirke Gr. viii, Throw baith the cheikis. 1615 Sir J. Harington Epigr. No. 19 When others kisse with lip, you giue the cheeke. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 602 Care Sat on his faded cheek. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 317 ¶45 Mr. Nisby dined with me. First Course Marrow-bones, Second, Ox-cheek. 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. liv, I signified my contempt of him, by thrusting my tongue in my cheek. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 185 The tears stole silent down her cheeks. 1831 R. Knox Cloquet's Anat. 599 The Cheeks form the lateral walls of the mouth. Externally they have no precise limits.

    (β) in form choke, chook.

c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 1820 Þer nekkes, chynnes, chekes [v.r. chokes]. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 239 Chookes and lippes i-schaue. a 1400 in Leg. Rood (1871) 218 Goddis sone a mayden soke, Milk ran by þe childys choke.

    b. to turn the (other) cheek [in allusion to Matthew v. 39, Luke vi. 29]: to permit or invite the repetition of a blow, attack, or the like; to refuse to retaliate.

1850 O. W. Holmes Astræa 50 Wisdom has taught us to be calm and meek, To take one blow, and turn the other cheek. 1913 G. S. Lee Crowds iv. x. 343 Turning the other cheek is a kind of moral jiu-jitsu. 1930 J. A. Williamson Short Hist. Brit. Expansion (ed. 2) II. vi. v. 247 The language was certainly provocative, and nothing but the consciousness of a good cause enabled Lord Salisbury to turn the cheek to the smiter. As it was, he made a conciliatory answer. 1969 Listener 28 Aug. 275/1 Nye [Bevan] was never one to turn the other cheek, and I have no doubt there were conflicts of personality and frustrated ambition behind his resignation.

    c. pl. The buttocks. slang.

a 1600 Deloney Gentle Craft (1639) ii. ii, Spied both his great cheekes full of small blisters. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 91 Shift stuck between the cheeks behind. 1959 N. Mailer Advts. for Myself (1961) 369 A car..is already a girl... The tail-lights are cloacal the rear is split like the cheeks of a drum-majorette.

    3. fig. of the sea, the heavens, night, etc., personified. (Formerly in sense ‘chops’ (from 1 b), as in quot. 1432.)

1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 49 The chekes and begynnenges [fauces originales] of those armes of the see. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, iii. iii. 57 The cloudie Cheekes of Heauen. 1813 Byron Giaour 12 Ocean's cheek Reflects the tints of many a peak. 1827 Pollok Course T. 1, Every flower of fairest cheek.

    4. colloq. a. Insolence in speaking to any one; ‘jaw’. Phr. to give cheek: = cheek v.

1840 E. C. Bailey in Haileybury Observer II. 53. 1840 Marryat Poor Jack xxii, The man, who was a sulky saucy sort of chap..gives cheek. 1848 J. Mitchell Jail Jrnl. 20 July, I once asked..what fault a man had committed who was flogged..‘For giving cheek, sir’. 1884 G. Moore Mummer's Wife (1887) 133 If he gives me any of his cheek I'll knock him down.

    b. Cool confidence, effrontery, impudence. to have the cheek (to do anything): to have the ‘face’, audacity or effrontery.

1852 Dickens Bleak Ho. liv. (D.) On account of his having so much cheek. 1860 Reade Cloister & H. xlviii. (D.) She told him..she wondered at his cheek. 1870 Bradwood The O.V.H. 264 He can't have the cheek to ask for more. 1885 Col. Harcourt Sp. Ho. Comm. 12 May, It shows a considerable amount of cheek to bring forward this matter.

    5. a. cheek by jowl; earlier † cheek by cheek. (In 6–7 cheek(e to jowl, by chole, jole, joll, gig(g by geoul, jowl, 7–8 jig(g by jowl, 9 cheek by chowl, for chowl, and jowl, Sc. cheek-for-chow, dial. jig-by-jow.) Side by side; in the closest intimacy.

c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Langt. (1810) 223 Vmwhile cheke bi cheke. c 1530 Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. (1814) 352 Then they..rode togyther cheke by cheke. 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1619) 164 Cheek by iowle with the Emperour. 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas i. i. (1641) 4/2 Mercie and Justice, marching cheek by joule. 1606 G. W[oodcocke] Justine 101 a, Agathocles, sitting cheeke by cheeke with the king. c 1645 Howell Lett. IV. xxxvi, In their Churches..the Laundresse gig by geoul with her Lady. 1719 D'Urfey Pills V. 293 He with his Master, jig by jowl, Unto old Gillian hy'd. a 1734 North Ld. Keeper Guilford (1742) 142 Every one in his Turn..came up Cheek by Joul, and talk'd with my Lord Judge. 1786 Burns Earnest Cry & Prayer viii, An' cheek-for-chow, a chuffie Vintner. 1822 Scott Nigel xxvii, To stand cheek-for-chowl confronting us. 1861 M. E. Braddon Trail Serpent ii. i, Destitution..must be content often..to jog cheek by jowl with crime.

    b. cheek to cheek, applied to dancing with the cheek of one partner touching that of the other; also (with hyphens) attrib.

1922 S. Lewis Babbitt xviii. 228 They danced cheek to cheek with the boys. 1922 Ladies' Home Jrnl. June 26/1 He knew nothing of..cheek-to-cheek dancing and petting and cigarette smoking. 1939 C. Morley Kitty Foyle xi. 117 We hadn't ever seen cheek-to-cheek dancing up to that time. 1968 H. Franklin Crash vii. 84 It's the way she behaves..flirting—trying to shock, really—cheek to cheek dancing and all that.

    6. to one's own cheek (vulgar): to oneself, for one's own private use.

1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 131 (Hoppe) Such a thing as a moor bird..which can be eat up to a man's own cheek. 1861 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. vi. (1886) 57. 1862 Mrs. H. Wood Mrs. Hallib. ii. ix. 194 If I spent my earnings..or let Tim keep his to his own cheek. 1874 Slang Dict., Cheek, share or portion; ‘where's my cheek?’ where is my allowance?..‘all to his own cheek’, all to himself.

    † 7. cheeks and ears: ‘a fantastic name for a kind of head-dress of temporary fashion’ (Nares).

1605 Lond. Prodigal iv. iii. (N.), Fr. Thou canst tell how to help me to cheeks and ears..Civ. Ay, ay, Kester; 'tis such as they wear a' their heads.

    II. Transferred and technical. Mostly in pl.
    8. gen. Side. (Cf. 3.)

1555 Fardle Facions Pref. 8 So joyning in confederacie, [they]..framed vp cotages, one by anothers chieque, etc. 1886 Stevenson Kidnapped xxvi. 271 Are ye to eat your meat by the cheeks of a red fire.

    9. Each of the side-posts or uprights of a door, gate, etc. Also the side-pieces of a window-frame.

1375 Barbour Bruce x. 229 Set evinly Betuix the chekys of the ȝet. 1486 Rec. Nottingham III. 358 For a cheke to þe same wyndowe iiijd. 1535 Coverdale Amos ix. 1 Smyte the dore cheke. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 107 Meete for the cheekes and postes of Gates. 1601 Holland Pliny (1634) II. 571 The sils, lintels, and cheeks of his dores. 1789 W. Gilpin Observ. Picturesque Beauty (1792) I. 125 The river makes a noble rush..between the two cheeks of the rock, which support the bridge. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. x, To name sic a word at my door-cheek!

    10. a. The side-pieces of a pike-head forming a kind of socket by which it was secured to the staff; also of a hammer, pick, or other tool with a similar head. † b. Also, the posture of the pike when cheeked: see cheek v. 2.

1598 Barret Theor. Warres iii. i. 36 A good Pike..strongly headed, with the cheekes three foote long. 1633 T. Stafford Pac. Hib. (1821) iii. 44 Every one trayling his Pike, and holding the cheeke thereof in his hand, ready to push. 1635 W. Barriffe Mil. Discip. ii. (1643) 9 From Comport, Cheeke, or Traile, the Pikeman may..charge to the Front, Reare, or Flanks. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss. 99 Cheeks, extensions of the sides of the eye of a hammer or pick.

    11. Harness. a. Of a bridle: The strap which passes down each side of the horse's head, from the head-stall to the nose-band; the cheek-strap. b. Of a bit: The ring or other part at each end of the bit proper. to put a horse up to the cheek: to put his reins on to the first or highest rings of the curb, so as to have the lightest leverage on the mouth.

1617 Markham Caval. ii. 48 The bytt doth consist not of one entyre peece, but of many, as of mouth, cheeke, curbe, and such like. Ibid. 68 The cheeke..I take to be but from the neathermost part of the eye of the bytt downeward, to the vtmost length of the bytt. 1801 W. Felton Carriages II. 146 The Bit, which is of iron, is placed in the horse's mouth..They are of different forms, some are made to be sharper in the mouth, and for a stronger purchase than others, and are called the straight cheek, the duke, and Portsmouth bit. Ibid. The bit is buckled in the top loop to the cheek of the bridle. 1851 ‘Nimrod’ Road 16 Put..the stallion up to the cheek. 1859 F. Griffiths Artil. Man. (1862) 105 (plate). Mod. Ostler asks ‘Do you drive in the cheek, the middle-bar, or the curb?’

    12. Mining. The sides or walls of a vein.

1813 Bakewell Introd. Geol. (1815) 290 The walls or cheeks of the vein are of two different kinds of stone. 1881 in Raymond Mining Gloss.

    13. Naut., in various senses: a. the projections on each side of the mast on which the tressle-trees rest; b. the shell or outside wooden part of a block; c. pieces of timber upon the ship's bows to secure the beak-head or cut-water; d. the ‘ears’ of a ship's pump; e. the circular pieces on the aft-side of the carrick-bits.

1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. iii, At the top of the fore Mast and maine Mast are spliced cheeks, or thicke clamps of wood. 1644 H. Manwayring Seaman's Dict., The sides of the blockes are called the cheekes. 1681 R. Knox Hist. Ceylon 118 A Tree to make Cheeks for the Main-mast. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. s.v., The knees also which fasten the Beak-head to the Bows of a Ship are called Cheeks; and so are the Sides of any Block. 1727 A. Hamilton New Acc. E. Ind. I. xxii. 270 A Piece of Wood about 15 Foot high, with a Notch cut in the upper End, like the Cheeks of a Ship's Pump. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) Cheville de potence de pompe, a..bolt which fastens the brake to the cheeks or ears of the pump. 1772–84 Cook Voy. (1790) V. 1751 The carpenter discovered the cheeks of the foremast to be rotten. 1787 in Nicolas Disp. Nelson (ed. 2) I. 207 The cheeks of her [the Ship Pegasus] head have been taken off. 1794 Rigging & Seamanship I. 150 Cheeks of a block. The two sides of the shell. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 106 Cheeks are also the circular pieces on the aft side of the carrick-bitts.

    14. Mech., etc. A general name for those parts of machines which resemble cheeks in being arranged in lateral pairs: e.g.
    The shears or bed-bars of a lathe on which the puppet slides; the side-pieces or brackets of any piece of ordnance; the side-pieces of a grate or stove; the jaws of a vice; the standards or supports in rolling-mills, printing-presses, etc.; the solid parts of timber on the sides of a mortise; the sides of a pillow-block which hold the boxing; the interior faces of an embrasure; an indent cut in a wall into which a pipe or the like is fitted; in Founding, one of the parts of a flask consisting of more than two parts.

1650 R. Elton Art Mil. Suppl. (1668) 248 For the Traverses..that joyn these Planks together, the foremost..must enter one half of a Diameter in length into either of the Cheeks or Planks. 1677 Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 170 These Puppets..slide in the Grove between the two Cheeks. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn., Trunnions of a Peece of Ordnance, are those Nobs or Bunches of the Guns Metal which bear her up upon the Cheeks of the Carriages. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) Flasques, the cheeks or sides of a gun-carriage. 1801 Ann. Reg. 1799 Chron. 400 The back and bottom of fire-grates, combined with cheeks. 1819 Pantologia III. s.v., The cheeks of a mortar, or the brackets, in artillery..are fixed to the bed by four bolts. 1830 E. Campbell Dict. Mil. Sc. 38 Cheeks of an embrazure, the interior Faces or Sides of an Embrazure. 1881 C. A. Edwards Organ 50 A thick piece of pine or mahogany glued firmly on the front and back..named the sound-board cheeks. 1881 Mechanic §1224 The sides or ‘cheeks’ of the grate.

    III. 15. Comb., chiefly attrib., as cheek-band, cheek-blade, cheek-feather, cheek-flap, cheek-piece, cheek-rose, cheek-strap, cheek-varnish; cheek-burning, cheek-distending adjs.; † cheek-ball, the rounded part of the cheek; cheek-blade, a jaw-blade; cheek-block, a block of which one side is formed by a cheek-piece fastened to an object which forms the other side; cheek-bristles pl., the whiskers (of a cat); cheek-down, the incipient whiskers (of a youth); cheek-knee = cheek 13 c; † cheek lap, jaw, jaw-bone; cheek-pouch, a pouch-like enlargement of the cheek, esp. in certain species of monkey; hence cheek-pouched adj. Also cheek-bone, -tooth.

1583 J. Higins tr. Junius' Nomenclator 28 Gena, mala, the *cheeke balle. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 502 The powder of unwashed wool..doth very effectually purge the eye-lids or cheek-bals.

1535 Coverdale Tob. vi. 3 Take him by the *cheke blade and drawe him to the.

1794 Rigging & Seamanship I. 30 On each side athwartships are *cheek-blocks. Ibid. 155 Cheek-blocks, or half-blocks, are made of elm plank.

1900 A. Hill Introd. Science 30 When darkness approaches..its *cheek-bristles..save it from contact with passive objects.

1784 Cowper Task iv. 488 The *cheek-distending oath.

1887 Morris tr. Odyss. xi. 319 Upon their faces the *cheek-down blossomed fair.

1867 F. Francis Angling xiii. (1880) 478 *Cheek feathers, that is, short feathers.

1805 Southey Madoc in Azt. xvi, Slivering downward, left The *cheek-flap dangling.

1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Cheeks or *cheek-knees.

1382 Wyclif Lev. xi. 29 A cokedril..hauynge the nether *checke lap vnmeuable, and meuynge the ouere. ― Judg. xv. 15 A foundun cheek boon, that is, the cheek-lap of an asse.

1758 Phil. Trans. L. 621 A helmet on his head..and *cheek-pieces fastened under his chin. 1864 Ld. Derby Iliad iv. 166 The iv'ry cheek-piece of a warrior's steed.

1834 M{supc}Murtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 47 The Monkeys of America have..the tail long; no *cheek-pouches. 1849 Sk. Nat. Hist. Mammalia IV. 20 The true marmots [have] no cheek-pouches.

1879 Wright Anim. Life 30 *Cheek-pouched Monkeys.

1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. i. iv. 16 Haile Virgin..as those *cheeke-Roses Proclaime you are no lesse.

1598 Florio, Purpurino..a liuely redde colour women vse for painting, called *cheeke-varnish.

▪ II. cheek, v.
    (tʃiːk)
    Also 7 cheke.
    [f. cheek n.]
    1. trans. To form a cheek or side to, to flank or border.

1538 Leland Itin. II. 105 To begyn this Causey, chekid on eche side. 1615 Chapman Odyss. xxiv. 699 The brass That cheek'd Eupitheus' casque. 1670 R. Lassels Italy (1698) I. 62 The altars round about the church are cheeked with exquisite pillars.

    † 2. to cheek a pike: to hold it by the cheeks.
    ‘The pike-man at the command Cheek your pike, grasped it with the left hand below the head, where the first and second rivets are, the head to the front, blade horizontal, left foot advanced, left elbow touching the side, the right hand grasping the pole at the right thigh, the pole sloping downwards, the butt nearly at the ground’ (T. Bunyan).

1622 Peacham Compl. Gentl. (1634) 250 Postures..Order your Pikes, Traile your Pikes, Cheeke your Pikes. 1625 Markham Sovldiers Accid. 23 The sixe which are to be done marching, are—Advance your Pike, Shoulder your Pike, Levell your Pike, Sloape your Pike, Cheeke your Pike, Trayle your Pike. 1689 Cotton To Earl of ―, Standing at some poor sutler's tent, With his pike cheek'd, to guard the tun.

    3. colloq. To address ‘cheekily’ or saucily; to speak with cool impudence to, confront audaciously. to cheek it: to face it out, ‘carry it through’.

1840 E. C. Bayley Haileybury Observer II. 53 The various sensations of the party Cheeked. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 452 (Hoppe) They persuaded me to go and beg with them, but I couldn't cheek it. 1865 Sat. Rev. 30 Dec. 811/2 There are boys at every school who are never so elated as when they have ‘cheeked’ the master. 1884 G. Moore Mummer's Wife (1887) 188 But you must pluck up courage and cheek the Baillie.

    b. dial. (See quot.)

1877 E. Peacock N.W. Linc. Gloss. (E.D.S.) Cheek, to accuse. ‘I cheek'd him wi' it, an' he couldn't say a wod.’

▪ III. cheek
    screen: see chick n.²

Oxford English Dictionary