as in penitentiaries
a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody
some lowlife who had been in and out of hock most of his adult life
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in pawns
to leave as a guarantee of repayment of a loan
the prince had to hock the family jewels to pay his gambling debts
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hocks
Mary Shannon Wells, Southern Living, 15 Mar. 2026
Noun
Delicate Southern field peas pair perfectly with smoky ham hocks for an old-school veggie side.
—Mary Shannon Wells, Southern Living, 15 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hocks
Noun
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Behind bars in state penitentiaries in Gatesville and Marlin, Mejia felt forgotten.—
Emiliano Tahui Gómez,
Austin American Statesman,
17 Mar. 2026
-
The wave of prison violence is happening despite the deployment of military and police forces in several penitentiaries.—
Michael Rios,
CNN Money,
8 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
That includes local jails, which are sometimes used to hold immigrants, too.—
Ignacio Calderon,
USA Today,
3 Apr. 2026
-
In 2023, the number dropped significantly, even as supervision failures within jails persisted, down to 63.—
Ryan Oehrli
April 1,
Charlotte Observer,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Commuter trains run from Washington’s Union Station to Baltimore’s Camden Station, which deposits fans right outside Oriole Park at Camden Yards.—
Fritz Hahn,
Washington Post,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Even a protein treatment applied to your natural hair deposits an almost imperceptible film atop the strands, rendering the texture distinctly different, thicker, and drier.—
Noel Cymone Walker,
StyleCaster,
1 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
For the next two weeks, Rebin visited morgues, cemeteries, police stations, prisons, and forensic offices in Tehran and its neighboring districts.—
Cora Engelbrecht,
New Yorker,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Programs in Michigan prisons range from high school equivalency and special education to trades like welding, robotics and commercial truck driving.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Those are the players in recent memory who’ve commanded the kind of draft capital that reshapes franchises — the sort of seismic move that mortgages a future and, in return, attaches expectations normally reserved for franchise-carrying superstars.—
Kristian Winfield,
Hartford Courant,
22 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
For most of the year, the animals roam the island’s northern pastures, hills and cliffs, but in the days before Christmas, they’re rounded up and brought to the shearing pens.—
NPR,
NPR,
4 Apr. 2026
-
White seabass hatched in Carlsbad are distributed to 10 coastal holding pens operated by volunteers from San Diego to Ventura, including a large site at Santa Catalina Island.—
Phil Diehl,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Texas barbecue joints do make for good photos by famous folks.—
Sarah Blaskovich,
Dallas Morning News,
29 Mar. 2026
-
Get in a great cardio workout without putting stress on your joints with this premium exercise bike.—
BestReviews,
Mercury News,
28 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hocks.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hocks. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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