Also yoak, yoke, yok, yelk. [OE. *eowoca (whence eowociʓ YOLKY a.2), corresp. to Flem. ieke (iecke in Kilian; in comb. ie(c)kwoll yolky wool), whence Sc. EIK. The spelling of the Eng. word has been influenced by association with YOLK sb.1] The greasy substance secreted by the sebaceous glands in the skin of a sheep, which serves to moisten and soften the wool. Also called suint, wool-oil, and (as a chemical substance) lanolin.
In the yolk: said of wool in its natural state, containing the yolk.
1607. Topsell, Four-f. Beasts, 686. The panch of a sucking pig being taken out and mingled with the yolke which sticketh to the inner parts of the skin.
1798. Young’s Ann. Agric., XXX. 73. The wool on the moor [sc. Dartmoor] 5 lb. on an average, in the yoak, that is unwashed.
1805. Luccock, Nat. Wool, 81. The power of producing a copious supply of healthy and nutritious yolk is one of the most important qualities of wool-bearing animals.
1858. Simmonds, Dict. Trade, Yolk, Yelk, a natural oily secretion or greasy substance in wool.
1884. Jefferies, Red Deer, viii. 165. The water is fouled by the grease, called the ‘yok.’
1901. Dundee Adv., 17, May, 5. [Wool] in ‘the yoke’ … was only fetching about 41/2d. a lb.
attrib. 1808. Vancouver, Agric. Devon, 343. Eight pounds of yoak wool to the fleece.
