Other forms: hocks
The hock is the angled joint in a horse's hind leg. A clean hock, injure the hock, hock and stifle.
It is the equivalent of the human ankle rather than the knee, which is why it bends the way it does — what looks like a backward knee is a heel held high off the ground. Hock injuries are common because the joint takes the drive. In cooking, a ham hock is the same joint in a pig.
1nounhockThe angled joint in a horse's hind leg.
“The vet felt the horse's hock to find out why it was limping.”
hock is a joint.
Old English hoh means a heel. The horse's hock is the same joint as the human heel.
a clipping of hockamore, from German -.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA