See Also: Cheek(medicine)
cheek(2)(dictionary)
cheek(1)(dictionary)
Cheek(health)
tongue-in-cheek(dictionary)
cheek 2, verb(dictionary)
cheek 1, noun(dictionary)
fat body of cheek(medicine)
cheek tooth(medicine)
cheek retractors(medicine)

cheek(1) (iou)



cheek noun.

I. Of a person or animal.
The jaw, the jawbone; sing. & (usu.) in pl., the chops, the fauces. OE-M16.
The side-wall of the mouth; the side of the face below the eye; fig. something suggestive of the cheek in shape, colour, etc. OE.
Byron Ocean's cheek Reflects the tints of many a peak.
A buttock. Usu. in pl. L16.
Impertinent speech; cool confidence, effrontery; insolence. M19.
George Moore If he gives me any of his cheek I'll knock him down. J. Fowles Some even had the cheek to push their cameras through the front gate.
II. transf. & techn. (All usu. in pl.)
The side post of a door, gate, etc. LME.
gen. A side. M16.
Either of the side-pieces of a horse's bit; the strap of a bridle passing down each side of a horse's head, to connect the headpiece with the bit. E17.
Nautical. On a square-rigged ship, each of the projections on either side of a mast on which the trestle-trees rest; the outside wooden part of a block etc. E17.
Each of a pair of laterally arranged side-pieces forming part of a machine; esp. each of the jaws of a vice. M17.
Phrases etc.: cheek by jowl, cheek by cheek side by side, close together, intimate(ly). cheek to cheek (in dancing) with the cheeks of partners (nearly) touching. of all the cheek etc.: see OF preposition. tongue-in-cheek: see TONGUE noun. to one's own cheek without sharing or not shared with others. turn the other cheek [alluding to Matthew 5:39, Luke 6:29] permit or invite another blow, attack, etc.; refuse to retaliate. with one's tongue in one's cheek, with tongue in cheek: see TONGUE noun.
Comb.: cheek-bone (a) the bone above the cheek, forming the lower boundary of the orbits of the eyes; (b) the jawbone; cheek-pouch a pouchlike enlargement of the cheek, esp. in certain monkeys; cheek-tooth a molar.
cheeked adjective having a cheek or cheeks (of a specified kind) M16.