OXFORD DICTIONARY
hock, n.
1 the joint of a quadruped's hind leg between the knee and the fetlock.
2 a knuckle of pork; the lower joint of a ham.
hock, n. Brit. a German white wine from the Rhineland (properly that of Hochheim on the river Main).
hock, v. & n. esp. US colloq.
--v.tr. pawn; pledge.
--n. a pawnbroker's pledge.
in hock
1 in pawn.
2 in debt.
3 in prison.
Du. hok hutch, prison, debt
THESAURUS
hock
ankle, bail, bayonet legs, bond, bottomry, bowlegs, calf, cnemis, deposit, drumstick, earnest, earnest money, escrow, foreleg, gage, gamb, gambrel, gigot, go bail, ham, handsel, hind leg, hostage, hypothecate, impignorate, jamb, knee, leg, limb, mainprise, mortgage, pawn, pignus, pledge, podite, popliteal space, post, put in
hock, put in pawn, put up, recognizance, replevin, replevy, scissor-legs, shank, shin, spout, stake, stems, stumps, surety, tarsus, token payment, trotters, undertaking, vadimonium, vadium