Collar Meaning
/ˈkɒlə/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounClothes that encircle the neck.
nounClothes that encircle the neck., The part of an upper garment (shirt, jacket, etc.) that fits around the neck and throat, especially if sewn from a separate piece of fabric.
Sentence Examples
Your collar has a stain on it.
The man tried to catch hold of me by the collar.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The dog's new ____ has a silver tag with its owner's phone number.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He adjusted his tie carefully and buttoned his crisp white shirt ____ before the job interview.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English coler, borrowed from Old French coler (Modern French collier), from Late Latin collāre, from Latin collāris, from collum (“neck”). Cognate with Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌻𐍃 (hals, “neck”), Old English heals (“neck”). Compare Spanish cuello (“neck”). More at halse. Doublet of collet.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. He wore shepherd's plaid trousers and the swallow-tail coat of the day, with a figured muslin cravat wound about his wide-spread collar."
— 1906, Stanley J[ohn] Weyman, chapter I, in Chippinge Borough, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., →OCLC, page 01:
"Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands."
— 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"The collar was made less than twenty-four hours after the hunky bastards butchered the old man."
— 2013, Dorothy Uhnak, Law and Order:
"(Follow me, don't follow me.) I've got my spine, I've got my orange crush.
(Collar me, don't collar me.) I've got my spine, I've got my orange crush."
— 1988 November 8, R.E.M., “Orange Crush”, in Green:
""Ho, aboard the Salt Junk Sarah,
Rollin" home across the line,
The Bo'sun collared the Captain's hat
And threw it in the brine."
— 1918, Norman Lindsay, The Magic Pudding, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 52:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The dog's new ____ has a silver tag with its owner's phone number.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He adjusted his tie carefully and buttoned his crisp white shirt ____ before the job interview.