neck and crop
Preserved but no longer current.
Entirely. The crop is the gorge of a bird; a variant of the phrase, is, neck and heels ', as I bundled him out neck and heels. There was a punishment formerly in vogue which consisted m bringing the chin and knees of the culprit forcibly together, and then thrusting him into a cage.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “neck and crop” mean?
Entirely. The crop is the gorge of a bird; a variant of the phrase, is, neck and heels ', as I bundled him out neck and heels. There was a punishment formerly in vogue which consisted m bringing the chin and knees of the culprit forcibly together, and then thrusting him into a cage.
Is “neck and crop” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.