noun · verb · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
US:/ˈnɛkləs/
UK:/ˈnɛklɪs/
UK:/ˈnɛkləs/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Australian:/ˈnɛkləs/
Australian:/ˈnɛklæɪs/
rhymes with -ɛkləs
rhymes with (UK) -ɛklɪs
rhymes with (Australian, South Asia) -ɛkleɪs
CMU ARPABET:N EH1 K L AH0 S
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
An article of jewelry that is worn around the neck, most often made of a string of precious metal, pearls, gems, beads or shells, and sometimes having a pendant attached.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: jewelry, lifestyle
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Anything resembling a necklace in shape.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: figuratively
Examples
a necklace of coral islands
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A device used in necklacing (an informal execution); a rubber tyre that is filled with petrol. It is placed around the victim's chest and arms, and set on fire.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: South-Africa
Examples
Necklacing on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
verb
Meaning 4
To informally execute by necklacing; by setting on fire a petrol-filled rubber tyre which has been put around the bound victim's neck.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: South-Africa
Examples
2002 Buthelezi: A Biography by Ben Temkin Inkatha members have been hacked to death and necklaced, and their houses have been destroyed
2000 Beyond Our Wildest Dreams: The United Democratic Front and the Transformation of South Africa by Ineke Van Kessel The first instance of necklacing occurred in March 1985 in the Eastern Cape township of KwaNobuhle.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
jewelry consisting of a cord or chain (often bearing gems) worn about the neck as an ornament (especially by women)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: jewelry, jewellery
Narrower terms: chain, string, strand, choker, collar, dog collar, neckband
History
Etymology
From neck + lace.
Across languages
Translations
240 source translations are retained for this English entry.