cheek by jowl
UK/ˌt͡ʃiːk baɪ ˈd͡ʒaʊl//ˌt͡ʃik baɪ ˈd͡ʒaʊl/
cheek by jowl adverb: in very close physical proximity; crowded together; side by side.
Adverb
cheek by jowl (comparative more cheek by jowl, superlative most cheek by jowl)
- In very close physical proximity; crowded together; side by side.
- Ile go vvith thee, cheeke by iovvle.c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, A Midsommer Nights Dreame. […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Richard Bradock] for Thomas Fisher, […], published 1600, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]...
- VVee ſee Marchants, countrie-Iuſtices, and Artificers to march cheeke by joll vvith our Nobilitie, in valour, and military diſcipline.1603, Michel de Montaigne, “Of Presumption”, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC, page 375
- Synonyms:
- alongside, cheek for chowl, elbow to elbow, shoulder-to-shoulder, tooth-to-jowl
- In very close or intimate association.
- [B]ooks have a way of influencing each other. Fiction will be much the better for standing cheek by jowl with poetry and philosophy.1929 September, Virginia Woolf, chapter VI, in A Room of One’s Own, uniform edition, London: Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, […], published 1931 (April 1935 printing), →OCLC, page 164
- Exit and voice, social theorist Albert O[tto] Hirschman's famous dichotomous strategies, collided in the South Carolina countryside, where renewed commitment to the nation existed cheek by jowl with exit from it.2007, John Fabian Witt, “Elias Hill’s Exodus: Exit and Voice in the Reconstruction Nation”, in Patriots and Cosmopolitans: Hidden Histories of American Law, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University...
Adjective
cheek by jowl (comparative more cheek by jowl, superlative most cheek by jowl)
- Often in the form cheek-by-jowl: in very close physical proximity; crowded together; tightly packed.
- And 'tvvas not long, before ſhe found / Him, and his ſtout Squire, in the Pound; / Both coupled in Inchanted Tether, / By further leg behind together: / For as he ſate upon his Rump, / His head like one in doleful dump, / Betvveen his knees, his hands appli'd / Unto his ears on either ſide. / And...1663 (indicated as 1664), [Samuel Butler], “Canto I”, in Hudibras. The Second Part. […], London: […] T[homas] R[oycroft] for John Martyn, and James Allestry […], →OCLC, page 9
- As we drove at breakneck speed through the streets, I could not help but be overwhelmed by the gaunt and desperate faces of the people, the endless squatter settlements of cheek-by-jowl, single-room shacks surrounded by ankle-deep mud, and the occasional glimpses of the rich apparently oblivious to...1991, Robert C. Linthicum, “Our City as the Abode of Satanic Principalities and Powers”, in City of God, City of Satan: A Biblical Theology of the Urban Church, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan...
- Synonyms:
- packed like sardines
cheek by jowl meaning in Tamil
cheek by jowl in Tamil
- வினையுரிச்சொல், நெருக்கமாக அமைந்திருப்பது, நெருங்கிய தொடர்பில் இருப்பது
Examples of cheek by jowl in a sentence
- […] I believe I crammed them [two petitions] baith into his hand cheek by jowl, and maybe my ain was boonmost; […]1822 May 29, [Walter Scott], chapter III, in The Fortunes of Nigel. […], volume I (in English), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.]...
- Names upon your roll / Of half my subjects rescued by your skill— / Old and young, rich and poor—crowd cheek by jowl1880, Robert Browning, “Doctor ——”, in Dramatic Idyls: Second Series, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 128:
- Books on etymology lay among Tamil poetry and volumes on religion were cheek by jowl with science fiction.2010, Manorama Mathai, chapter 27, in Love and Dr. Aiyar, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 121:
- The universal bohios (palm-leaved, thatched huts) are cheek by jowl with each other, right to the water's edge where they are often linked to each other by narrow planks across inlets and creeks.2012, Roger Lovegrove, “San Blas Islands”, in Islands Beyond the Horizon: The Life of Twenty of the World’s Most Remote Places, Oxford...
Synonyms of cheek by jowl
Forms of cheek by jowl
| Adverb | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more cheek by jowl |
| superlative | most cheek by jowl |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more cheek by jowl |
| superlative | most cheek by jowl |
| alternative form | cheek-by-jowl |
| alternative form | cheek-to-jowl |
| alternative form | cheek to jowl |
Origin of cheek by jowl
From cheek + by + jowl (“cheek; jaw”) (or possibly jowl (“fold of fatty flesh under the chin, around the cheeks, or lower jaw; cheek”) or jowl (“(obsolete) head”)), suggesting people so close to each other that the cheek of one person is next to the jowl of another.
Words that rhyme with cheek by jowl
15 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about cheek by jowl
- What does cheek by jowl mean?
- Cheek by jowl means in very close physical proximity; crowded together; side by side.
- What is cheek by jowl in Tamil?
- Cheek by jowl in Tamil is வினையுரிச்சொல், நெருக்கமாக அமைந்திருப்பது, நெருங்கிய தொடர்பில் இருப்பது. See Cheek by jowl meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use cheek by jowl in a sentence?
- […] I believe I crammed them [two petitions] baith into his hand cheek by jowl, and maybe my ain was boonmost; […]
- What part of speech is cheek by jowl?
- Cheek by jowl can be an adverb or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce cheek by jowl?
- Cheek by jowl is pronounced /ˌt͡ʃiːk baɪ ˈd͡ʒaʊl/ (UK).
Words near cheek by jowl in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: cheek by jowl (page history and authors); cheek by jowl (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-cheek by jowl.wav.
Cite this entry: “cheek by jowl.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cheek_by_jowl. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.