Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The fleshy part of either side of the face below the eye and between the nose and ear.
  • noun Something resembling the cheek in shape or position.
  • noun Either of the buttocks.
  • noun Impertinent boldness.
  • transitive verb To speak impudently to.
  • idiom (cheek by jowl) Side by side; close together.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Either of the two sides of the face below the eyes.
  • noun Something regarded as resembling the human cheek in form or position; one of two pieces, as of an instrument, apparatus, framework, etc., which form corresponding sides or which are double and alike.
  • noun The miter-sill of a lock-gate. Naut., one of the pieces of a block which form the sides of the shell.
  • noun A cheek-bone; a jaw-bone.
  • noun In entomology, the gena, or that part of an insect's head which lies between the eye and the mouth-cavity. This region sometimes becomes very prominent, as in certain of the Diptera.
  • noun The edible portion of the large seaclam, Mactra solidissima.
  • noun Cool confidence; brazen-faced impudence; an impudent or self-confident manner: as, he has plenty of cheek.
  • noun Share; portion; allowance.
  • To bring up to the cheek.
  • To face; confront in a bold or impudent manner; assail with impudent or insulting language.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb Slang. To be impudent or saucy to.
  • noun The side of the face below the eye.
  • noun obsolete The cheek bone.
  • noun (Mech.) Those pieces of a machine, or of any timber, or stone work, which form corresponding sides, or which are similar and in pair
  • noun The branches of a bridle bit.
  • noun (Founding) A section of a flask, so made that it can be moved laterally, to permit the removal of the pattern from the mold; the middle part of a flask.
  • noun Slang Cool confidence; assurance; impudence.
  • noun See Illust. of Beef.
  • noun (Anat.) the bone of the side of the face; esp., the malar bone.
  • noun side by side; very intimate.
  • noun (Zoöl.) a sacklike dilation of the cheeks of certain monkeys and rodents, used for holding food.
  • noun the two sides of the shell of a tackle block.
  • noun the projection on each side of a mast, upon which the trestletrees rest.
  • noun (Anat.) a hinder or molar tooth.
  • noun See under Butment.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun anatomy The soft skin on each side of the face, below the eyes; the outer surface of the sides of the oral cavity.
  • noun informal, usually in the plural A buttock.
  • noun informal Impudence.
  • noun biology, informal One of the genae, flat areas on the sides of a trilobite's cephalon.
  • verb To be impudent towards.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun either of the two large fleshy masses of muscular tissue that form the human rump
  • noun impudent aggressiveness
  • noun either side of the face below the eyes
  • noun an impudent statement
  • verb speak impudently to

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English cheke, from Old English cēace.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English cēace

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Examples

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  • Nine-o'clock Bell!

    Nine-o'clock Bell!

    All the small children and big ones as well,

    Pulling their stockings up, snatching their hats,

    Cheeking and grumbling and giving back-chats,

    Laughing and quarreling, dropping their things,

    These at a snail's pace and those upon wings,

    Lagging behind a bit, running ahead,

    Waiting at corners for lights to turn red ...

    - Eleanor Farjeon, 'School-Bell'.

    November 3, 2008