An animal's hock is the rough equivalent to a human's ankle. A horse's hock is easy to see: it's the joint above the hoof that's angled backwards. Other mammals (especially those with long legs) also have hocks, including dogs and pigs. In the case of a pig, the word hock is more commonly used to describe a cut of meat from the animal's leg — a "ham hock." When hock is a verb, it usually means "pawn," or "leave an item in return for a loan of money."