1. The part of a garment that encircles the neck.
2. A necklace.
3. 1. A restraining or identifying band of leather, metal, or plastic put around the neck of an animal.
   2. The cushioned part of a harness that presses against the shoulders of a draft animal.
4. Biology. An encircling structure or bandlike marking, as around the neck of an animal, suggestive of a collar.
5. Any of various ringlike devices used to limit, guide, or secure a machine part.
6. Slang. An arrest, as of a criminal.

1. To furnish with a collar.
2. Slang.
   1. To seize or detain.
   2. To arrest (a criminal, for example).

[Middle English coler, from Old French colier, from Latin collāre, from collum, neck.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.