noun
- a piece of jewelry consisting of a string of stones, beads, jewels, or the like, or a chain of gold, silver, or other metal, for wearing around the neck.
noun
- a chain, band, or cord, often bearing beads, pearls, jewels, etc, worn around the neck as an ornament, esp by women
- (in South Africa) a tyre soaked in petrol, placed round a person’s neck, and set on fire in order to burn the person to death
verb
- (tr) Southern African to kill (someone) by placing a burning tyre round his or her neck
n.1590s, from neck (n.) + lace (n.) in the sense of “cord, string.” As the name of a South African form of lynching, from 1985.