Neck verse Meaning, Definition & Usage

Definitions

1. . (a) The verse formerly read to entitle a party to the benefit of clergy, said to be the first verse of the fifty-first Psalm, "Miserere mei," etc. Sir W. Scott. (b) Hence, a verse or saying, the utterance of which decides one's fate; a shibboleth.

   These words, "bread and cheese," were their neck verse or shibboleth to distinguish them; all pronouncing "broad and cause," being presently put to death. Fuller.