Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To listen attentively.
- idiom. hark back To return to a previous point, as in a narrative.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To hear; listen to.
- To listen; harken: now chiefly used in the imperative, as an incitement to attention or action, as in hunting. See phrases below.
Wiktionary
- v. To listen attentively; often used in the imperative.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. Now rare, except in the imperative form used as an interjection, Hark! listen. To listen; to hearken.
WordNet 3.0
- v. listen; used mostly in the imperative
Etymologies
- From Middle English herken, herkien, from Old English *hercian, *heorcian, *hiercian, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *hauzijanan (“to hear”) + formative/intensive -k. Cognate with Scots herk ("to hark"), North Frisian harke ("to hark"), West Frisian harkje ("to listen"), obsolete Dutch horken ("to hark, listen to"), Middle Low German horken ("to hark"), German horchen ("to hark, harken to"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English harken, herken, from Old English *heorcian. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Traditional communities, that the word hark backs to, were people with weak ties.”
“See, see, mother; hark, that is the cry of the little bird, the hawk has got it.”
“Jackson's comment and the group's name hark back to the nation's revolutionary beginnings in its tax revolt against England, and the Fourth of July holiday this weekend has become a rallying cry for supporters who plan a rally in San Antonio, a fair in suburban Atlanta and more.”
“CROWLEY: And I kind of hark back to something that someone close to Michael Bloomberg once said, which was he didn't get this wealthy wasting his money.”
“Sarah Palin), the audience at the first Lincoln-Douglas debate erupted with cries like "hark" and "humbug" and "hit him again.”
“Winds and seismic and tectonic disruptions have left their mark in tortuous folds and uplifts, deep gashes, and conical incrustations that hark back far before the age of human folly.”
“Even Brits do not hark as closely when the questioning shifts to the much-less-known owners of the Daily Mail, Daily Mirror or other down-market papers.”
“Armin Smailovic for The Wall Street Journal What's of particular concern to German political and business leaders is that many of those leaving hark from the cutting-edge sectors that Germany views as crucial to safeguarding its export advantage, such as nanotechnology, electrical engineering, biotechnology and clean technologies.”
“What's of particular concern to German political and business leaders is that many of those leaving hark from the cutting-edge sectors that Germany views as crucial to safeguarding its export advantage, such as nanotechnology, electrical engineering, biotechnology and clean technologies.”
The Wall Street Journal: Exodus of Skilled Labor Saps Germany
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘hark’.
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phrontistery - h
from phrontistery.info
habanera, habile, habiliment, hackle, hackney, hadal, hame, hank, hansom, hapax, hark, harl and 568 more...
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Ar!
ar, Ar, argon, are, area, arf, arc, ark, aardwolf, aardvark, aardcucumber, yardarm and 253 more...
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Do-it-yourself Christmas Carol List
Tired of singing the same carols year after year? Wanna mix it up a little? Now you can, with the Do-it-yourself Christmas Carol List (from the creator of the Doo-it-yourself Doowop List). Just mix...
let it, reindeer, silent, child, Christmas, got run over by a, mercy mild, winter, joyful, holly, newborn, king and 59 more...
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strangelyrouge's Words
glockenspiel, gewgaw, jetsam, flotsam, gripe, grab, wench, whilst, betwixt, hither, thither, yonder and 1034 more...
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Notre Dame de Paris
From Notre Dame de Paris by good ole Victor Hugo. (Also called The Hunchback of Notre Dame.)
cuivres, diable, hawthorn, provost, epithalamium, affrighted, mendicants, vagrants, Styx, chimeras, coif, matagrabolise and 196 more...
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gcherches's Words
serendipity, roadrunner, inner child, coagulant, esquire, vicissitude, idiot savant, mitigation, affirmation, affirmative, diatribe, affirmative action and 185 more...
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Vocab
Words that I come across, and go blank, or want to clarify.
nefarious, edifice, malevolent, ostensible, folderol, bauble, livid, amnesty, calculus, saddlery, maisonette, cuisse and 423 more...
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vocabulary
verisimilitude, pendulate, moxie, whimper, nary, stevedore, hubris, prodigious, super-injunction, injunction, lashings, fennel and 202 more...
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strieale's Words
scientism, chronological, christophobia, subsurface, high culture, jeffersonian demo..., jacksonian democracy, incommensurable, rebuttal, discerning, disparate, anodyne and 156 more...
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noble mythical words
halcyon, yore, chevalier, geas, dour, clarion, codex, selkie, mythic, rime, hoarfrost, eldritch and 112 more...
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NakedFringe's Words
masticate, chamber, orchid, mandolin, yellow, pomegranate, conundrum, paradox, gyrate, calamitous, opalescent, cacophony and 533 more...
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Baron Luke's Collection
An assortment of words, which, when used, should inject some vibrancy into your day, hopefully expunging any ennui!
expunge, cogitate, elucidate, post-haste, rebarbative, recalcitrant, smite, absquatulate, forlorn, thole, nefarious, insubordination and 124 more...
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ifea_need_help's Words
irk, porn, woot, pfft, fuck, swelter, homonculus, astronomical, booboo, capitulate, liquidation, pendulum and 30 more...
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tautology, allatonceness, praxis, kinesics, monad, seminal, effluvia, seraphic, exiguous, megalomania, odious, miscreant and 47 more...
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Fun with words!
plucky, trifecta, bamboozle, tremulous, debonair, traipse, syzygy, brazen, perchance, debutante, dalliance, sylph and 32 more...
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H is for Hat Trick
My H Words
holy guacamole, hee-haw, hanky panky, halcyon, hamburglar, har-de-har, hardscrabble, harlot, harpy, hat trick, haymaker, heartbreak hotel and 85 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for hark.
lc101 Hark tintinnabulation approaches...bird N D air, bird N D air! Jul 26, 2010