bark.
To make a short, loud, explosive noise with the vocal organs (said of animals, especially dogs).
Meaning & usage
To make a short, loud, explosive noise with the vocal organs (said of animals, especially dogs).
The neighbour's dog is always barking.
The seal barked as the zookeeper threw fish into its enclosure.
To make a clamor; to make importunate outcries.
To speak sharply.
The sergeant barked an order.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English barken, berken, borken, from Old English beorcan (“to bark”), from the Proto-West Germanic *berkan (“to bark”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerg- (“to make a noise, growl, bark”), from *bʰer- (“to drone, hum, buzz”). Cognate with Icelandic berkja (“to bark, bluster”), Icelandic barki (“throat, windpipe”), dialectal Lithuanian burgė́ti (“to growl, grumble, grouch, quarrel”), Serbo-Croatian brbljati (“to murmur”). For the noun, compare Old English beorc, bearce (“barking”).
The short, loud, explosive sound uttered by a dog, a fox, and some other animals.
An abrupt loud vocal utterance.
The quick opening of the hi-hat cymbal as it is hit, followed by its timely closing.
(video games) A short, repeatable, and unobtrusive voiceline spoken by an NPC.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English barken, berken, borken, from Old English beorcan (“to bark”), from the Proto-West Germanic *berkan (“to bark”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerg- (“to make a noise, growl, bark”), from *bʰer- (“to drone, hum, buzz”). Cognate with Icelandic berkja (“to bark, bluster”), Icelandic barki (“throat, windpipe”), dialectal Lithuanian burgė́ti (“to growl, grumble, grouch, quarrel”), Serbo-Croatian brbljati (“to murmur”). For the noun, compare Old English beorc, bearce (“barking”).
The sound of a dog barking.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English barken, berken, borken, from Old English beorcan (“to bark”), from the Proto-West Germanic *berkan (“to bark”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerg- (“to make a noise, growl, bark”), from *bʰer- (“to drone, hum, buzz”). Cognate with Icelandic berkja (“to bark, bluster”), Icelandic barki (“throat, windpipe”), dialectal Lithuanian burgė́ti (“to growl, grumble, grouch, quarrel”), Serbo-Croatian brbljati (“to murmur”). For the noun, compare Old English beorc, bearce (“barking”).
The exterior covering of the trunk and branches of a tree or of various other woody plants.
Peruvian bark or Jesuit's bark, the bark of the cinchona from which quinine is produced.
Hard candy made in flat sheets, for instance out of chocolate, peanut butter, toffee or peppermint.
The crust formed on barbecued meat that has had a rub applied to it.
The envelopment or outer covering of anything.
Woodchips.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English bark, from Old English barc (“bark”), from Old Norse bǫrkr (“tree bark”), from Proto-Germanic *barkuz, probably related to *birkijǭ (“birch”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerHǵós (compare Latin frāxinus (“ash”), Lithuanian béržas (“birch”)), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerHǵ- (“to gleam; white”) (compare English bright); akin to Danish bark, Icelandic börkur, Low German borke and Albanian berk (“bast”).
To strip the bark from; to peel.
To abrade or rub off any outer covering from.
I barked my shins climbing the fence.
To girdle.
To cover or enclose with bark, or as with bark.
to bark the roof of a hut
Where this word comes from
From Middle English bark, from Old English barc (“bark”), from Old Norse bǫrkr (“tree bark”), from Proto-Germanic *barkuz, probably related to *birkijǭ (“birch”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerHǵós (compare Latin frāxinus (“ash”), Lithuanian béržas (“birch”)), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerHǵ- (“to gleam; white”) (compare English bright); akin to Danish bark, Icelandic börkur, Low German borke and Albanian berk (“bast”).
A small sailing vessel, e.g. a pinnace or a fishing smack; a rowing boat or barge.
A sailing vessel or boat of any kind.
A vessel, typically with three (or more) masts, with the foremasts (or fore- and mainmasts) square-rigged, and mizzenmast schooner-rigged.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English barke (“boat”), from Middle French barque, from Late Latin barca, a regular syncope of Vulgar Latin *barica, from Classical Latin bāris, from Ancient Greek βᾶρις (bâris, “Egyptian boat”), from Coptic ⲃⲁⲁⲣⲉ (baare, “small boat”), from Demotic Egyptian br, from Egyptian bꜣjrb-bA-A-y:r*Z1-P1 (“transport ship”). Doublet of barge, barque and baris.
An Irish person.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.