bark

CEFRB1

/bɑːk/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The hard outer covering of a tree.

  2. 02

    verb

    A dog makes a loud short sound.

Examples

  • As soon as the dog saw me, it began to bark.

  • When the thief heard the dog bark, he took to his heels.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
3

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meaning

  1. To speak sharply.

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To make a short, loud, explosive noise with the vocal organs (said of animals, especially dogs).

  2. To make a clamor; to make importunate outcries.

More examples

In context

  • Does it bark at her?

  • The seal barked as the zookeeper threw fish into its enclosure.

  • The neighbour's dog is always barking.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The gardener gently peeled the rough outer blank from the fallen tree branch.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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”)..