a short, explosive sound, as of firearms: the bark of a revolver.
a brusque order, reply, etc.: The foreman's bark sent the idlers back to their machines.
a cough.
verb (used without object)
(of a dog or other animal) to utter an abrupt, explosive cry or a series of such cries.
to make a similar sound: The big guns barked.
to speak or cry out sharply or gruffly: a man who barks at his children.
Informal. to advertise a theater performance, carnival sideshow, or the like, by standing at the entrance and calling out to passersby.
to cough.
verb (used with object)
to utter in a harsh, shouting tone: barking orders at her subordinates.
Idioms for bark
bark at the moon, to protest in vain: Telling her that she's misinformed is just barking at the moon.
bark up the wrong tree, to assail or pursue the wrong person or object; misdirect one's efforts: If he expects me to get him a job, he's barking up the wrong tree.
Origin of bark
1
First recorded before 900; Middle English berken, beorken, borken, barke, Old English beorcan; akin to Old English borcian “to bark,” Old Norse berkja “to bluster, boast,” Lithuanian burgė́ti “to growl, quarrel,” Serbo-Croatian br̀gljati “to murmur”
the external covering of the woody stems, branches, and roots of plants, as distinct and separable from the wood itself.
Tanning. a mixture of oak and hemlock barks.
candy, usually of chocolate with large pieces of nuts, made in flat sheets.
verb (used with object)
to rub off or scrape the skin of, as by bumping into something: to bark one's shins.
to remove a circle of bark from; girdle.
to cover, enclose, or encrust with or as if with bark.
to treat with a bark infusion; tan.
to strip the bark from; peel.
Origin of bark
2
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Old Norse bǫrkr (genitive barkar )
OTHER WORDS FROM bark
barkless,adjective
Definition for bark (3 of 3)
bark3
or barque
[ bahrk ]
/ bɑrk /
noun
Nautical. a sailing vessel having three or more masts, square-rigged on all but the aftermost mast, which is fore-and-aft-rigged.
Literary. a boat or sailing vessel.
Origin of bark
3
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English barke, from Old French barque, ultimately from Late Latin barca “small boat, barge, bark”; akin to Latin bāris, from Greek bâris “Egyptian flat-bottomed boat, raft, barge,” from Coptic barī “boat, barge”
Low-severity embers can ramp up a tree’s response such that it’s better equipped to fight back bark beetles, native parasites than can devastate entire stands of conifers when the trees are already weakened by forces like drought.
How we can burn our way to a better future|Ula Chrobak|October 2, 2020|Popular Science
Prior to a jumping worm invasion, the soft layer of decomposing leaves, bark and sticks covering the forest floor might be more than a dozen centimeters thick.
Invasive jumping worms damage U.S. soil and threaten forests|Megan Sever|September 29, 2020|Science News
Cotton balls, drier lint, curls of birch bark, and even greasy snack chips can turn the small flame of a match into the roaring flame of a campfire.
The 10-step guide to survival in an emergency|By Tim MacWelch/Outdoor Life|September 29, 2020|Popular Science
It embeds structured knowledge about dogs partially grounded in perceptual experience, including the knowledge that dogs have four legs, eat meat, and bark—all things you probably observed.
Welcome to the Next Level of Bullshit - Issue 89: The Dark Side|Raphaël Millière|September 9, 2020|Nautilus
A neighborhood dog had begun to bark, and they were worried about the police coming.
The Stacks: The Judas Priest Teen Suicide Trial|Ivan Solotaroff|June 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The wire is long gone, but a rusted snag remains entombed in the bark.
How the Kings of Fracking Double-Crossed Their Way to Riches|ProPublica|March 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“Impossible,” began the other, but was silenced by a sort of bark from Mr. Wilde.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the Show|Robert W. Chambers|February 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It all boils down to scratching your name in the bark of a tree.
Mel Brooks Is Always Funny and Often Wise in This 1975 Playboy Interview|Alex Belth|February 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The needles of the yew tree can kill you, but the bark is important for many modern drugs.
This Exhibit Could Kill You: The Museum of Natural History Takes on Poison|William O’Connor|January 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
On the upper Tokachi, however, they are covered with the bark of trees.
Alone with the Hairy Ainu|A. H. Savage Landor
How can a sheep dog work a flock of sheep unless he can bite occasionally as well as bark?
The Way of All Flesh|Samuel Butler
The bark provides a ready means of distinguishing this tree.
Forest Trees of Illinois|Fuller George D.
The cells of its own generation that were crowded in the other direction made part of an annual layer of bark.
Trees Worth Knowing|Julia Ellen Rogers
These Indians wore garments of bark, which they wove like cloths, and then drew on like coats of mail.
The History of Antiquity, Volume IV (of 6)|Max Duncker
British Dictionary definitions for bark (1 of 3)
bark1
/ (bɑːk) /
noun
the loud abrupt usually harsh or gruff cry of a dog or any of certain other animals
a similar sound, such as one made by a person, gun, etc
his bark is worse than his bitehe is bad-tempered but harmless
verb
(intr)(of a dog or any of certain other animals) to make its typical loud abrupt cry
(intr)(of a person, gun, etc) to make a similar loud harsh sound
to say or shout in a brusque, peremptory, or angry tonehe barked an order
USinformalto advertise (a show, merchandise, etc) by loudly addressing passers-by
bark up the wrong treeinformalto misdirect one's attention, efforts, etc; be mistaken
Word Origin for bark
Old English beorcan; related to Lithuanian burgěti to quarrel, growl
British Dictionary definitions for bark (2 of 3)
bark2
/ (bɑːk) /
noun
a protective layer of dead corky cells on the outside of the stems of woody plants
any of several varieties of this substance that can be used in tanning, dyeing, or in medicine
an informal name for cinchona
verb(tr)
to scrape or rub off skin, as in an injury
to remove the bark or a circle of bark from (a tree or log)
to cover or enclose with bark
to tan (leather), principally by the tannins in barks
Word Origin for bark
C13: from Old Norse börkr; related to Swedish, Danish bark, German Borke; compare Old Norse björkrbirch
The protective outer covering of the trunk, branches, and roots of trees and other woody plants. Bark includes all tissues outside the vascular cambium. In older trees, bark is usually divided into inner bark, consisting of living phloem, and outer bark, consisting of the periderm (the phelloderm, cork cambium, and cork) and all the tissues outside it. The outer bark is mainly dead tissue that protects the tree from heat, cold, insects, and other dangers. The appearance of bark varies according to the manner in which the periderm forms, as in broken layers or smoother rings. Bark also has lenticels, porous corky areas that allow for the exchange of water vapor and gases with the interior living tissues.