bark

noun

/bɑːk/

/bɑːrk/

[uncountable, countable]Idioms

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the outer layer of a tree
- The bark peels off in summer.
- The people strip the bark and use it in medicines.
Topics Plants and treesc1
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- rough
- tree
- birch
- …
verb + bark
- peel off
- remove
- strip
- …
bark + verb
- peel off
bark + noun
- chippings
- chips
- mulch
- …
See full entry
the short loud sound made by dogs and some other animals
- The dog gave a loud bark.
Topics Animalsc1
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- loud
- noisy
verb + bark
- give
See full entry
a short loud sound made by a gun or a voice
- a bark of laughter
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- short
- harsh
- sharp
- …
verb + bark
- give
phrases
- a bark of laughter
See full entry

Word Originnoun senses 2 to 3 Old English beorc (noun), beorcan (verb), of Germanic origin; possibly related to break. noun sense 1 Middle English: from Old Norse bǫrkr; perhaps related to birch.

Idioms

somebody’s bark is worse than their bite

(informal) used to say that somebody is not really as angry or as aggressive as they sound

bark

verb

/bɑːk/

/bɑːrk/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they bark	/bɑːk/ /bɑːrk/
he / she / it barks	/bɑːks/ /bɑːrks/
past simple barked	/bɑːkt/ /bɑːrkt/
past participle barked	/bɑːkt/ /bɑːrkt/
-ing form barking	/ˈbɑːkɪŋ/ /ˈbɑːrkɪŋ/

Idioms

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[intransitive] bark (at somebody/something) when a dog barks, it makes a short loud sound
- The dog suddenly started barking at us.
- The dog was barking furiously at a cat.
Topics Animalsc1
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adverb
- angrily
- excitedly
- frantically
- …
preposition
- at
See full entry
[transitive] to give orders, ask questions, etc. in a loud, unfriendly way
- bark out something She barked out an order.
- bark something (at somebody) He barked questions at her.
- + speech ‘Who are you?’ he barked.
[transitive] bark something (British English) to rub the skin off your knee, etc. by falling or by knocking against something synonym graze
- I barked my shins when I fell on the steps.

Word Originverb senses 1 to 2 Old English beorc (noun), beorcan (verb), of Germanic origin; possibly related to break. verb sense 3 Middle English: from Old Norse bǫrkr; perhaps related to birch.

Idioms

be barking up the wrong tree

(informal) to have the wrong idea about how to get or achieve something
- You're barking up the wrong tree if you're expecting us to lend you any money.
Topics Difficulty and failurec2

why keep a dog and bark yourself?

(informal, saying) if somebody can do a task for you, there is no point in doing it yourself