Dictionary

yark en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /jɑːk/ (UK)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Middle English ȝarken, ȝerken, from Old English ġearcian (“to prepare, make ready, procure, furnish, supply”), Proto-West Germanic *garwakōn, equivalent to yare + -k. Related to Old English ġearc (“ready, active, quick”), ġearu (“prepared, ready, equipped, complete, finished, yare”). More at yare.

Meanings

1. (obsolete, transitive) To make ready; prepare.
2. (obsolete, transitive) To dispose; be set in order for; be destined or intended for.
3. (obsolete, transitive) To set open; open.

Forms

Deriveds

yarking

yark en · VERB · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• /jɑːk/ (UK)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Uncertain, probably originally imitative; compare jerk, etc.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To bind or draw (especially leather or stitches) tight.
   • [...] Yet thou hast given us leather to yark, and leather to bark, [...] 1881, Walter Gregor, Notes on the Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland:
2. (transitive) To hit, strike, especially with a cane or whip.
3. (transitive) To crack (a whip).
   • he would throw a Dagger, and make a whip to yarke and lash [tr. faisoit craqueter], as cunningly as any Carter in France. , Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.96

Forms