- (intransitive; usually imperative) to listen; pay attention
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
hark /hɑrk/USA pronunciation
v.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- [no object] to listen attentively.
- hark back, [~ + back + to + object] to remember or retell a previous event or topic:always harking back to his army days.
hark
(härk),USA pronunciation v.i.
v.t.
n.
- to listen attentively;
hearken.
v.t.
- [Archaic.]to listen to;
hear. - hark back:
- (of hounds) to return along the course in order to regain a lost scent.
- to return to a previous subject or point;
revert:He kept harking back to his early days in vaudeville.
n.
- Sporta hunter's shout to hounds, as to encourage them in following the scent.
- 1175–1225; Middle English herken, earlier herkien, Old English *heorcian; cognate with Old Frisian herkia, harkia; akin to Middle Dutch harken, Middle High German, German horchen. See hearken; hear
- 3. b. refer, allude; regress, retrogress.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
hark /hɑːk/ vb
'hark' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):