- any brown songbird of the predominantly Old World family Alaudidae, esp the skylark: noted for their singing
- short for titlark
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
lark1 /lɑrk/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
lark2 /lɑrk/USA pronunciation n. [countable]
v. [no object]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Birdsa songbird living in the open country, or similar bird, as the meadowlark.
lark2 /lɑrk/USA pronunciation n. [countable]
- a merry, carefree adventure;
frolic;
escapade:had a lark at the party. - innocent or good-natured mischief;
something done as a joke;
prank.
v. [no object]
- to have fun;
frolic;
romp.
lark1
(lärk),USA pronunciation n.
lark2 (lärk),USA pronunciation n.
v.i.
lark′er, n.
lark′i•ness, lark′ish•ness, n.
lark′ing•ly, adv.
lark′ish, lark′y, adj.
lark′ish•ly, adv.
lark′some, adj.
- Birdsany of numerous, chiefly Old World oscine birds, of the family Alaudidae, characterized by an unusually long, straight hind claw, esp. the skylark, Alauda arvensis.
- Birdsany of various similar birds of other families, as the meadowlark and titlark.
- bef. 900; Middle English larke, Old English lāwerce; cognate with German Lerche, Dutch leeuwerik, Old Norse lǣvirki
lark2 (lärk),USA pronunciation n.
- a merry, carefree adventure;
frolic;
escapade. - innocent or good-natured mischief;
a prank. - something extremely easy to accomplish, succeed in, or to obtain:That exam was a lark.
v.i.
- to have fun;
frolic;
romp. - to behave mischievously;
play pranks. - Sport[Fox Hunting.](of a rider) to take jumps unnecessarily:He tired his horse by larking on the way home.
- origin, originally uncertain 1805–15
lark′i•ness, lark′ish•ness, n.
lark′ing•ly, adv.
lark′ish, lark′y, adj.
lark′ish•ly, adv.
lark′some, adj.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
lark /lɑːk/ n
lark /lɑːk/ informal n
- a carefree adventure or frolic
- a harmless piece of mischief
- (often followed by about) to have a good time by frolicking
- to play a prank
'lark' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
calandria
- coucal
- laik
- larkspur
- skylark
- Thompson
- titlark
- woodlark
- alouette
- bouquet larkspur
- corydalis
- field lark
- field larkspur
- horned lark
- lark bunting
- lark sparrow
- laverock
- magpie lark
- meadowlark
- mudlark
- red larkspur
- Siberian larkspur