hark
[hahrk]
- to listen attentively; hearken.
- Archaic. to listen to; hear.
- a hunter's shout to hounds, as to encourage them in following the scent.
- 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.
Origin of hark
Synonyms
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com4b. refer, allude; regress, retrogress.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
hark back
- (intr, adverb) to return to an earlier subject, point, or position, as in speech or thought
hark
- (intr; usually imperative) to listen; pay attention
Word Origin
Old English heorcnian to hearken; related to Old Frisian herkia, Old High German hōrechen; see hear
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for hark back
hark
v.
late 12c., from Old English *heorcian, perhaps an intensive form from base of hieran (see hear). Cf. talk/tale. Cognate with Old Frisian harkia "listen," Middle Dutch horken, Old High German horechon, German horchen. To hark back (1829) originally referred to hounds returning along a track when the scent has been lost, till they find it again. Related: Harked; harking.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with hark back
hark back
Return to a previous point, as in Let us hark back briefly to my first statement. This expression originally alluded to hounds retracing their course when they have lost their quarry's scent. It may be dying out. [First half of 1800s]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
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