cark

[ kahrk ]

noun

care or worry.

verb (used with or without object)

to worry.

Origin of cark

1250–1300; Middle English carken to be anxious, Old English becarcian, apparently derivative of car- (base of carucare) + -k suffix

Words Nearby cark

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cark in a sentence

The old, old earth is glad to turn from the cark and care of driftless centuries to the first sweet blades of green.
The Hills and the Vale | Richard Jefferies
Alpine tourists often employ this contrivance when they start from their bivouac in the cark morning.
The Art of Travel | Francis Galton
For two wretched, suspicious, anxious days did this doubt cark at the captain's heart.
Ralph Denham's Adventures in Burma | George Norway
The nervous, excitable temper has helped the fret and cark of ambitious life.
The Caxtons, Complete | Edward Bulwer-Lytton
It's easy for you to go joking, having neither cark nor care: that is no way to treat the second best match in Ireland!
Three Wonder Plays | Lady I. A. Gregory

British Dictionary definitions for cark (1 of 2)

cark¹

/ (kɑːk) /

noun, verb

an archaic word for worry (def. 1), worry (def. 2), worry (def. 11), worry (def. 13)

Origin of cark

C13 carken to burden, from Old Northern French carquier, from Late Latin carricāre to load

British Dictionary definitions for cark (2 of 2)

cark²

/ (kɑːk) /

verb

(intr) Australian slang to break down; die

Origin of cark

perhaps from the cry of the crow, as a carrion feeding bird

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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