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  • kirk
    kirk
    noun
    a church.
  • Kirk
    Kirk
    noun
    Grayson (Louis), 1903–1997, U.S. educator: president of Columbia University 1953–68.

kirk

1 American  
[kurk, kirk] / kɜrk, kɪrk /

noun

  • kirks
    plural
  1. Chiefly Scot. and North England. a church.

  2. the Kirk, the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian), as distinguished from the Church of England or the Scottish Episcopal Church.


Kirk 2 American  
[kurk] / kɜrk /

noun

  1. Grayson (Louis), 1903–1997, U.S. educator: president of Columbia University 1953–68.

  2. a male given name.


kirk 1 British  
/ kɜːk, kɪrk /

noun

  1. a Scot word for church

  2. a Scottish church

"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

Kirk 2 British  
/ kɜːk, kɪrk /

noun

  1. informal the Presbyterian Church of Scotland

"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

Kirk 3 British  
/ kɜːk /

noun

  1. Norman. 1923–74, prime minister of New Zealand (1972–74)

"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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns


Etymology

Origin of kirk

1150–1200; Middle English (north and Scots ) < Old Norse kirkja church


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The 15th Century kirk, which stands next to Linlithgow Palace, was a place of royal worship and the site of Mary Queen of Scots' baptism.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2024

"After all," he said, "it is well known that Kate Forbes is a member of the free kirk, and there are certain things that logically, implicitly flow from that."

From BBC ● Feb. 21, 2023

"How is charlie kirk 28?," chimed Hanna Gais, a senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center.

From Salon ● Feb. 14, 2022

He worked his way through college, earned an M.D., and then, being a devout member of the Scottish kirk, went on to the University of Edinburgh.

From Time Magazine Archive

For the most part it consisted of raw levies, and as the kirk had refused to sanction the enterprise of the Scottish parliament, David Leslie and thousands of experienced officers and men declined to serve.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 4 "Grasshopper" to "Greek Language" by Various

The hosts of the “I’ve Had It” podcast apologized Saturday after reacting to a joke about Kirk during Thursday’s episode.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 9, 2026

Chief Executive Kirk Tanner said the results show steady progress on Hershey’s priorities for the year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

Tree surgeon Callum Kirk, who works in the Newtownabbey area and covers much of Belfast, said storms bring a different kind of working day.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

Businessman Kirk Dornbush, 65, staked out the October 8 televised debate between El-Sayed and Rogers in Grand Rapids, wearing a yarmulke and brandishing an "Abdul for US Senate" sign.

From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026

The corps, led by the suave, unflappable Captain James T. Kirk, included natives of an advanced United Earth, its history of poverty and war now in the past.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

Another of Thomson's Presbyterian kirks, perhaps the most dramatic of all, Queen's Park church, was destroyed by an incendiary bomb dropped by the Germans in 1943.

From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2017

Whyles ranging like a roarin' lion For prey, a' holes and corners tryin'; Whyles on the strong-winged tempest flyin', Tirling the kirks; Whyles, in the human bosom pryin', Unseen thou lurks.

From The Mysteries of All Nations Rise and Progress of Superstition, Laws Against and Trials of Witches, Ancient and Modern Delusions Together With Strange Customs, Fables, and Tales by James Grant

How many kirks he thought of, sitting there—what cathedrals, chapels; what rude, earnest places; what temples, mosques, caves, ancient groves; what fanes; what worshiped gods!

From Foes by Mary Johnston

Aweel! there's plenty o' kirks, though ye never darken the door o' ane.

From The Making of Mary by Jean N. (Jean Newton) McIlwraith

There was all the difference between truth only dimly perceived and truth clearly uttered, in what she would be likely to hear in the two kirks, in the opinion of the minister’s wife.

From Allison Bain, or, By a Way she knew not by G. H. (George Henry) Edwards

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