yak
1 Americannoun
-
a large, stocky, shaggy-haired wild ox, Bos grunniens, of the Tibetan highlands, having long, curved horns: endangered.
-
a domesticated variety of this animal.
verb (used without object)
-
yaks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
yakked,
past participle, past
-
yakking
present participle
noun
noun
noun
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
yaksimple
-
yakssimple
-
have yakkedperfect
-
has yakkedperfect
-
am yakkingprogressive
-
are yakkingprogressive
-
is yakkingprogressive
-
have been yakkingperfect progressive
-
has been yakkingperfect progressive
Past
-
yakkedsimple
-
had yakkedperfect
-
was yakkingprogressive
-
were yakkingprogressive
-
had been yakkingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of yak1
First recorded in 1785–95; from Tibetan gyag
Origin of yak2
An Americanism dating to 1820–25 for yakety-yak ( def. ) (noun)
Explanation
A yak is a big animal with horns and hooves that's native to Central Asia. A secondary, informal meaning of yak is "to chatter on and on." If you live in the Himalayas, you may spend a lot of time yakking about yaks. Yaks are relatives of cows and oxen, and in many parts of Tibet it's common to drink yak milk, eat yak meat, ride on yaks, and even race yaks. The English word comes from the Tibetan g-yag, "male yak." Yak can also mean "noisy chatter" or, as verb, "to chatter noisily and at length." This meaning is a variant of the verb yack or yuck and is unrelated to the word that denotes the animal.
Vocabulary lists containing yak
A Vocabulary Bestiary: Animals That Behave as Verbs
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East Asia - Middle School
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East Asia - Introductory
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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:
“On market day, we would get up at 3 a.m. and walk the yak to Namche Bazaar to get groceries,” Pasang said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
Namgyal worked in Alaska, New York City and finally Colorado, the place most resembling Nepal and the epicenter of yak ranching in the United States.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
As for the cheese, it’s traditionally made with Bhutanese yak cheese for a tangy flavor, and increasingly cow’s milk cheese.
From Salon ● Jan. 15, 2026
One of them approaches a vendor selling barbecued strips of yak meat.
From BBC ● Apr. 16, 2025
“Haven’t felt a quiver. Wouldn’t even know if I weren’t asked to yak to TV cameras,” said Harry.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
“Ms. Blatt, what do you think the Second Circuit meant when it yakked about … judges not being art critics?” he asked.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 12, 2022
They yakked about nothing and everything, except what was around them.
From New York Times ● Jul. 16, 2018
And Donald Trump appeared on some TV show and yakked about his well-being.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 17, 2016
But in all the decades he yakked about the college game, he'd never have as big an effect as he did on the NFL in 1981.
From Slate ● Oct. 12, 2012
Mr. Hofacket yakked away as my vision gradually returned.
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
Nice peaceful places are ruined by your yakking.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 25, 2023
Concerning groundwater, politicians and water officials have been yakking about recharging the drained aquifers for decades.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 6, 2023
Now the college football country settles in for another week of yakking about whether college football might be in some sort of existential trouble.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 2, 2022
In truth, the answer was: no one about to be onscreen yakking had much of anything to offer.
From Salon ● Dec. 1, 2019
I couldn’t say what or who they were, but yet here was Mother yakking it up with them like old home week.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
She later moved to Colorado, where she bought more yaks and now has about 30, including a new calf born last week, the first from a female named Inge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
Now she breeds her own yaks on 120 acres of pasture, foothills and mesa tops high in bucolic Ridgway, about 290 miles west of Denver.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
A genetic adaptation that allows animals such as yaks and Tibetan antelopes to survive in thin air may also point to a new way to repair nerve damage in humans.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 15, 2026
It could have ended in tragically had it not been for a well-coordinated rescue, with yaks and horses deployed to clear the snow.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2025
Farming is difficult in the high, cold, steep-walled valleys, so the traditional Sherpa economy revolved around trading between Tibet and India, and herding yaks.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
