ark
noun
ark
1 American
[ahrk]
/ ɑrk /
noun
arks
plural
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Also called ark of the covenant. a chest or box containing the two stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments, carried by the Israelites in their wanderings in the desert after the Exodus: the most sacred object of the tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem, where it was kept in the holy of holies.
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Judaism. Ark, Holy Ark.
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a flatboat formerly used on the Mississippi River and its tributaries.
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Nautical. life car.
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Archaic. a chest or box.
Ark.
2
American
abbreviation
ark
1
British
/ ɑːk /
noun
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the vessel that Noah built and in which he saved himself, his family, and a number of animals and birds during the Flood (Genesis 6–9)
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informal very old; out of date
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a place or thing offering shelter or protection
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dialect a chest, box, or coffer
Ark
2
British
/ ɑːk /
noun
-
Also called: Holy Ark. the cupboard at the front of a synagogue, usually in the eastern wall, in which the Torah scrolls are kept
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Also called: Ark of the Covenant. the most sacred symbol of God's presence among the Hebrew people, carried in their journey from Sinai to the Promised Land (Canaan) and eventually enshrined in the holy of holies of the Temple in Jerusalem
Ark.
3
British
abbreviation
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of ark
First recorded before 850; Middle English ark(e), erke, Old English arc, earc(e) (compare Old Frisian erke, arke, Dutch ark, Old High German, Gothic arka, Old Norse ǫrk ), from Latin arca “chest, coffer,” derivative of arcēre “to safeguard,” cognate with Hittite h̬ark- “hold, possess”
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:
Above the Torah ark in Ms. Wisse’s synagogue, an admonition is written in Hebrew: “Know before whom you stand.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
The clergy specifically placed the handles of the tall ark at the bottom, so that even preschoolers would be able to open it.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026
Let me explain, and at the risk of coming across like a guy building an ark in the desert, offer options for adding dividends at a time of relative scarcity.
From Barron's ● Nov. 21, 2025
Chelsea welcomed Armenian side FC Noah, named after the biblical character with the ark, to Stamford Bridge.
From BBC ● May 28, 2025
This one is a beautiful boat-like room of dark wood and bright stained-glass panels of, it looks like, yup, Noah building the ark, Noah greeting the animals as they board, Noah, Noah, Noah.
From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
Wong Kim Ark. The case revolved around Ark, a San Francisco-born child of Chinese immigrants who had lived in the U.S. for 20 years but were denied citizenship under The Chinese Exclusion Act.
From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2026
Last fall, he started regularly leaving his home in Little Rock Ark., to visit his parents in Azle, Texas, for a week at a time, helping them navigate his mother’s brain and lung cancer.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
After graduating in 1992, he worked at his father’s TV station in Little Rock, Ark., and by 2001 he was running the broader TV station group, Allbritton Communications.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
Alvendia also said Star Academy’s success ended state oversight of a troubled Pine Bluff, Ark., school district in 2023, after five years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
It must have been something like the moment the doors closed on Noah’s Ark. We threw our wool blankets over our heads, but it was already too late.
From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt
Wong Kim Ark that read this phrase as creating only four narrow exceptions to the birthright citizenship rule for groups such as children of foreign diplomats.
From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2026
The justices upheld the U.S. citizenship of Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco to Chinese parents who later returned to China.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
"We have repeatedly understood the rule of Wong Kim Ark to guarantee citizenship to all children born in the United States and subject to its power," Roberts said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
Ferguson was able, in Wong Kim Ark, to see that the children of immigrants receive automatic birthright citizenship.
From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2026
“Oh Ark I” one of them would say.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
I understand the argument that zoos are now arks, safe places where endangered animals and genetic material are preserved in a world where thousands of species are hurtling toward extinction.
From Salon ● Feb. 18, 2025
Fragments from these genetically distinct coral types would be placed in land tanks in Sarasota and West Palm Beach that serve as modern-day arks for the vulnerable sea creatures.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2023
The restoration is addressing the woodwork, gilding, Torah arks and bimahs, or altars.
From New York Times ● May 4, 2022
Umbrellas, if not arks, are needed in the Pacific Northwest, while in the Rockies snow shovels are gathering cobwebs.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 4, 2021
Often, in the grim, bloody days to come, they thought of the little Swiss toymaker up there among his windmills and Noah's arks, and of his laugh at their expense.
From Tom Slade with the Boys Over There by Owen, R. Emmett (Robert Emmett)
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.
