ark
noun
ark
1 American
[ahrk]
/ ɑrk /
noun
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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informal very old; out of date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
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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:
Kircher, the authors add, even claimed to have invented another music-making ark, more powerful and capacious—and secret—available “only for princes and worthy friends.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
The mural’s stained-glass look was inspired by the temple’s famous ark doors, she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 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
"The work we are doing, and zoos around Europe are doing, is really to be that lifeboat, to be that ark population."
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2025
He’s crying full-out—sobbing like the world has ended and Noah hasn’t landed his ark.
From "Ninth Ward" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
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
Once major components have reached Lockheed Martin’s Camden, Ark., factory, workers can begin assembling the whole missile.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 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
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
She moved in with Liu and his family at their house, which Liu had called "the Ark", along with several other female followers.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Wong Kim Ark, confirmed that the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause applied to people of all races.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
Because going to a place like the Ark Encounter is not about fun, and it’s certainly not about learning.
From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2026
Barbara already reaffirmed the long-established rule of the 1898 decision in Wong Kim Ark that the 14th Amendment establishes any person born on U.S. soil is a natural-born citizen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 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
There’s nothing wrong with Indiana Jones’ “discovery” of lost arks or hidden tombs, or the five billion other pyramids-and-papyrus-scroll tales sold in books, films and television.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2022
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
The possibility must be conceded that there were several arks in the course of Hebrew history and that separate tribes or groups of tribes had their own sacred object.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 5 "Arculf" to "Armour, Philip" by Various
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.
