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• ark
  ark

  noun

  Noah's Ark.
• Ark.
  Ark.

  abbreviation

  Arkansas.
• Ark
  Ark

  noun

  the cupboard at the front of a synagogue, usually in the eastern wall, in which the Torah scrolls are kept

ark

¹ American  

[ahrk] / ɑrk /

noun

• arks
  plural

1. Noah's Ark.

2. 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.

3. Judaism. Ark, Holy Ark.

4. a place of protection or security; refuge; asylum.

5. a flatboat formerly used on the Mississippi River and its tributaries.

6. Nautical. life car.

7. Archaic. a chest or box.

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Ark. ² American  

abbreviation

1. Arkansas.

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ark ¹ British  

/ ɑːk /

noun

1. 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)

2. informal very old; out of date

3. a place or thing offering shelter or protection

4. dialect a chest, box, or coffer

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Ark ² British  

/ ɑːk /

noun

1. Also called: Holy Ark.  the cupboard at the front of a synagogue, usually in the eastern wall, in which the Torah scrolls are kept

2. 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

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Ark. ³ British  

abbreviation

1. Arkansas

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• arks
  plural

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

See Examples For:

ark Ark. Ark arks

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

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

And no one even had to build an ark.

From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2025

Chelsea welcomed Armenian side FC Noah, named after the biblical character with the ark, to Stamford Bridge.

From BBC ● May 28, 2025

‘If a flood’s coming, will you let me know, Ted? So I can build my ark on time?’

From "The London Eye Mystery" by Siobhan Dowd

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

Tyson on Thursday said Schomburger will take the reins of the Springdale, Ark., company on Oct.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026

In 1898, a conservative Supreme Court upheld that rule and affirmed the citizenship of Wong Kim Ark. He was born in San Francisco to Chinese parents who later returned to China.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 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

John Hamilton, of Ark Vet Centre in Lockerbie, said they had 20,000 doses of the vaccine in stock at the start of the week but "that disappeared over 48 hours".

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

Wong Kim Ark, confirmed that the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause applied to people of all races.

From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026

In 1898, the Supreme Court upheld the rule of citizenship at birth in the case of Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco to Chinese parents.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 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

Not since Noah built the Ark have citizens of Aurora County seen such water!

From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles

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

Wright, obsolete perhaps as a trade name, has given many compounds, including Arkwright, a maker of bins, or arks as they were once called, Tellwright, a tile maker, and many others which need no interpretation.

From The Romance of Names by Ernest Weekley