hark

American  

[hahrk] / hɑrk /

verb (used without object)

1. to listen attentively; hearken.

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verb (used with object)

1. Archaic. to listen to; hear.

noun

1. a hunter's shout to hounds, as to encourage them in following the scent.

verb phrase

1. hark back

   1. (of hounds) to return along the course in order to regain a lost scent.

   2. to return to a previous subject or point; revert.

      He kept harking back to his early days in vaudeville.

hark British  

/ hɑːk /

verb

1. (intr; usually imperative) to listen; pay attention

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Other Word Forms

• unharked adjective

Etymology

Origin of hark

1175–1225; Middle English herken, earlier herkien, Old English *heorcian; cognate with Old Frisian herkia, harkia; akin to Middle Dutch harken, Middle High German, German horchen. See hearken, hear

Example Sentences

The “battleship” name harks back to the ships with large main guns used until the end of the Cold War, but the new ships will feature a next-generation design.

From The Wall Street Journal

One by one, the queer and trans cast members share fictionalized personal stories, harking back to childhood moments before any declaration of identity was possible.

From Los Angeles Times

Her version harks back to painters moving East for the light.

From The Wall Street Journal

Doing so, Duffy suggested, would help to usher in a new “golden age of travel” — a phrase that harks back to the mid-20th century flight experience.

From Los Angeles Times

In February 1947 the couturier Christian Dior harked back to the rosy autochrome with his first collection, “Corolle,” named for the petaled cup of a flower and later christened the New Look.

From The Wall Street Journal