howk

British

/ haʊk /

verb

to dig (out or up)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of howk

C17: from earlier holk

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.

Tam got my contracts this week, an' I have to gang back into a common place and howk coals.

From The Underworld The Story of Robert Sinclair, Miner by Welsh, James C.

With this he set to work to howk the turf away, and found it light to work, for it had been loosely shovelled in, and came away with ease.

From Border Ghost Stories by Pease, Howard

You can howk ony mortal thing out o’ the original Hebrew, the which all ministers hae at their finger ends.

From The Little Minister by Barrie, J. M. (James Matthew)

I find mysel' whiles wonderin' gin I'll see ye the day afore I can gang ower in my mind the graves that's to howk, or gin Birsie's oats are dune.

From The Lilac Sunbonnet by Crockett, S. R. (Samuel Rutherford)

Did his enemies wish to see him howk out her grave with his own hands?

From The Scapegoat; a romance and a parable by Caine, Hall, Sir

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023