yak
1 Americannoun
-
a large, stocky, shaggy-haired wild ox, Bos grunniens, of the Tibetan highlands, having long, curved horns: endangered.
-
a domesticated variety of this animal.
verb (used without object)
-
yaks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
yakked,
past participle, past
-
yakking
present participle
noun
noun
noun
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
yaksimple
-
yakssimple
-
have yakkedperfect
-
has yakkedperfect
-
am yakkingprogressive
-
are yakkingprogressive
-
is yakkingprogressive
-
have been yakkingperfect progressive
-
has been yakkingperfect progressive
Past
-
yakkedsimple
-
had yakkedperfect
-
was yakkingprogressive
-
were yakkingprogressive
-
had been yakkingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of yak1
First recorded in 1785–95; from Tibetan gyag
Origin of yak2
An Americanism dating to 1820–25 for yakety-yak ( def. ) (noun)
Explanation
A yak is a big animal with horns and hooves that's native to Central Asia. A secondary, informal meaning of yak is "to chatter on and on." If you live in the Himalayas, you may spend a lot of time yakking about yaks. Yaks are relatives of cows and oxen, and in many parts of Tibet it's common to drink yak milk, eat yak meat, ride on yaks, and even race yaks. The English word comes from the Tibetan g-yag, "male yak." Yak can also mean "noisy chatter" or, as verb, "to chatter noisily and at length." This meaning is a variant of the verb yack or yuck and is unrelated to the word that denotes the animal.
Vocabulary lists containing yak
A Vocabulary Bestiary: Animals That Behave as Verbs
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East Asia - Middle School
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East Asia - Introductory
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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:
As for the cheese, it’s traditionally made with Bhutanese yak cheese for a tangy flavor, and increasingly cow’s milk cheese.
From Salon ● Jan. 15, 2026
This is the roof of the world where traffic gives way to yak herders on horseback whistling to reluctant, grunting cattle, as eagles circle above.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2025
One of them approaches a vendor selling barbecued strips of yak meat.
From BBC ● Apr. 16, 2025
But you can also find cheese made with milk from other animals like sheep, goats and even water buffalo and yak.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2024
Kevin?—Kevin came up behind Daniel and caught one of his whirling arms with a yak horn.
From "Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody" by Patrick Ness
“Ms. Blatt, what do you think the Second Circuit meant when it yakked about … judges not being art critics?” he asked.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 12, 2022
They yakked about nothing and everything, except what was around them.
From New York Times ● Jul. 16, 2018
And Donald Trump appeared on some TV show and yakked about his well-being.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 17, 2016
But in all the decades he yakked about the college game, he'd never have as big an effect as he did on the NFL in 1981.
From Slate ● Oct. 12, 2012
She talked too much, yakked all the time.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
In the words of the late great Marty DiBergi: Enough of my yakking.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2026
Nice peaceful places are ruined by your yakking.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 25, 2023
People start yakking to him about what a good shot.
From Washington Post ● May 20, 2021
They met, Wilfert recalls, at a reading in 2005; when Wilfert said “I’m going to the bathroom,” Luker said, “I’m going too” and they sat “in adjacent johns,” yakking.
From New York Times ● May 2, 2021
We’d already spent hours yakking into the night about computers, politics, education.
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
A genetic adaptation that allows animals such as yaks and Tibetan antelopes to survive in thin air may also point to a new way to repair nerve damage in humans.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 15, 2026
It could have ended in tragically had it not been for a well-coordinated rescue, with yaks and horses deployed to clear the snow.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2025
Non-stop snow, instant noodles and yaks: tales of being trapped on Everest.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 10, 2025
Tenjen grew up in a village farming potatoes and herding yaks, and never got a chance to attend school.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 9, 2023
As the snow softened in the afternoon sun, the hoofs of our yaks punched through the frozen crust, and the beasts wallowed to their bellies.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
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.
