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:
“If you’ve never met a smart, friendly, interesting yak — you must. Joyful, Cheerful, Intelligent and Sociable. You will fall in love,” it promises.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
Oaklee Garner, 3, and her grandmother Julie Pettee look at the yak bulls at the Pettee Ranch in Fairplay, Colo. 3.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 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
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
One swift pinch of an ear, one assertive push behind a knee, and Kevin the yak was down without even entirely realizing that he’d fallen.
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 waggled her finger at Rafik and yakked excitedly.
From "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye
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
In the run-up to that, the Europeans have been using old terms such as “Belfry,” yakking about having known Seve Ballesteros personally and yammering about the fun of Brookline even in defeat.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 23, 2021
In truth, the answer was: no one about to be onscreen yakking had much of anything to offer.
From Salon ● Dec. 1, 2019
Grandma Sands and Momma would get yakking to each other and we could only understand half of the things that they said.
From "The Watsons Go to Birmingham" by Christopher Paul Curtis
Now she breeds her own yaks on 120 acres of pasture, foothills and mesa tops high in bucolic Ridgway, about 290 miles west of Denver.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
She led customers into remote wilderness while yaks hauled the baggage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
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
Fresh bread and vegetables arrived every few days on the backs of yaks.
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.
