larkn.1
/lɑːk/, U.S. /lɑrk/ 1.
a. Originally: the Eurasian skylark, Alauda arvensis. In later use more generally (chiefly with distinguishing word): any of various other small songbirds comprising the family Alaudidae, typically having streaked brown plumage and an elongated hind claw. Cf. skylark n. 1.Often with preceding word, as crested lark, desert lark, horned lark, shore lark, woodlark, etc.: see the first element. A. arvensis is noted for the continuous, warbling song of the male, delivered in flight high in the air. During the breeding season this may start before dawn, and larks are often associated with or regarded as symbolic of daybreak (cf. sense 3).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > non-arboreal (larks, etc.) > [noun] > family Alaudidae
laverockeOE
larka1325
woodlarkc1325
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > non-arboreal (larks, etc.) > [noun] > family Alaudidae > genus Alauda > alauda arvensis (lark)
laverockeOE
larka1325
tiry-tiry-leerer1599
skylark1672
field lark1678
Our Lady's hen1701
a1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesworth (Cambr.) (1929) l. 226 Damei des alouves [glossed] larkes.
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 1498 On þe morwe wan it was day & þe larke by-gan to synge, þys messegers come in god aray.
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 915 With fynche with lark and with archaungell.
a1525 (c1448) R. Holland Bk. Howlat l. 714 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1925) II. 117 The blyth lark yat begynnis.
1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet iii. v. 6 It was the Larke the harauld of the morne, No Nightingale.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth V. 10 An hawk..perceives a lark at a distance which neither men nor dogs could spy.
1829 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom VII. 210 The Clapper Lark (Alauda Apiata) is of South Africa... It seldom rises more than from fifteen to twenty feet above the ground, and makes a particular noise, occasioned by the precipitate motion of its wings.
1918 W. Cather My Ántonia i. xviii. 145 The larks, perched on last year's sunflower stalks, were singing straight at the sun.
1993 Wilson Bull. 105 8 The larks (Alaudidae) are open-country birds prone to using aerial escape tactics.
2018 H. Shirihai & L. Svensson Handbk. Western Palearctic Birds I. 91/2 White-winged lark. Alauda leucoptera... A fairly large lark with striking wing pattern and some rufous in plumage.
b. With distinguishing word. Any of various other birds thought to resemble a lark in some way; esp. a bunting or pipit. Cf. Compounds 2.Recorded earliest in sea-lark (see sea-lark n. 1).bunting lark, meadowlark, rock-lark, titlark, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > non-arboreal (larks, etc.) > [noun] > family Motacillidae > genus Anthus > anthus pratensis (titlark)
titlingc1550
linget1552
lark1602
chit1610
meadowlark1611
cucknel1655
titlark1666
cheeper1684
moss-cheeper1684
old-field lark1805
ling-bird1814
tit-pipit1817
meadow pipit1825
meadow titling1828
furze-lark1854
peep1859
1602 R. Carew Surv. Cornwall i. f. 35 Coots, Sanderlings, Sea-larkes.
1768 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. (new ed.) II. ii. 238 It is larger than the tit-lark.
1849 Zoologist 7 2354 The tree pipet is the ‘tree-lark’.
1894 R. B. Sharpe Handbk. Birds Great Brit. 70 From the curious ‘scribbling’ on the eggs the Yellow Bunting..is in many places known as the ‘Writing Lark’.
1944 A. Russell Bush Ways xiv. 69 The restless little ground lark, or pipit, is often an associate of the song larks.
2003 R. I. Garrett & R. Farrant Crossing Over ii. 7 They are buried side by side in Peter Miller Cemetery, a barren rise of shin-high gravestones where the dead are serenaded by meadow larks.
2. A lark (sense 1) or its flesh used as food. Now chiefly in historical contexts. Cf. Compounds 1b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > fowls > [noun] > flesh of other birds
larka1325
pigeona1425
storka1475
wheatear1591
ortolana1667
loom1878
ostrich1955
a1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesworth (Cambr.) (1929) 1124 Grives, alawes [glossed] larkes, e plovers rostiz.
1381 Diuersa Servicia in C. B. Hieatt & S. Butler Curye on Inglysch (1985) 68 Tak pertrichys rostyd and checonys and quaylis rostyd & larkys ywol.
1558 W. Bullein Govt. Healthe f. xcviii Dioscorides saieth: that Larkes rosted, be holsome to be eaten of them that be troubled with the chollicke.
1620 T. Venner Via Recta iii. 63 Larkes are of a delicate taste in eating.
1723 J. Nott Cook's & Confectioner's Dict. sig. Aa7 Having ready roasted Larks or other small Birds, lay them round the Dish.
a1798 R. B. Sheridan Let. (1966) II. 85 You shall find a boil'd Lark and pitchcock'd Sprat ready for you.
1861 E. C. G. Murray Oyster vii. 66 (heading) Cabbage with oysters and fried larks.
1888 J. S. Stallybrass tr. J. Grimm Teutonic Mythol. IV. 1793 The first meat you give a child shall be roast lark.
1993 N. Schneegans Bird Fisherman 20 The roast lark was wonderful, I tell you!
2012 J. Peyton Brilliant Brit. (rev. ed.) 161 In the medieval era..it was common to eat lark, curlew, song thrush, swan, peacock, [etc.].
3. figurative. A person likened to a lark (sense 1); esp. a person who (habitually) gets up early and feels energetic early in the day. In later use often contrasted with owl (cf. owl n. 3, night owl n. 2).In quot. a1500 apparently with reference to the idea of a lark praising God (alluding to the similarity between Latin alauda ‘lark’ and laudare ‘to praise’).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > bed related to sleep or rest > [noun] > one who gets up or rises > at a certain time
larka1500
stirrer1538
early riser1571
early bird1830
the world > time > day and night > day or daytime > morning > [noun] > one who rises early
lark1606
a1500 ( Pilgrimage of Soul (Egerton) (1953) v. i. f. 87v (MED) Seinte Paule was a good lark, þat said he knewe not elles but Crist.
1606 T. Heywood 2nd Pt. If you know not Me sig. H4v Faire day my Lords, you are all Larkes this morning, Vp with the Sunne, you are stirring earely.
1607 G. Wilkins Three Miseries Barbary sig. B4 Hee gaue charge none should euer after presume to giue the Emperour his good morrowe, till Lilia Isa had bin with him, and thereupon was Isa called the emperors Larke, or his Bird of the morning.
1819 J. Gamble Views Soc. & Manners North of Irel. xxxii. 389 At an early hour the next morning, my companion was on foot. He was a very lark which sings at the dawn.
1824 J. Banim Revelations of Dead-alive vii. 85 He is the little lark of poetry,..for ever on the wing, for ever singing his sweet song.
1849 C. Dickens David Copperfield (1850) iv. 36 Though there was nothing very airy about Miss Murdstone, she was a perfect Lark in point of getting up.
1955 Newport (Rhode Island) Daily News 23 Dec. 6/ 4 Are you a lark or an owl in the morning?
1993 C. Orlock Inner Time ii. 10 The father is an extreme lark. In the early morning hours his body's temperature rises, so he wakes up at dawn.
2011 N.Y. Times Mag. 20 Nov. 22/4 This..test commonly used by sleep experts can determine whether you are a lark, a night owl or somewhere in between.
Phrases
P1. In proverbs and proverbial sayings. Esp. in if the sky falls, we shall catch larks and variants: used to express the view that something is very unlikely to happen, or that it is unwise to worry about a highly improbable eventuality.
ΚΠ
c1475 (c1450) P. Idley Instr. to his Son (Cambr.) (1935) ii. B. l. 1181 (MED) We shall kacche many larkis whan heuene doith falle.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. v. sig. B A leg of a larke Is better than is the body of a kyght.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. x. sig. Ciiiv Louers lyue by loue, ye as larks lyue by leekes.
a1550 in R. Dyboski Songs, Carols & Other Misc. Poems (1908) 128 And hewin fall, we shall hawe mani larkis.
1711 Brit. Apollo 14–16 Mar. When the sky falls, we shall catch Larks.
1802 W. Scott Minstrelsy Sc. Border I. Introd. p. lxv The maxim of the Douglasses, that it was better to hear the lark sing than the mouse cheep.
1851 Western Lit. Messenger Dec. 149/1 But they may just as well tell me that the sky is coming down, and that we may set about picking up the larks.
1951 C. S. Lewis Prince Caspian xii. 136 You badgers would have us wait till the sky falls and we can all catch larks.
1974 S. Cashman & S. Gaffney Prov. & Sayings Ireland 58 Every bird as it is reared and the lark for the bog.
2020 @PadraigSagart 25 Nov. in twitter.com (accessed 26 Oct. 2021) [In response to a news story shared with the headline Virus spread could escalate quickly again if the public are complacent.] If the sky fell down we'd all catch larks.
P2. Chiefly British. with the lark: very early in the morning; esp. in to be up with the lark, to rise with the lark.
ΚΠ
1580 J. Lyly Euphues & his Eng. (new ed.) f. 3 Go to bed with the Lambe, and rise with the Larke.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III v. v. 10 Stur with the Larke to morrow gentle Norffolke. View more context for this quotation
1607 T. Dekker & J. Webster West-ward Hoe ii. i. sig. B4 We..must be vp with the lark.
?1750 D. Garrick Let. 13 July (1963) I. 148 My Lady has rose almost with ye Lark to get her Letters.
1782 F. Burney Cecilia III. vi. ix. 321 I suppose..you will rise with the lark to-morrow morning?
1816 J. Wilson Misc. Poems in City of Plague 181 He with the lark in summer leaves his bed.
1843 R. S. Surtees Handley Cross II. xi. 282 Mrs. Jorrocks,..and Benjamin, were up with the lark.
1913 V. Bell Sel. Lett. (1993) 139 Roger is up with the lark, does many sketches, sees all the sights.
1991 Independent 23 Dec. 13/4 Those who rise with the lark will be treated to the sight of both Mercury and Venus gracing the dawn skies of the New Year.
2011 Trailfinder Winter 36/1 We're up with the lark and rearing to go again.
P3. Chiefly literary and poetic. In phrases alluding to the soaring flight of the lark, esp. to soar with the lark and variants: to rise to an exalted level; to surpass what is ordinary.
ΚΠ
1595 G. Markham Most Honorable Trag. Sir R. Grinuile sig. E5v Sing sadlie then my Muse..Yet mount thy wings beyond the mornings Larke.
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII ii. iii. 95 With your Theame, I could O're-mount the Larke . View more context for this quotation
1670 W. Annand Pater Noster To Rdr. If from a teeming word, my fancy be so raised, that with the Lark it soar, may be, higher then my Author attempted, [etc.].
1859 E. A. Duyckinck in Gifts of Genius 107 His verse is light, airy, flying with the lark to heaven.
1902 Punch 30 Apr. 307/1 My fancies, soaring with the lark, Recurred to common soil.
2007 G. Kirkwood Secrets in Heather (2008) viii. 132 Moments before his spirits had been soaring with the lark. Now they sank like lead.
P4. In proverbial similes, esp. as the type of something joyful or carefree. Now esp. in (as) happy as a lark and variants: very happy, perfectly content.
ΚΠ
1664 J. Winter Spicilegium 3 One is aiery and pleasant as a Lark..; another is as chollerick as a Dog; a third as meek as a Lamb; [etc.].
1694 tr. G. P. Marana Lett. Turkish Spy VIII. i. x. 49 Then I awake as merry as a Lark; as young as if I'd been in Medea's Cauldron.
1770 Reapers i. i. 7 What should hinder my being as happy as yon lark?
1801 M. Edgeworth Knapsack in Moral Tales III. 262 I had laid it all out in my head..that you should stay, and take a good night's rest here..then, in the morning, you'd find yourself as fresh as a lark.
1825 T. Creevey Let. 16 Mar. in J. Gore Creevey Papers (1963) xii. 205 He dined at Sefton's this day week as gay as a lark.
1839 G. P. Morris Little Frenchman & his Water Lots 15 There he was as happy as a lark.
1872 T. Hardy Under Greenwood Tree I. viii. 123 A slice of this here ham..and then a drop of this vinegar and pickles..and I shall be as fresh as a lark again!
1911 L. P. Solsness Utgard 111 As merry as larks over their ale-bowls and punch-glasses.
1936 West Australian (Perth) 5 Dec. 20/4 About 160 kiddies suffering from every form of complaint, yet all smiles and as happy as the larks.
2010 N. Levit & D. O. Linder Happy Lawyer iv. 100 We think we will be as happy as a lark five years after we win the lottery. We won't be.
Compounds
C1.
a. General use in various types of compound, as in lark-catcher, lark egg, lark song, etc.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fowling > fowler > [noun] > using snare or net > trapper of specific birds
lark-catcher1618
larker1634
sparrower1830
mutton-birder1881
birder1918
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xix. cx. 1352 Qvaile eiren beþ..more þan larke eiren... Þe quaile..is of lasse flight þan a larke and liþ vnder a clotte, as þe larke doþ.
1618 in N. Breton Conceyted Lett. sig. B3 Gee that knoweth not a Cuckowe from a Nightingale, is like vnto a Lark-catcher, that hauing caught an Owle, tooke her for a fine Hawke.
1839 H. Martineau Deerbrook I. v. 86 The air was full of lark music.
1856 Congregationalist (Boston) 25 July 1/6 When the lark-song thee awaketh, Drive thee then thy team afield.
1866 R. Leighton in Westm. Gaz. (1909) 6 Mar. 6/3 Deep in my soul the throbbing lark-notes lie.
1879 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 79 Cuckoo-echoing, bell-swarmèd, lark-charmèd.
1990 D. Attenborough Trials of Life x. 229 The honey-guide is a lark-sized bird that lives in east Africa.
2015 D. Chandler et al. Identifying Common Brit. Birds 126 There are fewer more vivid experiences than walking in the countryside and being drenched in lark song for hour after hour.
b. As a modifier, in the names of dishes or foodstuffs made with the flesh of a lark. Esp. in lark pie, lark pudding. Now chiefly in historical contexts.
ΚΠ
1650 N. Murford Fragmenta Poetica 4 A leg of Mutton, Lark-pye, and a Turky.
1723 J. Nott Cook's & Confectioner's Dict. sig. R6 To make a Lark Pye. To a dozen of Larks, put..a little Salt, three Eggs, [etc.].
1863 G. Meredith Let. 1 Feb. (1970) I. 189 A new Receipt:—I try it at Orridge's tonight. ‘Lark Pood'n’.
1934 J. J. Williams Seasonal Cook. Bk. 263 Lark pudding... Grease a pudding basin... Clean and bone the larks.
1967 B. Wright tr. R. Queneau Blue Flowers (1985) 52 The Duke..went down to the kitchens, intending to devour a lark stew.
1985 B. Cornwell Sharpe's Honour xiii. 243 We will eat lark pâté and honey.
2014 M. Graham Easterleigh Hall xvii. 364 Veal and ham pies, roast saddle of mutton,..stuffed shoulder of lamb, lark pies, fowl au bechamel, [etc.].
C2. † lark-awakened adj. Obsolete rare that has woken early (cf. Phrases 2).In quot. applied to cottages (standing metonymically for their inhabitants).† lark-crested adj. Obsolete (of domestic poultry) having a crest resembling that of a lark.† lark finch n. Obsolete the lark sparrow, Chondestes grammacus.† lark fish n. Obsolete a marine fish (not identified); cf. sea-lark n. 2.† lark-footed adj. Obsolete rare swift, light-footed.† lark-plover n. Obsolete a seedsnipe (family Thinocordidae).† lark-worm n. Obsolete a tapeworm infesting birds, Choanotaenia platycephala.
ΚΠ
1835 Edinb. Rev. Jan. 324 The tell-tale smoke of lark-awakened cottages.
lark bunting n. †(a) the corn bunting, Emberiza calandra (obsolete); (b) a North American sparrow, Calamospiza melanocorys, having greyish-brown and white or (in the breeding male) black and white plumage.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > seed eaters > [noun] > family Emberizidae > subfamily Emberizinae (bunting) > other types of
savannah finch1783
lark bunting1802
savannah sparrow1811
summer finch1823
greenfinch1870
sage sparrow1884
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > [noun] > miscellaneous groups or types
Strasbourg finch1783
oscines1853
New Zealand robin1855
lark bunting1858
boat-billed flycatcher1869
oscine1883
bush robin1901
antpitta1911
boatbill1930
parson bird1945
1802 G. Montagu Ornithol. Dict. Lark-bunting, vide Bunting-common.
1858 S. F. Baird Catal. N. Amer. Birds p. xl. 377. Calamospiza bicolor,... Lark Bunting. High Central Plains to the Rocky mountains.
1963 R. D. Symons Many Trails iii. 30 Small black ones [sc. birds] with white wing patches, which the children at once called white wings, not knowing that they were lark buntings.
2008 Science 25 Jan. 383/1 Chaine and Lyon found in a long-term study of sexual selection in lark buntings that females have flexible patterns of choice for male traits over several years.
lark call n. now rare a whistle or other instrument used by hunters to imitate the sound of a lark; cf. call n. 2b.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fowling > fowling equipment > [noun] > calls
quail-pipea1425
call1607
quail call1614
bird call1621
lark call1791
caller1845
yelper1884
turkey-yelper1895
1791 E. Darwin Bot. Garden: Pt. I i. Notes 89 There is a whistle, termed a lark-call, which consists of a hollow cylinder of tin-plate, closed at both ends.
1935 J. Thurber Let your Mind Alone (1937) 177 This gentleman climbed a tree and, having cunningly concealed himself in the foliage, began blowing on his lark call.
ΚΠ
1848 E. S. Dixon Ornamental & Domest. Poultry 319 Lark-crested Fowls are of various colours; pure snow-white, brown with yellow hackle, and black.
1898 Hearth & Home 17 Feb. 590/3 We must look for tender parents amongst the Malays, the Cochin Chinas, the lark-crested ones, the Dorkings, and the quaint little bantams.
ΚΠ
1825 C. L. Bonaparte Amer. Ornithol. I. 47 The Lark Finch is six inches and a half long; its bill, a little notched at the tip, is of a pale horn colour, with a slight elevation on the roof of the upper mandible.
1917 T. G. Pearson Birds Amer. III. 31 Lark Sparrow. Chondestes grammacus grammacus (Say)... Other Names.—Quail-head; Road-bird; Lark Finch; Little Meadowlark.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > [noun] > suborder Blennioidei > member of
lark fish1661
Red Indian1788
1661 R. Lovell Πανζωορυκτολογια, sive Panzoologicomineralogia Isagoge sig. A6v Fishes..smooth, as the Lark fish cristate and not cristate.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 374/3 (index) Lark Fish.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) at Sullus A kind of Lark-fish, a Sea-hog.
ΚΠ
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 323 The Epethits of a swifte running corser are these, winged or wing-bearing, Larke-footed.
lark high adv. (and adj.) chiefly poetic to or at the height of a soaring lark; very high; also occasionally as adj.
ΚΠ
1806 J. Patterson in J. B. Greenshields Ann. Parish Lesmahagow (1864) App. 46 The besoms in the air are tossed lark high.
1946 D. Thomas Deaths & Entrances 22 A stone lies lost and locked in the lark-high hill.
1982 A. Jones Whistle down Dark Lane xiii. 148 He had..admired how bravely I flew lark high.
ΚΠ
1889 Cent. Dict. Lark-plover, a South American plover-like bird of the subfamily Thinocorinæ.
1909 F. H. Knowlton Birds of World xxiii. 379 The Seed-Snipes, or Lark-Plovers, of which two genera and some half a dozen species are known, are all peculiar South American birds.
lark silver n. now historical and rare (in Meldreth, Cambridgeshire) a type of annual tax or customary charge (see quots.).For a possible semantic motivation, see quot. 1969.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > impost, due, or tax > payment or service to feudal superior > [noun] > other customary or feudal dues
land-cheapc848
manredlOE
horngeldc1170
tithing penny1192
averpenny1253
wattle-silver1263
faldfee?a1300
filstinga1300
horn-pennyc1320
common finea1325
wrongeld1340
yule-waitingc1380
lark silver1382
carriagec1400
week-silver1430
aida1475
average1489
castle-boon15..
winage1523
casualty?1529
fry money1530
casualityc1568
white hart silver1594
hornage1611
issues of homage1646
lef-silver1660
frith-silver1669
cert-money1670
aver-silver1847
socage1859
1382 Inquisition Post Mortem (P.R.O.: C 136/20/3) Et tres solid' annual' redditus voc' larksyluer ad festum natal' domini in Mellereth'.
1635 J. Layer in Notes & Queries (1900) 12 May 376/1 The lete is of Clare, of fee, and ye townsmen paid..3s. per annum for larkesilver, but what the meaning of it is, I know not.
1900 Notes & Queries 9th Ser. 5 376 The Court Leet at Meldreth has not been held for centuries, but the ‘larksilver’..[is] still paid by the parish constable to the Commissioners of Woods and Forests.
1969 E. Porter Cambridgeshire Customs & Folklore 399 The Lark Silver was money paid by the villagers in lieu of the presentation they made in early times at Christmas of 100 larks to the Earl of Clare.
1982 A. P. Baggs et al. in A. P. M. Wright Hist. County of Cambr. & Isle of Ely VIII. (online ed., www.british-history.ac.uk) The honor of Clare had a leet in Meldreth... Meldreth owed 3s. lark silver to the honor,..still paid in the 18th and 19th centuries despite occasional protests. In..1960..it was extinguished.
lark sparrow n. a large North American sparrow, Chondestes grammacus (family Passerellidae), having dark-streaked brown upperparts, distinctive black, white, and chestnut markings on the head, and (in the male) a song thought to resemble that of a lark.
ΚΠ
1859 S. F. Baird Catal. N. Amer. Birds (Smithsonian Inst. Publ. 108) 9/2 Passerculus alaudinus, Bonap. Lark Sparrow.
1938 D. C. Peattie Prairie Grove xxxiii. 234 The lark sparrows..went chittering in anger before the struggling mules.
2019 R. Wright Sparrows N. Amer. 296/1 The adult Lark Sparrow, with its long wing, fanlike, lavishly white-tipped tail, and strikingly heavy maquillage, is indeed virtually unmistakable.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Platyhelminthes > [noun] > class Cestodes > member of
joint-worm1706
taenia1706
tapeworm1752
cestoid1837
lark-worm?1842
cestode1864
caseworm1906
?1842 W. G. Rhind Creation xi. 362 Intestina; comprising principally, the Gourd-worm, the Tape-worm, the Hair-worm, the Lark-worm, the Dew-worm, the Tube-worm, the Leech.
1886 J. G. Wood Animate Creation III. 539 An example of a Tape-worm that is found in several birds, such as the nightingale, blackcap, and the lark, is called, after the last mentioned bird, Lark-worm (Tænia platycephala).
C3. Compounds with lark's.
lark's claw n. (also larks claw) now rare a larkspur; esp. the common larkspur, Delphinium consolida.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > buttercup and allied flowers > delphinium or larkspur
red maytheeOE
brown maythec1450
lark's foota1500
red maidweed1548
consound1578
lark's claw1578
larkspur1578
ox-eye1578
red camomile1578
Adonis1597
lark-heel1597
lark's toes1597
monkshood1597
rose-a-ruby1597
delphinium1666
pheasant's eye1727
red Morocco1760
rocket larkspur1778
blue rocket larkspur1784
bee-larkspur1846
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball ii. xv. 165 The wilde [Lark's spur] is called..in English..Larckes Claw.
1878 Druggist's Hand-bk. Amer. & Foreign Drugs (Cheney & Myrick) 49 Larkspur. Delphinium Consolida... Knight's Spur. Lark Heel. Lark's Claw.
2006 L. Coulter Gardening Heirloom Seeds 32 Larkspur—Consolida (formerly Delphinium ajacis), also known as Rocket Larkspur, Lark's Heel, Lark's Claw, Lark's Toe, and Doubtful Knight's Spur.
lark's foot n. (also larks foot) now rare a larkspur; esp. the common larkspur, Delphinium consolida. [Compare post-classical Latin pes alaudae (15th cent. in a British glossarial source: see quot. a1500), Middle French, French pied-d'alouette (1557 or earlier).]
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > buttercup and allied flowers > delphinium or larkspur
red maytheeOE
brown maythec1450
lark's foota1500
red maidweed1548
consound1578
lark's claw1578
larkspur1578
ox-eye1578
red camomile1578
Adonis1597
lark-heel1597
lark's toes1597
monkshood1597
rose-a-ruby1597
delphinium1666
pheasant's eye1727
red Morocco1760
rocket larkspur1778
blue rocket larkspur1784
bee-larkspur1846
a1500 MS Harl. 3388 in T. O. Cockayne Leechdoms, Wortcunning, & Starcraft (1866) III. 335 Larkesfote, pes alaudæ.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §510 This Experiment of severall Colours, comming up from one seed, would be tried also in Larkes-Fott.
1792 Nat. Hist. Insects xv. 166 The Caterpillar of the lark's foot, an herb so called, is of a curious colour, variegated with streaks and spots.
1940 R. E. Clarkson Green Enchantment iii. 64 Flowers, some bearing names long forgotten but loved and cherished in the old days, as they are now under other names..sweetbrier, lark's foot, heartsease,..holyoaks.
lark's head n. a knot made by passing a loop of rope, string, etc., through a ring or around an object and then passing the two ends through the loop; also more fully lark's head knot.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fastening > binding or tying > a bond, tie, or fastening > [noun] > knot > other knots
water knot1496
draw knot1635
slip-knot1679
tie-knot1800
timber-hitch1815
thorough-put1829
fisherman's bendc1860
Celtic knot1865
lark's head1866
waterman's knot1866
packing knot1871
fisherman's knot1876
prusik knot1937
1866 ‘T. Bowling’ Bk. Knots v. 11 Lark's head... This knot is advantageous, as it can be released instantly.
1937 Jrnl. Bone & Joint Surg. 19 238 The lark's head knot..is used to fasten a pulley ring to a cord.
2017 G. Tallent My Absolute Darling xxx. 401 She tied a lark's head around the two back legs, then wrapped the legs with four more coils and tied them off with another lark's head across the strands.
lark's toes n. (also lark's toe, larks toes) now rare a larkspur; esp. the common larkspur, Delphinium consolida.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > buttercup and allied flowers > delphinium or larkspur
red maytheeOE
brown maythec1450
lark's foota1500
red maidweed1548
consound1578
lark's claw1578
larkspur1578
ox-eye1578
red camomile1578
Adonis1597
lark-heel1597
lark's toes1597
monkshood1597
rose-a-ruby1597
delphinium1666
pheasant's eye1727
red Morocco1760
rocket larkspur1778
blue rocket larkspur1784
bee-larkspur1846
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 923 Flos Regius..in English Larkes spur, Larkes heele, Larkes toes, Larkes clawe, and Munkes hoode.
1787 W. Withering Bot. Arrangem. Brit. Plants (ed. 2) II. 561 Delphinium Consolida... Lark-spur. Larks-heel. Larks-claw. Larks-toes.
1853 Floricultural Cabinet Feb. 25 Delphinium hendersonii..also is called Lark's-claws, Lark's-toes, and Lark's-heel.
2006 L. Coulter Gardening Heirloom Seeds 32 Larkspur—Consolida (formerly Delphinium ajacis), also known as Rocket Larkspur, Lark's Heel, Lark's Claw, Lark's Toe, and Doubtful Knight's Spur.
Derivatives
ˈlark-like adv. and adj. (a) adv. in the manner of a lark; (b) adj. resembling or characteristic of a lark; like that of a lark.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > non-arboreal (larks, etc.) > [adjective] > resembling the lark
lark-like1692
c1618 Confession & Repentance G. Saunders in Saue Thiefe from Gallowes (single sheet) ii./2 Larke-like I flye vnto the liuing Spring.
1692 T. Milway Funeral Serm. 25 In God's Prison his Lark-like warblings Do cease.
1894 R. B. Sharpe Handbk. Birds Great Brit. (1896) 79 The Meadow-Pipit having a Lark-like hind claw.
1976 M. F. Soper N.Z. Birds 132 Found from one end of New Zealand to the other,..the Pipit is the lark-like bird seen on such open tracts of country.
2003 C. Peachment Green & Gold (2004) 313 He rose and soared, lark-like through the darkening heavens.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2022).
larkn.2
/lɑːk/, U.S. /lɑrk/ colloquial.
1. A frolicsome adventure, a spree. Also to go on, have, take a lark; to make a lark of = ‘to make game of’.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > frolicking or romping > [noun] > a frolic
oliprancec1390
ragerya1393
vague1523
rex1566
friskin1570
gambol1573
reak1573
prank1576
vagary1588
whirligig1589
caper1592
prinkum-prankum1596
firk1611
frolica1635
carryings-on1663
ramp1696
romp1713
freak1724
scheme1758
rig1782
lark1811
escapade1814
gammock1819
gambade1821
enfantillage1827
game1828
shines1830
rollick1834
rusty1835
high jinksa1845
escapado1849
shenanigan1855
rum-tum1876
panta1901
gas1914
society > leisure > social event > a merrymaking or convivial occasion > [noun] > noisy or riotous
revela1375
riotc1440
revel-rout1587
wassail1603
randan1640
rant1650
high-go1774
splore?a1786
gilravagea1796
spree1804
lark1811
spray1813
shindy1821
randy1825
randy-dandy1835
batter1839
flare-up1844
barney1850
jamboree1868
tear1869
whoop-up1876
beano1888
razzle1892
razzle-dazzle1893
bash1901
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > trickery, playing jokes > play tricks [phrase]
to do or make a blenk or blencha1250
to play (a person) a pageant1530
to give one the geck1568
to play a paw1568
to draw through the water with a cat1631
come1714
to run one's rig upon1793
to come (the) paddy over1809
to work a traverse1840
to go on, have, take a lark1884
to pull a fast one1912
to take for a ride1925
to pull a person's pissera1935
to pull a person's chain1975
1811 Lexicon Balatronicum Lark, a piece of merriment. People playing together jocosely.
1813 Ld. Byron Let. 27 Sept. (1974) III. 122 You must and shall meet me..and take what, in flash dialect, is poetically termed ‘a lark’ with Rogers and me for accomplices.
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. 185 Lark, fun or sport of any kind, to create which is termed knocking up a lark.
1834 F. Marryat Jacob Faithful III. ix. 156 Tom was..always..ready for any lark or nonsense.
1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) ii. 6 ‘Here's a lark!’ shouted half a dozen hackney coachmen.
1850 W. M. Thackeray Pendennis II. i. 11 Don't make a lark of me, hang it!
1857 J. W. Carlyle Lett. II. 321 My mother..once by way of a lark, invited her to tea.
1873 J. G. Holland Arthur Bonnicastle xvi. 254 ‘It's a lark, fellows’, said Mullens from behind his handkercheif.
1884 Punch 1 Mar. 108/1 Bradlaugh only having a lark with the Hon. Gentlemen.
2. transferred. An affair, line of business, etc. colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > [noun] > regular occupation, trade, or profession > line of business or work
line1638
way1642
lay1707
walk1715
slang1789
métier1792
Fach1838
lark1934
line of work1957
1934 P. Allingham Cheapjack xiii. 167 There are many Jews among the grafters, but they usually stick to the chocolate ‘lark’—or auction.
1936 ‘J. Curtis’ Gilt Kid xxvii. 266 For this breaking and entering lark at least eighteen months for a man with two cons... It was going to make four convictions for him.
1961 New Statesman 22 Sept. 376/3 Exhibitionists they may be but they mean business. This wet sitting for hours on end is not my lark.
1964 J. Porter Dover One i. 11 There's an outbreak of fowl pest..or something and, naturally, that's far more up his street than one of these vanishing-lady larks.
1967 G. F. Fiennes I tried to run Railway iii. 28 Jeremy came in one day while this lark was going on.
1967 G. F. Fiennes I tried to run Railway vii. 86 I am up to my ears in this bloody diesel lark.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1902; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
larkn.3
/lɑːk/, U.S. /lɑrk/ Nautical.
A small boat (Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 1867).
ΚΠ
1796 Grose's Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue (ed. 3) Lark, a boat.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1902; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
larkv.1
/lɑːk/, U.S. /lɑrk/ intransitive. To catch larks. (In modern dictionaries.)
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1902; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
larkv.2
/lɑːk/, U.S. /lɑrk/ colloquial (originally slang).
1. intransitive. To play tricks, frolic; to ride in a frolicsome manner; to ride across country. Also with about.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > frolicking or romping > frolic [verb (intransitive)]
floxec1200
ragea1275
to dance antics1545
rig1570
to keep (also play) reaks1573
wanton1582
wantonize1592
frolic1593
wantonize1611
hoit1613
mird?c1625
to play about1638
freak1663
romp1665
rump1680
ramp1735
jinket1742
skylark1771
to cut up1775
rollick1786
hoity-toity1790
fun1802
lark1813
gammock1832
haze1848
marlock1863
train1877
horse1901
mollock1932
spadger1939
grab-ass1957
society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > ride a horse (or other animal) [verb (intransitive)] > ride across country for exercise
walka1450
lark1813
school1868
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > trickery, playing jokes > practise trickery [verb (intransitive)]
triflec1305
legerdemain1483
to practise on (also upon) —1600
to play hocus-pocus1659
palm1686
trick1698
shab1755
kid1811
lark1813
prank1826
mank1861
cod1874
1813 P. Hawker Diary (1893) I. 68 Having larked all the way down the road.
1835 Nimrod's Hunting Tour 227 There is another way of making use of horse-flesh..and that is,..what in the language of the day is called ‘larking’. One of the party holds up his hat which is a signal for the start; and, putting their horses' heads in a direction for Melton, away they go, and stop at nothing till they get there.
1842 R. H. Barham Lay St. Cuthbert in Ingoldsby Legends 2nd Ser. 231 Don't ‘lark’ with the watch, or annoy the police!
1846 T. De Quincey Notes on Gilfillan's Gallery Lit. Portraits in Tait's Edinb. Mag. Apr. 251 It is a ticklish thing to lark with honest men's names.
1848 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair xlv. 406 Jumping the widest brooks, and larking over the newest gates in the country.
1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days i. v. 114 Larking about at leap-frog to keep themselves warm.
1861 G. J. Whyte-Melville Market Harborough 56 If we are to lark home..I may as well ride a nag I can trust.
1871 ‘M. Legrand’ Cambr. Freshman 261 These..expert riders..set off to ‘lark’ it home.
1889 H. O'Reilly & J. Y. Nelson Fifty Years on Trail 3 I was always larking about and playing pranks on my schoolfellows.
2. transitive. To make fun of, tease sportively (a person); to ride (a horse) across country.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > ride (a horse or other animal) [verb (transitive)] > ride (a horse) across country for exercise
lark1848
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > trickery, playing jokes > trick, hoax [verb (transitive)]
jape1362
bejape1377
play1562
jugglea1592
dally1595
trick1595
bore1602
jadea1616
to fool off1631
top1663
whiska1669
hocus1675
to put a sham upon1677
sham1677
fun?1685
to put upon ——1687
rig1732
humbug1750
hum1751
to run a rig1764
hocus-pocus1774
cram1794
hoax1796
kid1811
string1819
to play off1821
skylark1823
frisk1825
stuff1844
lark1848
kiddy1851
soap1857
to play it (on)1864
spoof1889
to slip (something) over (on)1912
cod1941
to pull a person's chain1975
game1996
1848 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair lxvi. 603 A staid English maid..whom Georgy used to ‘lark’ dreadfully with accounts of German robbers and ghosts.
1861 G. J. Whyte-Melville Market Harborough 21 ‘May I lark him?’ said he, pulling up after a short canter to and fro on the turf by the wayside.
3. To clear (a fence) with a flying leap.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > ride (a horse or other animal) [verb (transitive)] > make (a horse) leap > clear (a fence)
lark1834
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > habits and actions of horse > [verb (transitive)] > leap over obstacle
top1735
to take in one's stride1832
lark1834
1834 W. H. Ainsworth Rookwood III. iv. vii. 317 Bess was neither strained by her gliding passage down the slippery hill side, nor shaken by larking the fence in the meadow.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1902; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1a1325
n.21811n.31796
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