hark
/hɑːk
/verb [no object]
1 [usually in imperative] literary Listen: Hark! He knocks...
- Nawasi, I speak to you of the future of your people, hark, child, listen.
- But hark, I hear another mirthful chortle from the professor and I'm off into the undergrowth again in search of another tantalising discovery…
- But hark… isn't that Carnatic music floating in the air?
1.1 (hark at) British informal Used to draw attention to someone who has said or done something considered to be foolish or silly: just hark at you, speaking all lah-de-dah!...
- We move on March 17th, into leafy Hampstead (ooh, hark at us!) and this utterly cavernous 1930s mansion flat with wooden floors, white walls, enormous windows, gigantic rooms and art deco kitsch tiling in the bathroom.
- When we were flying to Texas at Xmas (ooh, hark at him!) the plane had a neat feature showing you exactly where we were on the globe and where we'd been.
- Make a roux (ooh, hark at me and my fancy cookery phrases) by melting the butter in a saucepan, heating it to bubbling point, then adding the flour and stirring until the mixture turns golden.
Phrasal verbs
hark back to
Origin
Middle English: of Germanic origin; related to German horchen, also to hearken.