What does "bark" mean?
The short, loud, explosive sound uttered by a dog, a fox, and some other animals.
Bark
/bɑːk/ intj, name, noun, verb, slang
intj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The short, loud, explosive sound uttered by a dog, a fox, and some other animals.
- Grammar: bark is listed as intj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: barque, ablate, abrade, abrase.
- Useful contrasts: direct correctly, heartwood, inner wood.
- Usage evidence: If you see the day through with Mr Bark without losing your temper, I'll believe you.
How to use "bark"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "bark" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "bark" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "bark" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "bark" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "bark" is acting as intj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "barque" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "bark", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The short, loud, explosive sound uttered by a dog, a fox, and some other animals.
- 2 The exterior covering of the trunk and branches of a tree. countable, uncountable
"The hardships of bark-collecting in the primeval forests of South America are of the severest kind, and undergone only by the half-civilized Indians and people of mixed race, in the pay of speculators or companies located in the towns. Those who are engaged in the business, especially the collectors themselves, are called Cascarilleros or Cascadores, from the Spanish word Cascara, bark."
- 3 A small sailing vessel, e.g. a pinnace or a fishing smack; a rowing boat or barge. obsolete
- 4 An Irish person. obsolete, slang
- 5 a sailing ship with 3 (or more) masts wordnet
Show 11 more definitions
- 6 An abrupt loud vocal utterance. figuratively
"Fox’s clumsy figure, negligently dressed in blue and buff, seemed unprepossessing; only his shaggy eyebrows added to the expression of his face; his voice would rise to a bark in excitement."
- 7 Peruvian bark or Jesuit's bark, the bark of the cinchona from which quinine is produced. countable, uncountable
- 8 A sailing vessel or boat of any kind. poetic
"It is the star to every wandering bark"
- 9 the sound made by a dog wordnet
- 10 The quick opening of the hi-hat cymbal as it is hit, followed by its timely closing.
- 11 Hard candy made in flat sheets, for instance out of chocolate, peanut butter, toffee or peppermint. countable, uncountable
- 12 A vessel, typically with three (or more) masts, with the foremasts (or fore- and mainmasts) square-rigged, and mizzenmast schooner-rigged.
"Europeans would cross the ocean in large barks built for deck space and large holds."
- 13 a noise resembling the bark of a dog wordnet
- 14 The crust formed on barbecued meat that has had a rub applied to it. countable, uncountable
"This softens the meat further, but at some loss of crunch to the bark."
- 15 tough protective covering of the woody stems and roots of trees and other woody plants wordnet
- 16 The envelopment or outer covering of anything. countable, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To make a short, loud, explosive noise with the vocal organs (said of animals, especially dogs). intransitive
"The neighbour's dog is always barking."
- 2 To strip the bark from; to peel.
"Along the river freshly felled and barked trees told of the activity of beaver, and in slow current and in eddies the tops of their winter's food supply lay like submerged brush fences projecting above the surface."
- 3 tan (a skin) with bark tannins wordnet
- 4 To make a clamor; to make importunate outcries. intransitive
"And therefore they bark, and say the scripture maketh heretics."
- 5 To abrade or rub off any outer covering from.
"to bark one’s heel"
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 speak in an unfriendly tone wordnet
- 7 To speak sharply. transitive
"The sergeant barked an order."
- 8 To girdle.
- 9 make barking sounds wordnet
- 10 To cover or inclose with bark, or as with bark.
"to bark the roof of a hut"
- 11 remove the bark of a tree wordnet
- 12 cover with bark wordnet
Intj
- 1 The sound of a dog barking.
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Example
"If you see the day through with Mr Bark without losing your temper, I'll believe you."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "bark"?
Common synonyms include: barque, ablate, abrade, abrase, advertise, animal noise.
How do you use "bark" in a sentence?
If you see the day through with Mr Bark without losing your temper, I'll believe you.
How do you pronounce "bark"?
Pronounced /bɑːk/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English barken, berken, borken, from Old English beorcan (“to bark”), from the Proto-West Germanic *berkan (“to bark”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerg- (“to make a noise, growl, bark”), from *bʰer- (“to drone, hum, buzz”). Cognate with Icelandic berkja (“to bark, bluster”), Icelandic barki (“throat, windpipe”), dialectal Lithuanian burgė́ti (“to growl, grumble, grouch, quarrel”), Serbo-Croatian brbljati (“to murmur”). For the noun, compare Old English beorc, bearce (“barking”)..
Etymology 2
From Middle English bark, from Old English barc (“bark”), from Old Norse bǫrkr (“tree bark”), from Proto-Germanic *barkuz, probably related to *birkijǭ (“birch”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerHǵós (compare Latin frāxinus (“ash”), Lithuanian béržas (“birch”)), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerHǵ- (“to gleam; white”) (compare English bright); akin to Danish bark, Icelandic börkur, Low German borke and Albanian berk (“bast”).
Etymology 3
From Middle English barke (“boat”), from Middle French barque, from Late Latin barca, a regular syncope of Vulgar Latin *barica, from Classical Latin bāris, from Ancient Greek βᾶρις (bâris, “Egyptian boat”), from Coptic ⲃⲁⲁⲣⲉ (baare, “small boat”), from Demotic Egyptian br, from Egyptian bꜣjrb-bA-A-y:r*Z1-P1 (“transport ship”). Doublet of barge, barque and baris.