What does "hawk" mean?
A diurnal predatory bird of the family Accipitridae, smaller than an eagle.
Hawk
/hɔk/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A diurnal predatory bird of the family Accipitridae, smaller than an eagle.
- Grammar: hawk is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: advocate, argus, atlas, beat.
- Useful contrasts: appeasers, buy, buyer.
- Usage evidence: An arrow passed through the hawk.
How to use "hawk"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "hawk" 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 "hawk" 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 "hawk" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "hawk" 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 "hawk" is acting as name, noun, verb 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 "advocate" 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 "hawk", 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 A diurnal predatory bird of the family Accipitridae, smaller than an eagle.
"It is illegal to hunt hawks or other raptors in many parts of the world."
- 2 A plasterer's tool, made of a flat surface with a handle below, used to hold an amount of plaster prior to application to the wall or ceiling being worked on: a mortarboard.
- 3 A noisy effort to force up phlegm from the throat.
- 4 diurnal bird of prey typically having short rounded wings and a long tail wordnet
- 5 Any diurnal predatory terrestrial bird of similar size and appearance to the accipitrid hawks, such as a falcon.
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 a square board with a handle underneath; used by masons to hold or carry mortar wordnet
- 7 Any of various species of dragonfly of the genera Apocordulia and Austrocordulia, endemic to Australia.
- 8 an advocate of an aggressive policy on foreign relations wordnet
- 9 An advocate of aggressive political positions and actions.
"A hawk by nature, Ellenborough strongly favoured presenting St Petersburg with an ultimatum warning that any further incursions into Persia would be regarded as a hostile act."
- 10 An uncooperative or purely selfish participant in an exchange or game, especially when untrusting, acquisitive or treacherous. Refers specifically to the prisoner's dilemma, a.k.a. the Hawk-Dove game.
- 11 Cold, sharp or biting wind. US, often, with-definite-article
"[…] take-out sandwich from Arnie's on Jackson, then a brisk walk to Michigan Avenue in the face of the "Hawk," blowing newspapers and skirts and the gulls wheeling over the Michigan Avenue Bridge in front of […]"
Verb
- 1 To hunt with a hawk. transitive
"To hawke, or els to hunt From the auter to the funt"
- 2 To sell; to offer for sale by outcry in the street; to carry (merchandise) about from place to place for sale; to peddle. transitive
"The vendors were hawking their wares from little tables lining either side of the market square."
- 3 To expectorate, to cough up (something, such as mucus) from one's throat; to produce (something) by coughing or clearing one's throat. intransitive, transitive
"to hawk a loogie"
- 4 clear mucus or food from one's throat wordnet
- 5 To make an attack while on the wing; to soar and strike like a hawk. intransitive
"to hawk at flies"
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 To try to cough up something from one's throat; to clear the throat loudly; to cough heavily, especially causing uvular frication. intransitive, transitive
"Grandpa sat on the front porch, hawking and wheezing, as he packed his pipe with cheap tobacco."
- 7 hunt with hawks wordnet
- 8 sell or offer for sale from place to place wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"An arrow passed through the hawk."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "hawk"?
Common synonyms include: advocate, argus, atlas, beat, belligerent, bird of prey.
How do you use "hawk" in a sentence?
An arrow passed through the hawk.
How do you pronounce "hawk"?
Pronounced /hɔk/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English hauk, hauke, hawke, havek, from Old English hafoc (“hawk”), from Proto-West Germanic *habuk, from Proto-Germanic *habukaz, controversially derived from Proto-Indo-European *kopuǵos, perhaps ultimately derived from *kap- (“seize”). See also West Frisian hauk, German Low German Haavke, Dutch havik, German Habicht, Swedish hök, Danish høg, Norwegian Bokmål hauk, Norwegian Nynorsk hauk, Faroese heykur, Icelandic haukur, Finnish haukka, Estonian haugas; also Latin capys, capus (“bird of prey”), Albanian gabonjë, shkabë (“eagle”), Russian ко́бец (kóbec, “falcon”), Polish kobuz (“Eurasian Hobby”)).
Etymology 2
Uncertain; perhaps from Middle English hache (“battle-axe”), or from a variant use of the above, for this compare with Russian со́кол (sókol, “falcon, but also a hawk (plaster's tool), mortarboard”).
Etymology 3
Back-formation from hawker.
Etymology 4
Probably imitative, like hock (“cough”), hack (“cough”), although see the latter entry for more.
Etymology 5
* As an English surname, occupational surname for a hawker. This may have been inherited from Middle English hauek (“hawk”), from Old English hafoc. * Also as an English surname, from Middle English halke (“isolated nook”), from Old English healh (“nook”) + diminutive suffix -oc.