What does "lark" mean?
Any of various small, singing passerine birds of the family Alaudidae.
Lark
/lɑːk/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Any of various small, singing passerine birds of the family Alaudidae.
- Grammar: lark is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: escapade, act spontaneously, adventure, amusement.
- Useful contrasts: deliberate study, duty, labor.
- Usage evidence: Mrs. Lark played the piano and the children sang.
How to use "lark"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "lark" 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 "lark" 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 "lark" as the right word for your sentence.
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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 "lark" 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 "escapade" 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.
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Final meaning check
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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 Any of various small, singing passerine birds of the family Alaudidae.
- 2 A frolic or romp, some fun.
"‘Ha! ha!’ laughed Master Bates, ‘what a lark that would be, wouldn’t it, Fagin? I say, how the Artful would bother ’em wouldn’t he?’"
- 3 any carefree episode wordnet
- 4 Any of various similar-appearing birds, but usually ground-living, such as the meadowlark and titlark.
- 5 A prank.
"doolittle. […] [T]hanks to your silly joking, he leaves me a share in his Pre-digested Cheese Trust worth three thousand a year on condition that I lecture for his Wannafeller Moral Reform World League as often as they ask me up to six times a year. / higgins. The devil he does! Whew! [Brightening suddenly] What a lark!"
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 any of numerous predominantly Old World birds noted for their singing wordnet
- 7 One who wakes early; one who is up with the larks. broadly
- 8 a songbird that lives mainly on the ground in open country; has streaky brown plumage wordnet
- 9 A jolly or peppy person.
"Charles Randolph Grean is married to pop lark and multi-hit artist Betty Johnson."
- 10 North American songbirds having a yellow breast wordnet
Verb
- 1 To catch larks (type of bird).
"to go larking"
- 2 To sport, engage in harmless pranking.
"[T]hey laugh at us old boys,” thought old Pendennis. And he was not far wrong; the times and manners which he admired were pretty nearly gone—the gay young men “larked” him irreverently […]"
- 3 play boisterously wordnet
- 4 To frolic, engage in carefree adventure.
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname transferred from the nickname, from lark as a byname or for a catcher and seller of larks.
- 2 Alternative form of Larak (“island off the coast of Iran”). alt-of, alternative
- 3 A surname originating as a patronymic shortened from Larkin, a medieval diminutive of Laurence.
- 4 A male given name transferred from the surname, of occasional usage.
- 5 A female given name from English from the lark bird.
"Mama had chosen the name Lark. Lark Browning Erhardt. Papa had wanted to call me Beverly Mary; Mary after the Blessed Virgin. Mama said she wouldn't hang a name like Beverly Mary on a pet skunk. Where she got the idea for Lark, I don't know, though one time when I asked, she said that larks flew high and had a happy song."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 A river in England, on the border between Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.
Example
"Mrs. Lark played the piano and the children sang."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "lark"?
Common synonyms include: escapade, act spontaneously, adventure, amusement, antic, atlas.
How do you use "lark" in a sentence?
Mrs. Lark played the piano and the children sang.
How do you pronounce "lark"?
Pronounced /lɑːk/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English larke, laverke, from Old English lāwerce, lǣwerce, lāuricæ, from Proto-West Germanic *laiwarikā, from Proto-Germanic *laiwarikǭ, *laiwazikǭ (compare dialectal West Frisian larts, Dutch leeuwerik, German Lerche), from *laiwaz (borrowed into Finnish leivo, Estonian lõo), of unknown ultimate origin with no definitive cognates outside of Germanic.
Etymology 2
Uncertain, either * from a northern English dialectal term lake /laik (“to play”) (around 1300, from Old Norse leika (“to play (as opposed to work)”)), with an intrusive -r- as is common in southern British dialects; or * a shortening of skylark (1809), sailors' slang, "play roughly in the rigging of a ship", because the common European larks were proverbial for high-flying; Dutch has a similar idea in speelvogel (“playbird, a person of markedly playful nature”).