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Hawk

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hawk¹

  • /ˈhɔːk/ Northern England, UK, Wales
  • /ˈhoːk/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /ˈhɔk/ Scotland
  • /ˈhɔk/
  • /ˈhɑk/ cot caught merger
  • /ˈhɒk/ Canada
  • /ˈhoːk/ Australia, New Zealand

Sounds like Hauke, Hawk, hawke, Hawke, (cot-caught) hock, hok · Rhymes with -ɔːk

Where it comes from

Etymology tree

substratebor.?

Proto-Indo-European *kap-der.?

Proto-Germanic *habukaz

Proto-West Germanic *habuk

Old English hafoc

Middle English hauk

English hawk

Inherited from Middle English hauk, hauke, hawke, havek, from Old English hafoc, from Proto-West Germanic *habuk, from Proto-Germanic *habukaz, controversially derived from Proto-Indo-European *kopuǵos, perhaps ultimately derived from *kap- (“seize”).

Cognate with 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”)).

noun hawks

  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. Any diurnal predatory terrestrial bird of similar size and appearance to the accipitrid hawks, such as a falcon.
  3. Any of various species of dragonfly of the genera Apocordulia and Austrocordulia, endemic to Australia.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. US, often, with definite article Cold, sharp or biting wind. […] 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 hawks · hawking · hawked

  1. transitive To hunt with a hawk. To hawke, or els to hunt From the auter to the funt
  2. intransitive To make an attack while on the wing; to soar and strike like a hawk. to hawk at flies

hawk²

  • /ˈhɔːk/ Northern England, UK, Wales
  • /ˈhoːk/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /ˈhɔk/ Scotland
  • /ˈhɔk/
  • /ˈhɑk/ cot caught merger
  • /ˈhɒk/ Canada
  • /ˈhoːk/ Australia, New Zealand

Sounds like Hauke, Hawk, hawke, Hawke, (cot-caught) hock, hok · Rhymes with -ɔːk

Where it comes from

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”).

noun hawks

  1. 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.

hawk³

  • /ˈhɔːk/ Northern England, UK, Wales
  • /ˈhoːk/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /ˈhɔk/ Scotland
  • /ˈhɔk/
  • /ˈhɑk/ cot caught merger
  • /ˈhɒk/ Canada
  • /ˈhoːk/ Australia, New Zealand

Sounds like Hauke, Hawk, hawke, Hawke, (cot-caught) hock, hok · Rhymes with -ɔːk

Where it comes from

Back-formation from hawker.

verb hawks · hawking · hawked

  1. transitive To sell; to offer for sale by outcry in the street; to carry (merchandise) about from place to place for sale; to peddle. The vendors were hawking their wares from little tables lining either side of the market square.

hawk⁴

  • /ˈhɔːk/ Northern England, UK, Wales
  • /ˈhoːk/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /ˈhɔk/ Scotland
  • /ˈhɔk/
  • /ˈhɑk/ cot caught merger
  • /ˈhɒk/ Canada
  • /ˈhoːk/ Australia, New Zealand

Sounds like Hauke, Hawk, hawke, Hawke, (cot-caught) hock, hok · Rhymes with -ɔːk

Where it comes from

Probably imitative, like hock (“cough”), hack (“cough”), although see the latter entry for more.

noun hawks

  1. A noisy effort to force up phlegm from the throat. The man gave a rattling hawk in his throat and spat directly between Bond and Leiter.

verb hawks · hawking · hawked

  1. intransitive, transitive To expectorate, to cough up (something, such as mucus) from one's throat; to produce (something) by coughing or clearing one's throat. to hawk a loogie
  2. intransitive, transitive To try to cough up something from one's throat; to clear the throat loudly; to cough heavily, especially causing uvular frication. Grandpa sat on the front porch, hawking and wheezing, as he packed his pipe with cheap tobacco.

Hawk⁵

Sounds like Hauke, hawk, hawke, Hawke, (cot-caught) hock, hok

Where it comes from

* 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.

proper noun Hawks

  1. A surname; variant forms Hauke, Hawke.

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