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cark

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cark¹

  • /kɑː(ɹ)k/

Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)k

Where it comes from

From Middle English carken (“to be anxious, worry”, intransitive), from Old English *carcian ("to be sorrowful, worry"; found in becarcian (“to worry about, care for”)), a frequentative form of Old English carian (“to care”), equivalent to care + -k.

The Middle English carken, also charken (“to load (sth.); to bear (crops); to burden, harass”, transitive), from Old Northern French carquier (“to load, burden”), from Latin carricāre (“to load”), related to Old French chargier (“to load”), is a different word often confused with the above.

verb carks · carking · carked

  1. intransitive, obsolete To be filled with worry, solicitude, or troubles. [W]ho vvould not rather Sleep Quietly upon a Hammock, vvithout either Cares in his Head, or Crudities in his Stomach, then lye Carking upon a Bed of State, vvith the Qualms and Tvvinges that accompany Surfeits and Exceſs?
  2. intransitive, obsolete, transitive To bring worry, vexation, or anxiety. Carnal pleasures are the sins of youth: ambition and the love of power, the sins of middle age: covetousness and carking cares, the crimes of old age.
  3. archaic, intransitive To labor anxiously. Why for sluggards cark and moil?

cark²

  • /kɑː(ɹ)k/

Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)k

Where it comes from

From Middle English cark, kark (“worry”), from Old English carc (“sorrow, worry”).

noun carks

  1. countable, obsolete, uncountable A noxious or corroding worry. His heauie head, deuoide of carefull carke, / Whose sences all were straight benumbd and starke.
  2. countable, obsolete, uncountable The state of being filled with worry.

cark³

  • /kɑː(ɹ)k/

Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)k

Where it comes from

From caulk.

verb carks · carking · carked

  1. pronunciation spelling Pronunciation spelling of caulk

Cark⁴

proper noun

  1. A village in Lower Holker parish, South Lakeland district, Cumbria, England (OS grid ref SD3676).

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MLA

"cark." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/cark. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

cark. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/cark

Chicago

"cark." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/cark.

BibTeX
@misc{cark_2026,
  title = {cark},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/cark},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}