hark back
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hark back
- /ˌhɑːk ˈbæk/ UK
- /ˌhɑɹk ˈbæk/ US
- /ˈhɑːkbæk/ UK
- /ˈhɑɹkˌbæk/ US
Rhymes with -æk
Where it comes from
From hark (“to listen attentively”) + back (“to or in a previous condition or place”, adverb), originally a hunting command to hounds meaning “Listen! Go back!”.
verb harks back · harking back · harked back
- Of hounds: to retrace a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey.
-
To return to where one has previously been; to retrace one's steps.
He must have overshot the mark, and must hark back. So he turned his weary horse's head, and made his way back along the road to the spot where his spoor struck into it.
Similar: go back
-
To allude, return, or revert (to a subject previously mentioned, etc.); also, to evoke, or long or pine for (a past era or event).
Mr. Flemyng, who had been assuaging his thirst with more champagne during the afternoon, had harked back to the subject of his morning's discourse, and was laying down an authoritative scheme of ethics, in the course of which sundry hard words, such as transcendentalism, pseudo-materialism and the l
Similar: harken back, hearken back, call back
- To call back (hounds); to recall.
noun hark backs · hark-back
- An act of hounds retracing a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey.
- An act of alluding, returning, or reverting (to a subject previously mentioned, etc.); also, an act of evoking, or longing or pining for (a past era or event).
Translations
Every language
verb of hounds: to retrace a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey
| Español | desandar |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | auf etw. zurückgreifen, zurückgreifen |
verb to allude, return, or revert to (a subject previously mentioned, etc.); to evoke, or long or pine for (a past era or event)
| Español | rememorar, remontarse, retrotraer, retrotraerse, evocar, remembrar |
|---|
Talk about this word "hark back." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/hark%20back. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. hark back. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/hark%20back "hark back." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/hark%20back.Cite this
@misc{hark_back_2026,
title = {hark back},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/hark%20back},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
