querk

English

Alternative forms

• quirk

Etymology

From Middle English querken (also as querkenen), from Old Norse kvirkja (“to strangle”), from Proto-Germanic *kwirkijaną, from Proto-Germanic *kwerkō (“gullet, throat”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷergʷ-, *gʷerkʷ-, *gʷerw- (“throat, neck”). Cognate with Old Frisian querka ("to strangle"; > North Frisian querke, quirke (“to querk”)), Danish kværke (“to throttle, strangle, suffocate”), Icelandic kyrkja, kvirkja (“to throttle, strangle”), Middle Low German querken (“to strangle”), Middle Low German querke, quarke (“throat, gullet”), Old High German querka, querkela (“throat, gullet”), Latin gurguliō (“throat”). More at gurgle.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kwɜːk/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)k
• Homophone: quirk

Verb

querk (third-person singular simple present querks, present participle querking, simple past and past participle querked)

1. (transitive) To throttle; choke; stifle; suffocate.
2. (intransitive) To grunt, croak, squeal; to moan, complain; to sigh, huff; to emit a breath forcibly, as after great exertion.
3. (dialectal, intransitive) To die.

Related terms

• querken