chirk

See also: Chirk

English

Etymology

From Middle English chirken, cherken, charken, from Old English ċearcian (“to chatter, creak, crash”), from Proto-West Germanic *krakōn, from Proto-Germanic *krakċną (“to make a sound, crack”). Doublet of chark. Related also to crake, crack.

Verb

chirk (third-person singular simple present chirks, present participle chirking, simple past and past participle chirked)

1. (intransitive, especially as "chirk up") To become happier.
   • 1917, Sewell Ford, Wilt Thou Torchy‎^[1]:

   • 1908, Grace Livingston Hill Lutz, Marcia Schuyler‎^[2]:

     Now you jest wipe your eyes and chirk up.

   • 1894, Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), Tom Sawyer Abroad‎^[3]:

     "Go ahead," he says, and I see Jim chirk up to listen.

2. (transitive, especially as "chirk up") To make happier.
   • 1912, Zona Gale, Christmas‎^[4]:

     But--" "Well, I think," said Mis' Jane Moran, "that we've hit on the only way we could have hit on to chirk each other up over a hard time."

3. To make the sound of a bird; to chirp.

Adjective

chirk (comparative chirker or more chirk, superlative chirkest or most chirk)

1. (colloquial, US, chiefly New England) lively; cheerful; in good spirits

Usage notes

• The comparative and superlative forms of chirky — chirkier and chirkiest — are sometimes used suppletively as comparative and superlative forms of chirk.

Scots

Alternative forms

• chairk, jirg

Etymology

From Middle English cherkin, from Old English ċearcian, ċiercian, variant forms of Old English cracian, from Proto-West Germanic *krakōn, from Proto-Germanic *krakōną (“to crack; crackle; shriek”).

Cognate with English chirk. Doublet of chork, crak, crake, and jarg. The noun is derived from the verb.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [tʃɪrk], [tʃʌrk]

Noun

chirk (plural chirks)

1. a harsh grating or creaking noise
2. (geology, North Northern, Orkney, Shetland) wet gravelly subsoil

Verb

chirk (third-person singular simple present chirks, present participle chirkin, simple past chirkit, past participle chirkit)

1. to make a harsh, strident noise
2. to creak (of a door)
3. to gnash, rub together (of the teeth or gums)
4. to make a squelching noise

Derived terms

• chirker (“house-cricket”)