nark

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Archived revision by WingerBot (talk | contribs) as of 02:07, 29 September 2019.
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 95: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. enPR: näk, IPA(key): /nɑːk/
  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 95: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. enPR: närk, IPA(key): /nɑːɹk/
  • Audio (AU):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)k

Etymology 1

From Romani nak (“nose”).

Alternative forms

Noun

nark (plural narks)

  1. (British, slang) A police spy or informer.
    • 1879 October, J[ohn] W[illiam] Horsley, “Autobiography of a Thief in Thieves’ Language”, in Macmillan’s Magazine, volume XL, number 240, London: Macmillan and Co. […], →OCLC, page 505, column 1:
      So I went and laid down on the grass. While laying there I piped a reeler whom I knew. He had a nark (a policeman's spy) with him. So I went and looked about for my two pals, and told them to look out for F. and his nark.
    • 1912, George Bernard Shaw, Pygmalion, Act I,
      It’s a—well, it’s a copper’s nark, as you might say. What else would you call it? A sort of informer.
  2. (Australia, slang) An unpleasant person, especially one who makes things difficult for others; a spoilsport.
Synonyms

Translations

Verb

nark (third-person singular simple present narks, present participle narking, simple past and past participle narked)

  1. (transitive, thieves' cant) To watch; to observe.
  2. (intransitive, slang) To serve or behave as a spy or informer.
  3. (transitive, slang) To annoy or irritate.
    It really narks me when people smoke in restaurants.
  4. (intransitive, slang) To complain.
    He narks in my ear all day, moaning about his problems.
  5. (transitive, slang, often imperative) To stop.
    Nark it! I hear someone coming!
Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

See narc.

Noun

nark (plural narks)

  1. Alternative form of narc (narcotics officer).

References

  • “nark”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
  • Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.

Anagrams

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=nark&oldid=54380482"