hark

[hahrk] /hɑrk/

verb (used without object)

to listen attentively; hearken.

verb (used with object)

Archaic. to listen to; hear.

noun

a hunter's shout to hounds, as to encourage them in following the scent.

Verb phrases

hark back,

(of hounds) to return along the course in order to regain a lost scent.
to return to a previous subject or point; revert:
He kept harking back to his early days in vaudeville.

Origin

1175-1225; Middle English herken, earlier herkien, Old English *heorcian; cognate with Old Frisian herkia, harkia; akin to Middle Dutch harken, Middle High German, German horchen. See hearken, hear

Related forms

unharked, adjective

Synonyms

4b. refer, allude; regress, retrogress.

Examples from the web for hark

The games themselves even seem to hark back to yesteryear both in how they play and their route to market.
Most current practices and policies still hark back to the go-go era and even beyond--to pioneer days.
They say it could hark back to the time of the dinosaurs.
These policies are not in keeping with that status and hark back to much darker times.
Pay phones are dwindling and their upkeep is a challenge, but in the cellphone age they hark back to a time when talk was private.
For some potential car buyers, the ads may hark back to another era of automobiles.
hark work and determination are vital when seeking avenues of success.

British Dictionary definitions for hark

hark

/hɑːk/

verb

(intransitive; usually imperative) to listen; pay attention

Word Origin

Old English heorcnian to hearken; related to Old Frisian herkia, Old High German hōrechen; see hear

Word Origin and History for hark

late 12c., from Old English *heorcian, perhaps an intensive form from base of hieran (see hear). Cf. talk/tale. Cognate with Old Frisian harkia "listen," Middle Dutch horken, Old High German horechon, German horchen. To hark back (1829) originally referred to hounds returning along a track when the scent has been lost, till they find it again. Related: Harked; harking.