▪ I. lark, n.1, laverock
(lɑːk, ˈlævərək, Sc. ˈlevrək)
Forms: α. 1 láferce, láw-, láu(w)erce, lǽwerce, láuricæ, -e, 3–4 laverke, 5 laveroc, -k(ke, (lavercok, lawrok), 6 laverok(e, lavorocke, Sc. laferok, 7 laveracke, lavroc, levero(c)k, -ucke, 9 dial. lair-, layrock, 5– chiefly Sc. lav(e)rock, lav'rock. β. 4–7 larke, 4– lark.
[OE. láferce, older lǽwerce, láuricæ, wk. fem., corresponding to Du. leeuwerik, OHG. lêrahha (MHG. and mod.G. lerche), ON. lǽvirke (masc.), MSw. lǣrikia (Sw. lärka, Da. lerke); not found in Goth.
The ulterior etymology is unknown; some of the OE. forms, and the ON. lǽvirke (only in the Edda Gloss., and perh. from Eng.) lend themselves to the interpretation ‘treason-worker’ (OE. lǽw, ON. lǽ, treason; cf. ON. illvirke worker of ill); but, apart from the fact that nothing is known in folklore to account for such a designation, the Teut. forms generally seem to point to some such OTeut. type as *laiwirakjôn-.]
1. a. A name used generally for any bird of the family Alaudidæ, but usually signifying, when used without a prefix, the skylark (Alauda arvensis). The lark has a sandy-brown plumage, and remarkably long hind-claws (cf. larkspur).
| α c 725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) 71/2 Laudae, laurice. c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 131/28 Alauda, lauerce. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 67/455 A gret hep of lauerkene opon þe churche a-liȝhte. a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. xi. 40 Ich wold ich were a threstelcok, A bountyng other a lavercok, Swete bryd! ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 662 Ther mighte men see many flokkes Of turtles and laverokkes. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 36 Other smalle bryddes..As osel, smityng, laveroc gray, Pertryk, werkock. 1438 Bk. Alexander Gt. (Bannatyne) 12 It semis thay sparhalkis war And we lawrokis that durst bot dar. a 1650 Eger & Grine 922 in Furnivall Percy Folio I. 383 The throstlecocke, the Nightingale, the laueracke, & the wild woodhall. 1725 Ramsay Gent. Sheph. ii. iv, Hark how the lav'rocks chant aboon our heads. a 1810 Tannahill Winter wi' his cloudy brow Poems (1846) 112 Now lavrocks sing to hail the spring, And nature all is cheery. 1837 R. Nicoll Poems (1842) 77 Where laverocks lilting sing Is the place that I love best. 1897 Outing (U.S.) XXIX. 595/1 A colony of tuneful lavrocks darted their almost perpendicular flight above our heads. |
| β ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 915 With fynche, with lark, and with archaungelle. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 1498 On þe morwe wan it was day, & þe larke by-gan to synge, þys messegers come in god aray. c 1450 Holland Howlat 714 The blyth Lark that begynnis. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. iii. i. 158 Did euer Rauen sing so like a Larke? 1620 Venner Via Recta iii. 63 Larkes are of a delicate taste in eating. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) V. 10 An hawk..perceives a lark at a distance which neither men nor dogs could spy. 1828 Wordsw. Morn. Exerc. iv, Ne'er could Fancy bend the buoyant Lark To melancholy service. 1876 Smiles Sc. Natur. xiii. (ed. 4) 260 You could now hear the..bright carol of the Lark. |
b. With allusion to the lark's habits;
e.g. its early song, and the height it attains in contrast with the low position of its nest.
| 1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 229 Goe to bed with the Lambe, and rise with the Larke. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, v. iii. 56 Stir with the Larke to morrow, gentle Norfolk. 1613 ― Hen. VIII, ii. iii. 94 With your Theame, I could O're-mount the Larke. 1607 Dekker Westw. Hoe Wks. 1873 II. 295 We..must be vp with the lark. 1798 Coleridge Anc. Mar. v. xv, Sometimes a dropping from the sky I heard the Lavrock sing. 1822 B. W. Procter Lysander & Ione i, Be constant..As larks are to the morn or bats to eve. 1826 J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 131 Nae lively lilting awa like a rising laverock. 1865 Waugh Lanc. Songs 26 Though we livin' o' th' floor same as layrocks We'n go up like layrocks to sing. |
c. Proverbs.
| c 1530 R. Hilles Common-Pl. Bk. (1858) 140 And hevyn fell we shall have meny larkys. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 9 A leg of a larke Is better than is the body of a kyght. Ibid. 20 Louers liue by loue, ye as larkes liue by leekes. 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 48 Men..die for loue, when larkes die with leekes. 1711 Brit. Apollo III. No. 153. 3/2 When the sky falls, we shall catch Larks. |
d. With some defining prefix, or qualifying adjective, denoting some member of the genus or family, as
crested lark,
horned lark,
red lark,
shore-lark; also
skylark,
woodlark.
| 1766 Pennant Zool. (1768) II. 239 Red-lark. 1784–5 ― Arct. Zool. (1792) II. 84 Shore Lark..Alauda alpestris. 1837 Gould Birds Europe III. 165 Crested Lark, Alauda cristata. 1894 R. B. Sharpe Handbk. Birds Gt. Brit. (1896) 80 The Horned Larks are principally northern birds, occurring throughout the greater part of North America..more than one form of Horned Lark is found in the higher ranges of the Himalayas. Ibid. 89 The Wood-Lark..agrees with the Crested Lark,..in having the first primary quill well developed. |
2. Applied with defining prefix to birds resembling the lark, but not belonging to the
Alaudidæ;
e.g. to certain buntings and pipits. Also
titlark.
| 1766 Pennant Zool. (1768) II. 238 It is larger than the tit-lark. 1848 Zoologist VI. 2290 The meadow pipet is the ‘twit lark’. 1849 Ibid. VII. 2354 The tree pipet is the ‘tree-lark’. 1862 Wood Nat. Hist. II. 484 The Lapland Bunting, Snow Bunting... In some places it is called the..White Lark. 1893 Newton Dict. Birds 512 The Mud-Lark, Rock-Lark, Titlark, and Tree-Lark are Pipits. The Grasshopper-Lark is one of the aquatic Warblers, while the Meadow-Lark of America..is an Icterus. Sand-Lark and Sea-Lark are..names often given to some of the smaller members of the Limicolæ. 1894 R. B. Sharpe Handbk. Birds Gt. Brit. (1896) 70 From the curious ‘scribbling’ on the eggs the Yellow Bunting.. is in many places known as the ‘Writing Lark’. |
3. attrib. and
Comb., as
lark-catcher,
lark-note,
lark-pie,
lark pudding,
lark-song;
lark-awakened,
lark-charmed,
lark-crested,
lark-footed,
lark-high adjs.; also
lark-like adj.;
lark bunting, the prairie bobolink,
Calamospiza melanocorys, a bird found on the plains of central North America;
lark-call (see
quot.);
† lark's-claw, the wild larkspur;
lark-finch,
-sparrow, a bird of the western
U.S.,
Chondestes grammacus;
† lark-fish (
= L.
alauda) a name given to certain species of Blenny;
lark's-foot = larkspur;
lark's-head Naut., a form of bend (Knight
Dict. Mech.);
lavrock-height (
nonce wd.), the height that the lark rises to;
lark-silver, an annual payment due to the Crown from tenants of the Honour of Clare;
lark's toes = larkspur;
lark-worm, a kind of tape-worm (see
quot.). Also lark's-heel.
| 1835 Edin. Rev. LX. 324 The tell-tale smoke of *lark-awakened cottages. |
| 1869 Amer. Naturalist III. 296 That pretty and musical bird of the high plains, the *Lark Bunting (Calamospiza bicolor), also occurred [along the Upper Missouri River]. 1963 R. D. Symons Many Trails iii. 30 Small black ones [sc. birds] with white wing patches, which the children at once called white wings, not knowing that they were lark buntings. |
| 1791 E. Darwin Bot. Gard. i. Notes 89 There is a whistle, termed a *lark-call, which consists of a hollow cylinder of tin-plate, closed at both ends. |
| 1881 Macm. Mag. XLV. 42 A *lark-catcher will catch and slaughter ignominiously in a single night more skylarks than a falconer can hope to catch with one hawk in a year. |
| 1879 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1918) 41 Cuckoo-echoing, bell-swarmèd, *lark-charmèd. |
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens ii. xv. 165 The wilde [Lark's spur] is called..in English..*Larckes Claw. 1776–96 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 494 Larks-claw. |
| 1848 E. S. Dixon Ornamental & Domestic Poultry 319 *Lark-crested Fowls are of various colours; pure snow-white, brown with yellow hackles, and black. |
| 1831 A. Wilson & Bonaparte Amer. Ornith. IV. 126 Fringilla grammaca—*Lark Finch. 1898 Burrough's Riverby Index, Lark finch or lark sparrow, Chondestes grammacus. |
| 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. Introd. a 6 b, Fishes..smooth, as the *Larkfish cristate and not cristate. |
| 1573 Tusser Husb. xliii. (1878) 96 Herbes, branches, and flowers, for windowes and pots,..*Larkes foot. 1626 Bacon Sylva §510 This Experiment of severall Colours, comming up from one seed, would be tried also in Larkes-Fott. |
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 253 The Epithets of a swift running courser are these, winged or wing-bearing, *Lark-footed. |
| 1785 Burns Halloween xxvi, Poor Lizzie's heart maist lap the hool; Near *lav'rock height she jumpit. |
| 1909 Westm. Gaz. 29 Dec. 8/3 Sometimes he wings straight up, *lark-high, into the blue. 1946 Dylan Thomas Deaths & Entrances 22 A stone lies lost and locked in the lark-high hill. |
| 1742 Young Nt. Th. v. 20 Pleasure, *Lark-like, nests upon the Ground. 1894 R. B. Sharpe Handbk. Birds Gt. Brit. (1896) 79 The Meadow-Pipit having a Lark-like hind claw. |
| 1866 R. Leighton in Westm. Gaz. (1909) 6 Mar. 6/3 Deep in my soul the throbbing *lark-notes lie. 1906 Westm. Gaz. 14 Apr. 6/2 Yet hear the lark-note piercing the grey morn. |
| 1723 J. Nott Cook's & Confectioner's Dict. sig. R6 (heading) To make a *Lark Pye. 1861 Mrs. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. 479 (heading) Lark Pie (an Entree). 1910 W. de la Mare Three Mulla-Mulgars xii. 166 What's lark-pie to a hungry sailor? 1963 T. Fitzgibbon Game Cooking 96 Lark pie. |
| 1863 G. Meredith Let. 1 Feb. (1970) I. 189 A new Receipt:—I try it at Orridge's tonight. ‘*Lark Pood'n’. 1877 E. S. Dallas Kettner's Bk. of Table 272 Lark Pudding or Pie.—For the perfection of a lark pudding, go to the Cheshire Cheese, in Fleet Street. 1934 J. J. Williams Seasonal Cook. Bk. 263 Lark pudding... Grease a pudding basin... Clean and bone the larks. |
| 1635 J. Layer in N. & Q. 9th Ser. V. (1900) 376 The lete is of Clare, of fee, and ye townsmen paid..3s. per annum for *larkesilver, but what the meaning of it is, I know not. 1900 Ibid., The term larkesilver first occurs in the reign of Richard II. The Court Leet at Meldreth has not been held for centuries, but the ‘larksilver’ [etc.] are still paid by the parish constable to the Commissioners of Woods and Forests. |
| 1880 G. Meredith Tragic Com. (1881) 193 He..had within the month received her *lark-song of her betrothal. 1597 *Larkes Toes [see lark-heel 1]. |
| 1863 Wood Nat. Hist. III. 713 *Lark worm, Tænia platycephala. |
▪ II. lark, n.2 colloq. (
lɑːk)
[Belongs to lark v.2] 1. A frolicsome adventure, a spree. Also
to go on,
have,
take a lark;
to make a lark of = ‘to make game of’.
| 1811 Lex. Balatronicum, Lark, a piece of merriment. People playing together jocosely. 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Lark, fun or sport of any kind, to create which is termed knocking up a lark. 1813 Byron Let. 27 Sept. in Moore Lett. & Jrnls. (1830) I. 428 You must and shall meet me..and take what, in flash dialect, is poetically termed ‘a lark’ with Rogers and me for accomplices. 1835 Marryat Jac. Faithf. xxxviii, Tom was..always..ready for any lark or nonsense. 1837 Dickens Pickw. ii, ‘Here's a lark’, shouted half a dozen hackney-coachmen. 1850 Thackeray Pendennis xxxix. (1885) 385 Don't make a lark of me, hang it! 1857 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 321 My mother..once by way of a lark, invited her to tea. 1873 Holland A. Bonnic. xvi. 254 ‘It's a lark, fellows’, said Mullens from behind his handkercheif. 1884 Punch 1 Mar. 108/1 Bradlaugh only having a lark with the Hon. Gentlemen. |
2. transf. An affair, line of business, etc.
colloq.| 1934 P. Allingham Cheapjack xiii. 167 There are many Jews among the grafters, but they usually stick to the chocolate ‘lark’—or auction. 1936 [see con c]. 1961 New Statesman 22 Sept. 376/3 Exhibitionists they may be but they mean business. This wet sitting for hours on end is not my lark. 1964 J. Porter Dover One i. 11 There's an outbreak of fowl pest..or something and, naturally, that's far more up his street than one of these vanishing-lady larks. 1967 G. F. Fiennes I tried to run a Railway iii. 28 Jeremy came in one day while this lark was going on. Ibid. vii. 86, I am up to my ears in this bloody diesel lark. |
▪ III. lark, n.3 Naut. (
lɑːk)
A small boat (Smyth
Sailor's Word-bk. 1867).
| 1796 Grose's Dict. Vulg. Tongue, Lark, a boat. |
▪ IV. lark, v.1 (
lɑːk)
[f. lark n.1] intr. To catch larks.
▪ V. lark, v.2 colloq. (
orig. slang).
(
lɑːk)
[Belongs to lark n.2; the n. and vb. appear first in 1811–3. The origin is somewhat uncertain. Possibly it may represent the northern
lake v., as heard by sporting men from Yorkshire jockeys or grooms; the sound (
lɛək,
læək), which is written
lairk in Robinson's
Whitby Glossary and in dialect books, would to a southern hearer more naturally suggest ‘lark’ than ‘lake’ as its equivalent in educated pronunciation. On the other hand, it is quite as likely that the word may have originated in some allusion to
lark n.1;
cf. the similar use of
skylark vb., which is found a few years earlier (1809).]
1. intr. To play tricks, frolic; to ride in a frolicsome manner; to ride across country. Also with
about.
| 1813 P. Hawker Diary (1893) I. 68 Having larked all the way down the road. 1835 Nimrod's Hunting Tour 227 There is another way of making use of horse-flesh..and that is,..what in the language of the day is called ‘larking’. One of the party holds up his hat which is a signal for the start; and, putting their horses' heads in a direction for Melton, away they go, and stop at nothing till they get there. 1842 Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. ii. St. Cuthbert, Don't ‘lark’ with the watch, or annoy the police! 1846–57 De Quincey Keats Wks. VI. 276 note, It is a ticklish thing to lark with honest men's names. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lxv. 496 Jumping the widest brooks, and larking over the newest gates in the country. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown i. v, Larking about at leap-frog to keep themselves warm. 1861 G. J. Whyte-Melville Mkt. Harb. 56 If we are to lark home..I may as well ride a nag I can trust. 1871 ‘M. Legrand’ Cambr. Freshm. 261 These..expert riders..set off to ‘lark’ it home. 1889 H. O'Reilly 50 Years on Trail 3, I was always larking about and playing pranks on my schoolfellows. |
2. trans. To make fun of, tease sportively (a person); to ride (a horse) across country.
| 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lxvi. 603 A staid English maid..whom Georgy used to ‘lark’ dreadfully, with accounts of German robbers and ghosts. 1861 G. J. Whyte-Melville Mkt. Harb. 21 ‘May I lark him?’ said he, pulling up after a short canter to and fro on the turf by the wayside. |
3. To clear (a fence) with a flying leap.
| 1834 Ainsworth Rookwood iv. vii, Bess was neither strained by her gliding passage down the slippery hill side, nor shaken by larking the fence in the meadow. |