querk

verb — 3 senses

querk

verb

UK /kwɜːk/

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.

1

To throttle; choke; stifle; suffocate.

2

To grunt, croak, squeal; to moan, complain; to sigh, huff; to emit a breath forcibly, as after great exertion.

3

Dialectal To die.

Related terms
querken

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.