yark meaning (obsolete): definition, etymology and quotations

yark

verb

UK /jɑːk/

Etymology From Middle English ȝarken, ȝerken, from Old English ġearcian (“to prepare, make ready, procure, furnish, supply”), Proto-West Germanic *garwakōn, from Proto-Germanic *garwakōną (“to prepare”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- (“to grab, take, rake”), equivalent to yare + -k. Related to Old English ġearc (“ready, active, quick”), ġearu (“prepared, ready, equipped, complete, finished, yare”). More at yare.

Obsolete To make ready; prepare.

Obsolete To dispose; be set in order for; be destined or intended for.

Obsolete To set open; open.

Derived terms: yarking

yark

verb

Etymology Uncertain, probably originally imitative; compare jerk etc.

To bind or draw (especially leather or stitches) tight.

[...] Yet thou hast given us leather to yark, and leather to bark, [...]1881, Walter Gregor, Notes on the Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland:

To hit, strike, especially with a cane or whip.

To crack (a whip).

he would throw a Dagger, and make a whip to yarke and lash [tr. faisoit craqueter], as cunningly as any Carter in France., Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.96