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hawk

Pronunciation: /ˈhɔːk/

The English word “hawk” has 13 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A diurnal predatory bird of the family Accipitridae, smaller than an eagle.
  2. Any diurnal predatory terrestrial bird of similar size and appearance to the accipitrid hawks, such as a falcon.
  3. Any of various species of dragonfly of the genera Apocordulia and Austrocordulia, endemic to Australia.
  4. An advocate of aggressive political positions and actions.
  5. An uncooperative or purely selfish participant in an exchange or game, especially when untrusting, acquisitive or treacherous. Refers specifically to the prisoner's dilemma, a.k.a. the Hawk-Dove game.
  6. Cold, sharp or biting wind.
  7. A plasterer's tool, made of a flat surface with a handle below, used to hold an amount of plaster prior to application to the wall or ceiling being worked on: a mortarboard.
  8. A noisy effort to force up phlegm from the throat.

verb

  1. To hunt with a hawk.
  2. To make an attack while on the wing; to soar and strike like a hawk.
  3. To sell; to offer for sale by outcry in the street; to carry (merchandise) about from place to place for sale; to peddle.
  4. To expectorate, to cough up (something, such as mucus) from one's throat; to produce (something) by coughing or clearing one's throat.
  5. To try to cough up something from one's throat; to clear the throat loudly; to cough heavily, especially causing uvular frication.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English hauk, hauke, hawke, havek, from Old English hafoc, from Proto-West Germanic *habuk, from Proto-Germanic *habukaz, controversially derived from Proto-Indo-European *kopuǵos, perhaps ultimately derived from *kap- (“seize”). Cognate with West Frisian hauk, German Low German Haavke, Dutch havik, German Habicht, Swedish hök, Danish høg, Norwegian Bokmål hauk, Norwegian…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.