I. bark 1 /bɑːk $ bɑːrk/ BrE AmE verb
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: beorcan ]
1 . [intransitive] when a dog barks, it makes a short loud sound or series of sounds ⇨ growl
bark at
The dog always barks at strangers.
2 . ( also bark out ) [transitive] to say something quickly in a loud voice
bark at
‘Don’t just stand there, give me a hand,’ she barked at the shop assistant.
3 . bark up the wrong tree informal to have a wrong idea, or do something in a way that will not give you the information or result you want:
The police spent three months barking up the wrong tree on the murder investigation.
4 . [transitive] to rub the skin off your knee, elbow etc by falling or knocking against something SYN graze :
I barked my shin against the step.
II. bark 2 BrE AmE noun
[ Sense 1, 3-4: Date: 1500-1600 ; Origin: ⇨ ↑ bark 1 ]
[ Sense 2: Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old Norse ; Origin: börkr ]
1 . [countable] the sharp loud sound made by a dog
2 . [uncountable] the outer covering of a tree
3 . [countable] a loud sound or voice:
Amy’s voice was a hoarse bark.
4 . sb’s bark is worse than their bite used to say that someone who seems unpleasant or difficult to deal with is not really too bad