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hawk¹

(hôk)

1. Any of various birds of prey, especially of the genera Accipiter and Buteo in the family Accipitridae, characteristically having a short hooked bill and strong claws used for seizing.

2. Any of various similar birds of prey.

3. A person who preys on others; a shark.

a. One who demonstrates an actively aggressive or combative attitude, as in an argument.

b. A person who favors military force or action in order to carry out foreign policy.

intr.v. hawked, hawk·ing, hawks

1. To hunt with trained hawks.

2. To swoop and strike in the manner of a hawk: "It was fun to watch the scattered snail kites ... lifting and falling in the wind as they hawked across the shining grass and water" (Peter Matthiessen).

[Middle English hauk, from Old English hafoc; see kap- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

hawkish adj.

hawkish·ly adv.

hawkish·ness n.

hawk²

(hôk)

v. hawked, hawk·ing, hawks

v.intr.

To peddle goods aggressively, especially by calling out.

v.tr.

To peddle (goods) aggressively, especially by calling out.

[Middle English hauken, back-formation from hauker; see HAWKER.]

hawk³

(hôk)

v. hawked, hawk·ing, hawks

v.intr.

To clear or attempt to clear the throat by or as if by coughing up phlegm.

v.tr.

To clear the throat of (phlegm).

An audible effort to clear the throat by expelling phlegm.

[Imitative.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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