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PlainSpell

bark

/bɑɹk/verb, noun, interjection

bark is spelled B-A-R-K: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 7.1 times per million words in written English, the 8,918th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, bark means “To make a short, loud, explosive noise with the vocal organs (said of animals, especially dogs)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in bark?

Letters4: B-A-R-K
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing7.1 times per million words; the 8,918th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Sounds like
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is bark?

Bark appears 7.1 times per million words in written English, the 8,918th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce bark?

  • UK /bɑːk/
  • US /bɑɹk/

Bark has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-bark.ogg, En-us-bark.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with bark

Sounds like: barque (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with bark?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as bark from its last stressed vowel (/ɑɹk/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: krab.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of bark

  • barks present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • barking participle, present
  • barked participle, past
  • barke
  • barque

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does bark mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To make a short, loud, explosive noise with the vocal organs (said of animals, especially dogs).

    The neighbour's dog is always barking.

  2. 2

    To make a clamor; to make importunate outcries.

  3. 3

    To speak sharply.

    The sergeant barked an order.

  4. 4

    To strip the bark from; to peel.

  5. 5

    To abrade or rub off any outer covering from.

    I barked my shins climbing the fence.

  6. 6

    To girdle.

  7. 7

    To cover or enclose with bark, or as with bark.

    to bark the roof of a hut

noun

  1. 1

    The short, loud, explosive sound uttered by a dog, a fox, and some other animals.

  2. 2

    An abrupt loud vocal utterance.

  3. 3

    The quick opening of the hi-hat cymbal as it is hit, followed by its timely closing.

  4. 4

    (video games) A short, repeatable, and unobtrusive voiceline spoken by an NPC.

  5. 5

    The exterior covering of the trunk and branches of a tree or of various other woody plants.

  6. 6

    Peruvian bark or Jesuit's bark, the bark of the cinchona from which quinine is produced.

  7. 7

    Hard candy made in flat sheets, for instance out of chocolate, peanut butter, toffee or peppermint.

  8. 8

    The crust formed on barbecued meat that has had a rub applied to it.

  9. 9

    The envelopment or outer covering of anything.

  10. 10

    USWoodchips.

  11. 11

    obsoleteA small sailing vessel, e.g. a pinnace or a fishing smack; a rowing boat or barge.

  12. 12

    A sailing vessel or boat of any kind.

  13. 13

    A vessel, typically with three (or more) masts, with the foremasts (or fore- and mainmasts) square-rigged, and mizzenmast schooner-rigged.

  14. 14

    obsoleteslangAn Irish person.

interjection

  1. 1

    The sound of a dog barking.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Bark in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchaboyer, japper (to make a loud noise (dogs)), aboiement (short, loud, explosive utterance), écorce (exterior covering of a tree), écorcer (to strip the bark from, to peel), barque (three-masted vessel, foremast and mainmast…)
Germanbellen (to make a loud noise (dogs)), Bellen, Gebell (short, loud, explosive utterance), Borke (exterior covering of a tree), blaffen, brüllen (to speak sharply)
Portugueselatir, ladrar (to make a loud noise (dogs)), latido (short, loud, explosive utterance), casca (exterior covering of a tree), descascar (to strip the bark from, to peel), barca (three-masted vessel, foremast and mainmast…)
Spanishladrar (to make a loud noise (dogs)), ladrido (short, loud, explosive utterance), corteza (exterior covering of a tree), descortezar (to strip the bark from, to peel), bricbarca (three-masted vessel, foremast and mainmast…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does bark come from?

From Middle English barken, berken, borken, from Old English beorcan (“to bark”), from the Proto-West Germanic *berkan (“to bark”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerg- (“to make a noise, growl, bark”), from *bʰer- (“to drone, hum, buzz”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after bark