debark
/di.bɑɹk/verb
debark is a verb meaning “To unload goods from an aircraft or ship” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled D-E-B-A-R-K and has 2 syllables, and it appears about once in every 35 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).
What does debark mean?
verb
- 1
To unload goods from an aircraft or ship.
- 2
To disembark.
- 3
To remove the bark from a tree, especially one that has been felled.
- 4
To devocalize (a dog).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce debark?
- UK /dɪˈbɑːk/
- US /di.bɑɹk/
As a verb (“To remove the bark from a tree, especially one that has…”): /diːˈbɑːk/, /di.bɑɹk/.
Debark has 2 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-debark.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-debark2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of debark
- debarks present, singular, he/she/it
- debarking participle, present
- debarked participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is debark?
Debark appears about once in every 35 million words in written English, the 182,517th 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).
Debark in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
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 debark come from?
From French débarquer, from de- (Old French des-) + barque (“bark, small ship”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).