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PlainSpell

hawk

UK /ˈhɔːk/noun, verb

hawk is spelled H-A-W-K: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 6.5 times per million words in written English, the 9,463rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “hawk vs hock” about 40 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, hawk means “A diurnal predatory bird of the family Accipitridae, smaller than an eagle” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hawk is hawks.

How many letters and syllables are in hawk?

Letters4: H-A-W-K
Syllables1
In writing6.5 times per million words; the 9,463rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is hawk?

Hawk appears 6.5 times per million words in written English, the 9,463rd 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 hawk?

  • UK /ˈhɔːk/
  • British /ˈhoːk/
  • /ˈhɔk/

Hawk has one syllable.

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

Words people confuse with hawk

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

hawk vs hock40 G

Also written: hock.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with hawk?

4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as hawk from its last stressed vowel (/ɔk/, British pronunciation):

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 hawk

  • hawks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • hawking participle, present
  • hawked participle, past

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

What does hawk mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    A diurnal predatory bird of the family Accipitridae, smaller than an eagle.

    It is illegal to hunt hawks or other raptors in many parts of the world.

  2. 2

    Any diurnal predatory terrestrial bird of similar size and appearance to the accipitrid hawks, such as a falcon.

  3. 3

    Any of various species of dragonfly of the genera Apocordulia and Austrocordulia, endemic to Australia.

  4. 4

    An advocate of aggressive political positions and actions.

  5. 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. 6

    USCold, sharp or biting wind.

  7. 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. 8

    A noisy effort to force up phlegm from the throat.

verb

  1. 1

    To hunt with a hawk.

  2. 2

    To make an attack while on the wing; to soar and strike like a hawk.

    to hawk at flies

  3. 3

    To sell; to offer for sale by outcry in the street; to carry (merchandise) about from place to place for sale; to peddle.

    The vendors were hawking their wares from little tables lining either side of the market square.

  4. 4

    To expectorate, to cough up (something, such as mucus) from one's throat; to produce (something) by coughing or clearing one's throat.

    to hawk a loogie

  5. 5

    To try to cough up something from one's throat; to clear the throat loudly; to cough heavily, especially causing uvular frication.

    Grandpa sat on the front porch, hawking and wheezing, as he packed his pipe with cheap tobacco.

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

Hawk in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchautour (predatory bird of Accipitridae), épervier, autour (goshawk), buse (buzzard) (similar bird), faucon (advocate of aggressive politics), vendre (to sell)
GermanBussard (predatory bird of Accipitridae), Falke, Kriegshetzer, Kriegshetzerin, Kriegstreiber, Kriegstreiberin (advocate of aggressive politics)
Portuguesegavião (predatory bird of Accipitridae), belicista (advocate of aggressive politics), falcoar (to hunt with a hawk), desempenadeira (plasterer's tool), pigarro, pigarreada (an effort to force up phlegm)
Spanishazor, gavilán, halcón (predatory bird of Accipitridae), pregonar (to sell), expectorar (to attempt to cough up, to clear the throat)

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 hawk come from?

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”).

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

What to look up after hawk