# walk

> English word · Verb · IPA /wɔːk/ · frequency rank #891

## Definitions
1. To move on the feet by alternately setting each foot (or pair or group of feet, in the case of animals with four or more feet) forward, with at least one foot on the ground at all times. Compare run.
2. To "walk free", i.e. to win, or avoid, a criminal court case, particularly when actually guilty.
3. Of an object, to go missing or be stolen.
4. To walk off the field, as if given out, after the fielding side appeals and before the umpire has ruled; done as a matter of sportsmanship when the batsman believes he is out.
5. To travel (a distance) by walking.
6. To take for a walk or accompany on a walk.
7. To allow a batter to reach base by pitching four balls.
8. To reach base by being pitched four balls.
9. Of an object or machine, to move by shifting between two positions, as if it were walking.
10. To cause something to move in such a way.
11. To full; to beat (cloth) to give it the consistency of felt.
12. To traverse by walking (or analogous gradual movement).
13. To operate the left and right throttles of (an aircraft) in alternation.
14. To leave, resign.
15. To push (a vehicle) alongside oneself as one walks.
16. To behave; to pursue a course of life; to conduct oneself.
17. To go restlessly about; said of things or persons expected to remain quiet, such as a sleeping person, or the spirit of a dead person.
18. To be in motion; to act; to move.
19. To put, keep, or train (a puppy) in a walk, or training area for dogfighting.
20. To move (a guest) to another hotel if their confirmed reservation is not available on the day of check-in.
21. To tend to move radially while feeding axially, whether tending toward on-center or tending toward off-center. Walking may be desirable (e.g., when a reamer walks into concentricity) or undesirable (e.g., when a twist drill walks into eccentricity.)
22. To pull (a trigger) rapid-fire by alternating two fingers.

## Etymology
From Middle English walken (“to move, walk, roll, turn, revolve, toss”), a conflation of Old English wealcan (“to move round, revolve, roll, turn, toss”) (ġewealcan (“to go, traverse”)) and Old English wealcian (“to curl, roll up”); both from Proto-West Germanic *walkan, from Proto-Germanic *walkaną, *walkōną (“to twist, turn, roll about, full”), from Proto-Indo-European *walg- (“to twist, turn, move”).
Cognate with Scots walk (“to walk”), Saterland Frisian walkje (“to full; drum; flex; mill”), West Frisian swalkje (“to wander, roam”), Dutch walken (“to full, work hair or felt”), Dutch zwalken (“to wander about”), German walken (“to flex, full, mill, drum”), Danish valke (“to waulk, full”), Latin valgus (“bandy-legged, bow-legged”), Sanskrit वल्गति (válgati, “amble, bound, leap, dance”). More at vagrant and whelk. Doublet of waulk.

## Easily confused with
- **WL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/walk-vs-wl)
- **was** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/walk-vs-was)
- **way** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/walk-vs-way)
- **war** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/walk-vs-war)
- **wax** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/walk-vs-wax)
- **wan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/walk-vs-wan)
- **wat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/walk-vs-wat)
- **wok** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/walk-vs-wok)
- **WAP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/walk-vs-wap)
- **WAV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/walk-vs-wav)
- **will** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/walk-vs-will)
- **want** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/walk-vs-want)
- **well** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/walk-vs-well)
- **work** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/walk-vs-work)
- **week** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/walk-vs-week)
- **ways** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/walk-vs-ways)
- **wall** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/walk-vs-wall)
- **wild** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/walk-vs-wild)
- **warm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/walk-vs-warm)
- **weak** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/walk-vs-weak)

## Common misspellings (6)
`awlk`, `wakl`, `walkk`, `wallk`, `wlak`, `wwalk`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/walk