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Bark vs Wail - What's the difference?

bark | wail | Related terms |

Bark is a related term of wail.


As nouns the difference between bark and wail

is that bark is (three-masted vessel) while wail is a prolonged cry, usually high-pitched, especially as of grief or anguish.

As a verb wail is

to cry out, as in sorrow or anguish or wail can be (obsolete) to choose; to select.

bark

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) barken, berken, borken, from (etyl) .

Verb

(en verb)
  • To make a short, loud, explosive noise with the vocal organs (said of animals, especially dogs).
    • The neighbour's dog is always barking .
    The seal barked as the zookeeper threw fish into its enclosure.
  • To make a clamor; to make importunate outcries.
  • * (rfdate), Tyndale.
    • They bark , and say the Scripture maketh heretics.
  • * (rfdate), Fuller
    • Where there is the barking of the belly, there no other commands will be heard, much less obeyed. .
  • To speak sharply.
    • The sergeant barked an order.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011
    • , date=January 5 , author=Mark Ashenden , title=Wolverhampton 1 - 0 Chelsea , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=While McCarthy prowled the touchline barking orders, his opposite number watched on motionless and expressionless and, with 25 minutes to go, decided to throw on Nicolas Anelka for Kalou.}}
    Usage notes
    Historically, bork'' existed as a past tense form and ''borken as a past participle, but both forms are now obsolete.
    Derived terms
    * bark up the wrong tree * barking * barking dogs never bite * bebark * dogs bark *
    Synonyms
    * latrate (obsolete)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The short, loud, explosive sound uttered by a dog.
  • A similar sound made by some other animals.
  • (figuratively) An abrupt loud vocal utterance.
  • * circa 1921 , The Cambridge History of English and American Literature , vol 11:
    • Fox’s clumsy figure, negligently dressed in blue and buff, seemed unprepossessing; only his shaggy eyebrows added to the expression of his face; his voice would rise to a bark in excitement.

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) bark, from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (wikipedia bark)
  • (countable, uncountable) The exterior covering of the trunk and branches of a tree.
  • * '>citation
    • Moving about 70 miles per hour, it crashed through the sturdy old-growth trees, snapping their limbs and shredding bark from their trunks.
  • (medicine) Peruvian bark or Jesuit's bark, the bark of the cinchona from which quinine is produced.
  • The crust formed on barbecued meat that has had a rub applied to it.
  • * 2009 , Julie Reinhardt, She-Smoke: A Backyard Barbecue Book , page 151:
    • This softens the meat further, but at some loss of crunch to the bark .
    Usage notes
    Usually uncountable; bark may be countable when referring to the barks of different types of tree.
    Synonyms
    * (exterior covering of a tree) rind
    Related terms
    * ringbark * paperbark * stringybark

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To strip the bark from; to peel.
  • To abrade or rub off any outer covering from.
    • to bark one’s heel
  • To girdle.
  • To cover or inclose with bark, or as with bark.
    • bark the roof of a hut

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) , from Egyptian b?re .

    Alternative forms

    * barque

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A small sailing vessel, e.g. a pinnace or a fishing smack; a rowing boat or barge.
  • (poetic) a sailing vessel or boat of any kind.
  • * circa 1609 , William Shakespeare, Sonnet 116:
    • It is the star to every wandering bark
  • * circa 1880 , among the Poems of Emily Dickinson:
    • Whether my bark went down at sea, Whether she met with gales,
  • (nautical) A three-masted vessel, having her foremast and mainmast square-rigged, and her mizzenmast schooner-rigged.

    • Anagrams

    * English terms with multiple etymologies ----

    wail

    English

    Etymology 1

    Probably from (etyl) Etymology in Webster's Dictionary

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A prolonged cry, usually high-pitched, especially as of grief or anguish.
    • She let out a loud, doleful wail .
  • Any similar sound as of lamentation; a howl.
    • The wail of snow-dark winter winds.
    A bird's wail in the night.
  • A sound made by emergency vehicle sirens, contrasted with "yelp" which is higher-pitched and faster.

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To cry out, as in sorrow or anguish.
  • To weep, lament persistently or bitterly.
  • To make a noise like mourning or crying.
    • The wind wailed and the rain streamed down.
  • To lament; to bewail; to grieve over.
    • to wail one's death
    (Shakespeare)
  • (slang, music) To perform with great liveliness and force.
  • *
  • *
  • *
    • Derived terms
    * wailer * wailingly
    References

    Etymology 2

    Compare Icelandic word for "choice".

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To choose; to select.
  • * Henryson
    • Wailed wine and meats
    (Webster 1913) English terms with homophones