hark back
verb (used without object)
1.
to listen attentively; hearken.
verb (used with object)
2.
Archaic. to listen to; hear.
noun
Verb phrases 3.
a hunter's shout to hounds, as to encourage them in following the scent.
4.
hark back,
a.
(of hounds) to return along the course in order to regain a lost scent.
b.
to return to a previous subject or point; revert: He kept harking back to his early days in vaudeville.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To hark back
Collins
World English Dictionary
hark (hɑːk) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| (intr; usually imperative) to listen; pay attention | |
| [Old English heorcnian to | |
00:10
Hark back
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
| hark back | |
| —vb | |
| (intr, adverb) to return to an earlier subject, point, or position, as in speech or thought | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
hark
c.1175, from O.E. *heorcian (related to hearken), an intensive form from base of hieran (see hear). To hark back (1829) originally refers to hounds returning along a track when the scent has been lost, till they find it again.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases
hark back
Return to a previous point, as in Let us hark back briefly to my first statement. This expression originally alluded to hounds retracing their course when they have lost their quarry's scent. It may be dying out. [First half of 1800s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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