(n.) Any one numerous species of singing birds of the genus Alauda and allied genera (family Alaudidae). They mostly belong to Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa. In America they are represented by the shore larks, or horned by the shore larks, or horned larks, of the genus Otocoris. The true larks have holaspidean tarsi, very long hind claws, and usually, dull, sandy brown colors.
(v. i.) To catch larks; as, to go larking.
Example Sentences:
(1) Owls were more hypnotizable than larks in the morning, and larks were also significantly more hypnotizable in the evening than owls.
(2) The three young men were trying to get to grips with a troubling scene in which they lark about with a baby in its pram, poking it, pulling off its nappy, goading each other until they stone it to death.
(3) Imitating the white, vaudeville television love-to-hate wrestler Gorgeous George, his forecasts bragged the precise round he was going to win, sometimes combining such box-office larks with couplets of doggerel.
(4) Explaining why they continue to increase the size of the UN consolidated appeal each year, despite not acheiving full funding year-on-year, Larke said: “We base our ask on the real needs we assess, not on the money we expect to get - to do so the other way round would be dishonest.
(5) This is Ferguson in his element, larking about with a world-class footballer whose development he has overseen from the star's late teenage years.
(6) Lacking self-confidence and plagued by ill-health, she was hospitalised several times during the 1950s, and took failure hard, blaming herself in particular for the lack of success of Jean Anouilh's The Lark, in which she starred as St Joan in 1955.
(7) I look at my Instagram the week before [the tweets], and I was happy as a lark.
(8) And all three looked as if they were ready to Snapchat their larking pose to all their schoolfriends.
(9) It’s not just readers who nonetheless see North Korea as a bit of a lark.
(10) Someone suggested speaking to a newsagent in Lark Lane, others a supermarket in Lodge Lane that reflects the multi-ethnic nature of Toxteth.
(11) Thinking it was quite a lark we joined in and the ensuing 10-minute interval on the hallowed turf was a carnival atmosphere with much fun had by all, the highlight being the conga lines dancing to the chant of 'Bulstrode is a wanker'.
(12) We see the upturned faces of the soldiers as they look for the larks in one of Rosenberg's most famous poems, "Returning, We Hear the Larks".
(13) Studies of Maaløe, Lark, and others with amino acid- and thymine-starved cultures revealed successive steps in the biosynthesis of Escherichia coli chromosomes.
(14) Among the rareties: ivory gull, sharp-tailed sandpiper, lark sparrow and warblers from every corner of the western hemisphere.
(15) Ah, another opportunity for Hairy Dave to lark about the dancefloor in a comedy fashion.
(16) It’s quite probable that a large number of these “signatures” are some combination of a lark and the same yahoos signing multiple times.
(17) * A soft siffle, high in the air like a distant lark, or the note of a penny whistle, faint and falling.
(18) Then Antiques Roadshow drew 6.92 million (26.4%) in the next hour, while Lark Rise to Candleford had 6.31 million (23%) in the 8pm hour.
(19) I fantasise that maybe one of those people will read the article and think "I'm going to give this gaming lark a try" and that they will buy a console on their way home from work, and that it'll change their life for the better.
(20) Seemingly spontaneous holiday larks abound; we're one puddle of purple vomit away from the dream Brits abroad weekend.
Patronymic
Definition:
(a.) Derived from ancestors; as, a patronymic denomination.
(n.) A modification of the father's name borne by the son; a name derived from that of a parent or ancestor; as, Pelides, the son of Peleus; Johnson, the son of John; Macdonald, the son of Donald; Paulowitz, the son of Paul; also, the surname of a family; the family name.
Example Sentences:
(1) Tom Jaine writes: Robert Carrier was born Robert Carrier MacMahon, but dropped the patronymic when in France after the war: "It sounds good in French and it looks well visually," he remarked.
(2) Several explanations are offered for this, including polyphyletism of surnames and the presence of Scandinavian patronyms in this population.
(3) The Handmaid's Tale tells the story of Offred – not her real name, but the patronymic she has been given by the new regime in an oppressive parallel America of the future – and her role as a Handmaid.