nark
English edit
Pronunciation edit
- (UK) IPA(key): /nɑːk/, enPR: näk
- (US) IPA(key): /nɑːɹk/, enPR: närk
Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)k
Etymology 1 edit
Uncertain. Perhaps from Angloromani nok (“nose”), from Romani nakh, from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀡𑀓𑁆𑀓 (ṇakka), ultimately a doublet of nose.
Alternative forms edit
Noun edit
nark (plural narks)
- (British, Ireland, slang) A police spy or informer.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:informant
- 1879 October, J[ohn] W[illiam] Horsley, “Autobiography of a Thief in Thieves’ Language”, in Macmillan’s Magazine, volume XL, number 240, London: Macmillan and Co. […], →OCLC, page 505, column 1:
- So I went and laid down on the grass. While laying there I piped a reeler whom I knew. He had a nark (a policeman's spy) with him. So I went and looked about for my two pals, and told them to look out for F. and his nark.
- 1912, George Bernard Shaw, “Act I”, in Pygmalion[1]:
- It’s a—well, it’s a copper’s nark, as you might say. What else would you call it? A sort of informer.
- 1938 April, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter XII, in Homage to Catalonia, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC:
- When we got to the Chief of Police's office a crowd of the most dreadful-looking scoundrels, obviously police narks, informers, and spies of every kind, were hanging about outside the door.
- (Australia, slang) An unpleasant person, especially one who makes things difficult for others.
- Synonyms: spoilsport; see also Thesaurus:jerk, Thesaurus:git
Related terms edit
- (police spy): copper's nark
Translations edit
police spy
Verb edit
nark (third-person singular simple present narks, present participle narking, simple past and past participle narked)
- (Can we verify(+) this sense?) (transitive, thieves' cant) To watch; to observe.
- (intransitive, slang) To serve or behave as a spy or informer; to tattle.
- Synonyms: rat, tattle; see also Thesaurus:rat out
- “If you nark on me, I’ll rip your arms off,” said Tim to his brother, as he passed him a joint.
- (transitive, slang) To annoy or irritate.
- It really narks me when people smoke in restaurants.
- (intransitive, slang) To complain.
- He narks in my ear all day, moaning about his problems.
- (transitive, slang, often imperative) To stop.
- Nark it! I hear someone coming!
Derived terms edit
- (watch): nark it (“look out”)
- (inform on): narking dues
Translations edit
serve as a spy
annoy
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Etymology 2 edit
See narc.
Noun edit
nark (plural narks)
- Alternative form of narc (narcotics officer).
References edit
- “nark”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
- Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.