"hark back" meaning in English

See hark back in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈhɑːkbæk/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈhɑɹkˌbæk/ [General-American] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-hark back2.wav Forms: hark backs [plural]
Etymology: From hark (“to listen attentively”) + back (“to or in a previous condition or place”, adverb), originally a hunting command to hounds meaning “Listen! Go back!”. Head templates: {{en-noun}} hark back (plural hark backs)
  1. Alternative form of hark-back
    (hunting) An act of hounds retracing a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey.
    Categories (topical): Hunting
    Sense id: en-hark_back-en-noun-TecDmeIi Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English heteronyms, English phrasal verbs formed with "back", Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 19 20 17 3 22 18 Disambiguation of English heteronyms: 19 19 18 5 18 22 Disambiguation of English phrasal verbs formed with "back": 20 18 14 4 19 24 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 18 22 12 4 22 23 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 20 21 13 3 21 21 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 21 19 15 4 17 25 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 22 19 15 4 16 24 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 21 20 15 4 16 24 Topics: hobbies, hunting, lifestyle
  2. Alternative form of hark-back
    (figuratively) An act of alluding, returning, or reverting (to a subject previously mentioned, etc.); also, an act of evoking, or longing or pining for (a past era or event).
    Tags: figuratively
    Sense id: en-hark_back-en-noun-uaUirkt1 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English heteronyms, English phrasal verbs formed with "back", Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 19 20 17 3 22 18 Disambiguation of English heteronyms: 19 19 18 5 18 22 Disambiguation of English phrasal verbs formed with "back": 20 18 14 4 19 24 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 18 22 12 4 22 23 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 20 21 13 3 21 21 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 21 19 15 4 17 25 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 22 19 15 4 16 24 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 21 20 15 4 16 24
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: hark-back

Verb

IPA: /ˌhɑːk ˈbæk/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˌhɑɹk ˈbæk/ [General-American] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-hark back.wav Forms: harks back [present, singular, third-person], harking back [participle, present], harked back [participle, past], harked back [past]
Rhymes: -æk Etymology: From hark (“to listen attentively”) + back (“to or in a previous condition or place”, adverb), originally a hunting command to hounds meaning “Listen! Go back!”. Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} hark back (third-person singular simple present harks back, present participle harking back, simple past and past participle harked back)
  1. (intransitive)
    (hunting) Of hounds: to retrace a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey.
    Tags: intransitive Categories (topical): Hunting Translations (of hounds: to retrace a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey): hakea jälki uudelleen (Finnish), auf etw. zurückgreifen (German), zurückgreifen (German), desandar (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-hark_back-en-verb-ER76eZl5 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English heteronyms, English phrasal verbs formed with "back", Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 19 20 17 3 22 18 Disambiguation of English heteronyms: 19 19 18 5 18 22 Disambiguation of English phrasal verbs formed with "back": 20 18 14 4 19 24 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 18 22 12 4 22 23 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 20 21 13 3 21 21 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 21 19 15 4 17 25 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 22 19 15 4 16 24 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 21 20 15 4 16 24 Topics: hobbies, hunting, lifestyle Disambiguation of 'of hounds: to retrace a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey': 91 3 2 4
  2. (intransitive)
    (by extension) To return to where one has previously been; to retrace one's steps.
    Tags: broadly, intransitive Synonyms: go back
    Sense id: en-hark_back-en-verb-wClxpQO1
  3. (intransitive)
    (figuratively) To allude, return, or revert (to a subject previously mentioned, etc.); also, to evoke, or long or pine for (a past era or event).
    Tags: figuratively, intransitive Synonyms: harken back, hearken back, ;, call back Translations (to allude, return, or revert to (a subject previously mentioned, etc.); to evoke, or long or pine for (a past era or event)): palata (english: to return or revert) (Finnish), kaivata (Finnish), ikävöidä (english: to long for) (Finnish), rememorar (Spanish), retrotraer (Spanish), remontarse (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-hark_back-en-verb-Ua4WcsyV Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English heteronyms, English phrasal verbs formed with "back", Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 19 20 17 3 22 18 Disambiguation of English heteronyms: 19 19 18 5 18 22 Disambiguation of English phrasal verbs formed with "back": 20 18 14 4 19 24 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 18 22 12 4 22 23 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 20 21 13 3 21 21 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 21 19 15 4 17 25 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 22 19 15 4 16 24 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 21 20 15 4 16 24 Disambiguation of 'to allude, return, or revert to (a subject previously mentioned, etc.); to evoke, or long or pine for (a past era or event)': 4 7 85 4
  4. (transitive, hunting) To call back (hounds); to recall. Tags: transitive Categories (topical): Hunting, Nostalgia Derived forms: hark-back [noun] Related terms: good old days, halcyon days
    Sense id: en-hark_back-en-verb-KmJbrqLl Disambiguation of Nostalgia: 18 21 11 1 16 33 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English heteronyms, English phrasal verbs formed with "back", Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 19 20 17 3 22 18 Disambiguation of English heteronyms: 19 19 18 5 18 22 Disambiguation of English phrasal verbs formed with "back": 20 18 14 4 19 24 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 17 18 13 6 17 30 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 18 22 12 4 22 23 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 20 21 13 3 21 21 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 21 19 15 4 17 25 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 22 19 15 4 16 24 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 21 20 15 4 16 24 Topics: hobbies, hunting, lifestyle

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_text": "From hark (“to listen attentively”) + back (“to or in a previous condition or place”, adverb), originally a hunting command to hounds meaning “Listen! Go back!”.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "harks back",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "harking back",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "harked back",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "harked back",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "hark back (third-person singular simple present harks back, present participle harking back, simple past and past participle harked back)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Hunting",
          "orig": "en:Hunting",
          "parents": [
            "Human activity",
            "Human behaviour",
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "19 20 17 3 22 18",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "19 19 18 5 18 22",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English heteronyms",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "20 18 14 4 19 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English phrasal verbs formed with \"back\"",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "18 22 12 4 22 23",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "20 21 13 3 21 21",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
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        },
        {
          "_dis": "21 19 15 4 17 25",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "22 19 15 4 16 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "21 20 15 4 16 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Of hounds: to retrace a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey."
      ],
      "id": "en-hark_back-en-verb-ER76eZl5",
      "links": [
        [
          "hunting",
          "hunting#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "hounds",
          "hound#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "retrace",
          "retrace"
        ],
        [
          "course",
          "course#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "pick up",
          "pick up"
        ],
        [
          "lost",
          "lost#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "scent",
          "scent#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "prey",
          "prey#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive)",
        "(hunting) Of hounds: to retrace a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "hobbies",
        "hunting",
        "lifestyle"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "91 3 2 4",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "of hounds: to retrace a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey",
          "word": "hakea jälki uudelleen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "91 3 2 4",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "of hounds: to retrace a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey",
          "word": "auf etw. zurückgreifen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "91 3 2 4",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "of hounds: to retrace a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey",
          "word": "zurückgreifen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "91 3 2 4",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "of hounds: to retrace a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey",
          "word": "desandar"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1885, H[enry] Rider Haggard, “Hans’ City of Rest”, in The Witch’s Head […], volume III, London: Hurst and Blackett, […], →OCLC, page 18:",
          "text": "He must have overshot the mark, and must hark back. So he turned his weary horse's head, and made his way back along the road to the spot where his spoor struck into it.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To return to where one has previously been; to retrace one's steps."
      ],
      "id": "en-hark_back-en-verb-wClxpQO1",
      "links": [
        [
          "return",
          "return#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "previously",
          "previously"
        ],
        [
          "retrace one's steps",
          "retrace one's steps"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive)",
        "(by extension) To return to where one has previously been; to retrace one's steps."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "go back"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly",
        "intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "19 20 17 3 22 18",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "19 19 18 5 18 22",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English heteronyms",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "20 18 14 4 19 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English phrasal verbs formed with \"back\"",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "18 22 12 4 22 23",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
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        {
          "_dis": "20 21 13 3 21 21",
          "kind": "other",
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        },
        {
          "_dis": "21 19 15 4 17 25",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
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        },
        {
          "_dis": "22 19 15 4 16 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "21 20 15 4 16 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1881, W[illiam] E[dward] Norris, “A Racecourse and a Cathedral”, in Matrimony. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC, pages 76–77:",
          "text": "Mr. Flemyng, who had been assuaging his thirst with more champagne during the afternoon, had harked back to the subject of his morning's discourse, and was laying down an authoritative scheme of ethics, in the course of which sundry hard words, such as transcendentalism, pseudo-materialism and the like, lost a syllable here and there.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006 September 11, Sheryl Gay Stolberg, “Bush Mourns 9/11 at Ground Zero as N.Y. Remembers”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-12-22:",
          "text": "Harking back to the theme of a series of speeches he [George W. Bush] delivered last week, he said he was reminded that \"there's still an enemy out there that would like to inflict the same kind of damage again.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To allude, return, or revert (to a subject previously mentioned, etc.); also, to evoke, or long or pine for (a past era or event)."
      ],
      "id": "en-hark_back-en-verb-Ua4WcsyV",
      "links": [
        [
          "allude",
          "allude"
        ],
        [
          "return",
          "return#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "revert",
          "revert#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "subject",
          "subject#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "mentioned",
          "mention#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "evoke",
          "evoke"
        ],
        [
          "long",
          "long#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "pine",
          "pine#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "past",
          "past#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "era",
          "era"
        ],
        [
          "event",
          "event#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive)",
        "(figuratively) To allude, return, or revert (to a subject previously mentioned, etc.); also, to evoke, or long or pine for (a past era or event)."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "harken back"
        },
        {
          "word": "hearken back"
        },
        {
          "word": ";"
        },
        {
          "word": "call back"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively",
        "intransitive"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "4 7 85 4",
          "code": "fi",
          "english": "to return or revert",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to allude, return, or revert to (a subject previously mentioned, etc.); to evoke, or long or pine for (a past era or event)",
          "word": "palata"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 7 85 4",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to allude, return, or revert to (a subject previously mentioned, etc.); to evoke, or long or pine for (a past era or event)",
          "word": "kaivata"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 7 85 4",
          "code": "fi",
          "english": "to long for",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to allude, return, or revert to (a subject previously mentioned, etc.); to evoke, or long or pine for (a past era or event)",
          "word": "ikävöidä"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 7 85 4",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to allude, return, or revert to (a subject previously mentioned, etc.); to evoke, or long or pine for (a past era or event)",
          "word": "rememorar"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 7 85 4",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to allude, return, or revert to (a subject previously mentioned, etc.); to evoke, or long or pine for (a past era or event)",
          "word": "retrotraer"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 7 85 4",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to allude, return, or revert to (a subject previously mentioned, etc.); to evoke, or long or pine for (a past era or event)",
          "word": "remontarse"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Hunting",
          "orig": "en:Hunting",
          "parents": [
            "Human activity",
            "Human behaviour",
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "19 20 17 3 22 18",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "19 19 18 5 18 22",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English heteronyms",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "20 18 14 4 19 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English phrasal verbs formed with \"back\"",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "17 18 13 6 17 30",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
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        },
        {
          "_dis": "18 22 12 4 22 23",
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        },
        {
          "_dis": "20 21 13 3 21 21",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "21 19 15 4 17 25",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "22 19 15 4 16 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "21 20 15 4 16 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "18 21 11 1 16 33",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Nostalgia",
          "orig": "en:Nostalgia",
          "parents": [
            "Emotions",
            "History",
            "Memory",
            "Mind",
            "All topics",
            "Human",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "_dis1": "10 11 13 66",
          "tags": [
            "noun"
          ],
          "word": "hark-back"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To call back (hounds); to recall."
      ],
      "id": "en-hark_back-en-verb-KmJbrqLl",
      "links": [
        [
          "hunting",
          "hunting#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "call back",
          "call back"
        ],
        [
          "recall",
          "recall#Verb"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, hunting) To call back (hounds); to recall."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "9 10 11 70",
          "word": "good old days"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 10 11 70",
          "word": "halcyon days"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "hobbies",
        "hunting",
        "lifestyle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌhɑːk ˈbæk/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-hark back.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/ac/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-hark_back.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-hark_back.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/ac/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-hark_back.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-hark_back.wav.ogg"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌhɑɹk ˈbæk/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-æk"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Language Log",
    "Trafford Publishing"
  ],
  "word": "hark back"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "From hark (“to listen attentively”) + back (“to or in a previous condition or place”, adverb), originally a hunting command to hounds meaning “Listen! Go back!”.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hark backs",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "hark back (plural hark backs)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Hunting",
          "orig": "en:Hunting",
          "parents": [
            "Human activity",
            "Human behaviour",
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "19 20 17 3 22 18",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "19 19 18 5 18 22",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English heteronyms",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "20 18 14 4 19 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English phrasal verbs formed with \"back\"",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "18 22 12 4 22 23",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "20 21 13 3 21 21",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "21 19 15 4 17 25",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "22 19 15 4 16 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "21 20 15 4 16 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of hark-back",
        "An act of hounds retracing a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey."
      ],
      "id": "en-hark_back-en-noun-TecDmeIi",
      "links": [
        [
          "hark-back",
          "hark-back#English"
        ],
        [
          "hunting",
          "hunting#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "act",
          "act#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "hounds",
          "hound#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "retracing",
          "retrace#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "course",
          "course#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "pick up",
          "pick up"
        ],
        [
          "lost",
          "lost#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "scent",
          "scent#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "prey",
          "prey#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "Alternative form of hark-back",
        "(hunting) An act of hounds retracing a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "hobbies",
        "hunting",
        "lifestyle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "19 20 17 3 22 18",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "19 19 18 5 18 22",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English heteronyms",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "20 18 14 4 19 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English phrasal verbs formed with \"back\"",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "18 22 12 4 22 23",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "20 21 13 3 21 21",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "21 19 15 4 17 25",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "22 19 15 4 16 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "21 20 15 4 16 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of hark-back",
        "An act of alluding, returning, or reverting (to a subject previously mentioned, etc.); also, an act of evoking, or longing or pining for (a past era or event)."
      ],
      "id": "en-hark_back-en-noun-uaUirkt1",
      "links": [
        [
          "hark-back",
          "hark-back#English"
        ],
        [
          "alluding",
          "allude#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "returning",
          "return#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "reverting",
          "revert#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "subject",
          "subject#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "previously",
          "previously"
        ],
        [
          "mentioned",
          "mention#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "evoking",
          "evoke"
        ],
        [
          "longing",
          "long#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "pining",
          "pine#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "past",
          "past#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "era",
          "era"
        ],
        [
          "event",
          "event#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "Alternative form of hark-back",
        "(figuratively) An act of alluding, returning, or reverting (to a subject previously mentioned, etc.); also, an act of evoking, or longing or pining for (a past era or event)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhɑːkbæk/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-hark back2.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d3/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-hark_back2.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-hark_back2.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d3/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-hark_back2.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-hark_back2.wav.ogg"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhɑɹkˌbæk/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "50 50",
      "word": "hark-back"
    }
  ],
  "word": "hark back"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English heteronyms",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English phrasal verbs",
    "English phrasal verbs formed with \"back\"",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/æk",
    "Rhymes:English/æk/2 syllables",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations",
    "en:Nostalgia"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "tags": [
        "noun"
      ],
      "word": "hark-back"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From hark (“to listen attentively”) + back (“to or in a previous condition or place”, adverb), originally a hunting command to hounds meaning “Listen! Go back!”.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "harks back",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "harking back",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "harked back",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "harked back",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "hark back (third-person singular simple present harks back, present participle harking back, simple past and past participle harked back)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "good old days"
    },
    {
      "word": "halcyon days"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "en:Hunting"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Of hounds: to retrace a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "hunting",
          "hunting#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "hounds",
          "hound#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "retrace",
          "retrace"
        ],
        [
          "course",
          "course#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "pick up",
          "pick up"
        ],
        [
          "lost",
          "lost#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "scent",
          "scent#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "prey",
          "prey#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive)",
        "(hunting) Of hounds: to retrace a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "hobbies",
        "hunting",
        "lifestyle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1885, H[enry] Rider Haggard, “Hans’ City of Rest”, in The Witch’s Head […], volume III, London: Hurst and Blackett, […], →OCLC, page 18:",
          "text": "He must have overshot the mark, and must hark back. So he turned his weary horse's head, and made his way back along the road to the spot where his spoor struck into it.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To return to where one has previously been; to retrace one's steps."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "return",
          "return#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "previously",
          "previously"
        ],
        [
          "retrace one's steps",
          "retrace one's steps"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive)",
        "(by extension) To return to where one has previously been; to retrace one's steps."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "go back"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly",
        "intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1881, W[illiam] E[dward] Norris, “A Racecourse and a Cathedral”, in Matrimony. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC, pages 76–77:",
          "text": "Mr. Flemyng, who had been assuaging his thirst with more champagne during the afternoon, had harked back to the subject of his morning's discourse, and was laying down an authoritative scheme of ethics, in the course of which sundry hard words, such as transcendentalism, pseudo-materialism and the like, lost a syllable here and there.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006 September 11, Sheryl Gay Stolberg, “Bush Mourns 9/11 at Ground Zero as N.Y. Remembers”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-12-22:",
          "text": "Harking back to the theme of a series of speeches he [George W. Bush] delivered last week, he said he was reminded that \"there's still an enemy out there that would like to inflict the same kind of damage again.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To allude, return, or revert (to a subject previously mentioned, etc.); also, to evoke, or long or pine for (a past era or event)."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "allude",
          "allude"
        ],
        [
          "return",
          "return#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "revert",
          "revert#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "subject",
          "subject#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "mentioned",
          "mention#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "evoke",
          "evoke"
        ],
        [
          "long",
          "long#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "pine",
          "pine#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "past",
          "past#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "era",
          "era"
        ],
        [
          "event",
          "event#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive)",
        "(figuratively) To allude, return, or revert (to a subject previously mentioned, etc.); also, to evoke, or long or pine for (a past era or event)."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "harken back"
        },
        {
          "word": "hearken back"
        },
        {
          "word": ";"
        },
        {
          "word": "call back"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively",
        "intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English transitive verbs",
        "en:Hunting"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To call back (hounds); to recall."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "hunting",
          "hunting#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "call back",
          "call back"
        ],
        [
          "recall",
          "recall#Verb"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, hunting) To call back (hounds); to recall."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "hobbies",
        "hunting",
        "lifestyle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌhɑːk ˈbæk/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-hark back.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/ac/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-hark_back.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-hark_back.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/ac/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-hark_back.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-hark_back.wav.ogg"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌhɑɹk ˈbæk/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-æk"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "of hounds: to retrace a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey",
      "word": "hakea jälki uudelleen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "of hounds: to retrace a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey",
      "word": "auf etw. zurückgreifen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "of hounds: to retrace a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey",
      "word": "zurückgreifen"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "of hounds: to retrace a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey",
      "word": "desandar"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "english": "to return or revert",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to allude, return, or revert to (a subject previously mentioned, etc.); to evoke, or long or pine for (a past era or event)",
      "word": "palata"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to allude, return, or revert to (a subject previously mentioned, etc.); to evoke, or long or pine for (a past era or event)",
      "word": "kaivata"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "english": "to long for",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to allude, return, or revert to (a subject previously mentioned, etc.); to evoke, or long or pine for (a past era or event)",
      "word": "ikävöidä"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to allude, return, or revert to (a subject previously mentioned, etc.); to evoke, or long or pine for (a past era or event)",
      "word": "rememorar"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to allude, return, or revert to (a subject previously mentioned, etc.); to evoke, or long or pine for (a past era or event)",
      "word": "retrotraer"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to allude, return, or revert to (a subject previously mentioned, etc.); to evoke, or long or pine for (a past era or event)",
      "word": "remontarse"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Language Log",
    "Trafford Publishing"
  ],
  "word": "hark back"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English heteronyms",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English phrasal verbs",
    "English phrasal verbs formed with \"back\"",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/æk",
    "Rhymes:English/æk/2 syllables",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations",
    "en:Nostalgia"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From hark (“to listen attentively”) + back (“to or in a previous condition or place”, adverb), originally a hunting command to hounds meaning “Listen! Go back!”.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hark backs",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "hark back (plural hark backs)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "en:Hunting"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of hark-back",
        "An act of hounds retracing a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "hark-back",
          "hark-back#English"
        ],
        [
          "hunting",
          "hunting#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "act",
          "act#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "hounds",
          "hound#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "retracing",
          "retrace#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "course",
          "course#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "pick up",
          "pick up"
        ],
        [
          "lost",
          "lost#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "scent",
          "scent#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "prey",
          "prey#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "Alternative form of hark-back",
        "(hunting) An act of hounds retracing a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "hobbies",
        "hunting",
        "lifestyle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of hark-back",
        "An act of alluding, returning, or reverting (to a subject previously mentioned, etc.); also, an act of evoking, or longing or pining for (a past era or event)."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "hark-back",
          "hark-back#English"
        ],
        [
          "alluding",
          "allude#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "returning",
          "return#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "reverting",
          "revert#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "subject",
          "subject#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "previously",
          "previously"
        ],
        [
          "mentioned",
          "mention#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "evoking",
          "evoke"
        ],
        [
          "longing",
          "long#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "pining",
          "pine#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "past",
          "past#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "era",
          "era"
        ],
        [
          "event",
          "event#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "Alternative form of hark-back",
        "(figuratively) An act of alluding, returning, or reverting (to a subject previously mentioned, etc.); also, an act of evoking, or longing or pining for (a past era or event)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhɑːkbæk/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-hark back2.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d3/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-hark_back2.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-hark_back2.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d3/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-hark_back2.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-hark_back2.wav.ogg"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhɑɹkˌbæk/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "hark-back"
    }
  ],
  "word": "hark back"
}

Download raw JSONL data for hark back meaning in English (10.2kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.