chirk
verb, adjective, proper noun
Forms chirks chirking chirked chirker chirkest
- verb (intransitive, especially as "chirk up") To become happier.
- verb (transitive, especially as "chirk up") To make happier.
- verb To make the sound of a bird; to chirp.
- adjective (colloquial, US, chiefly New England) lively; cheerful; in good spirits
- proper noun A small town and community with a town council in Wrexham borough county borough, Wales (OS grid ref SJ2937).
Etymology
From Middle English chirken, cherken, charken, from Old English ċearcian (“to chatter, creak, crash”), from Proto-West Germanic *krakōn (“to make a sound, crack”). Doublet of chark. Related also to crake, crack.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To shriek; to gnash; to utter harsh or shrill cries. [Obs.]
- verb To chirp like a bird. [Obs.] Chaucer.
- verb To cheer; to enliven; as, to chirk one up. [Colloq. New Eng. ]
- adjective Lively; cheerful; in good spirits. [Colloq. New Eng.]
Etymology [Cf. Chirp, also Creak.]
Etymology [From Chirk, v. i.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “chirk”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details