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# bark

«bark» in Mova's school dictionary: **the short loud sound a dog makes** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a bark, barks; bark, uncountable); verb (bark, barks, barked, barking)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A bark is the short loud sound a dog makes. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bark/#m1)

2) To bark is to make this sound. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bark/#m2)

3) Bark is the hard outer covering of a tree trunk and branches. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bark/#m3)

4) To bark (at someone) is to say something in a loud, sharp voice, like an order. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bark/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In science, bark protects a tree from insects, weather and disease, like skin; you can count rings in the wood under it, not the bark. In pet care, dogs bark to warn, greet, or because they are bored or scared. In stories, a barking dog warns of strangers. Phrases: bark at, his bark is worse than his bite (he seems fierce but isn't), barking up the wrong tree (looking in the wrong place), tree bark.

### examples

- The dog barked at the postman. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bark/#x1)
- We heard a loud bark from next door. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bark/#x2)
- The bark of the oak tree is rough. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bark/#x3)
- Some animals eat tree bark in winter. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bark/#x4)
- The coach barked orders at the team. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bark/#x5)
- His bark is worse than his bite. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bark/#x6)
- If you think I did it, you're barking up the wrong tree. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bark/#x7)
- "Away, away," barked the old yard-dog. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bark/#x8)

### note

Bark has two unrelated meanings (dog sound and tree skin) — use the sentence to tell which. Bark of a tree is uncountable. "Barking mad" in British English means completely crazy (informal). Do not peel bark off living trees; it can harm them.

### In the corpora

- [Every street has its news: who parked where, whose dog barked, who has a new car.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/41-our-street-who-parked-where-and-who-won-what/0/)
- [Elephants use their tusks to dig for water and salt, strip bark, move things and defend themselves.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/22-elephants-families-tusks-ears-memory/10/)
- [Cork comes from the thick bark of the cork oak, peeled about every 9 years without killing the tree.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/60-trees/9/)
- [Many moths rest still on trees looking like bark, and when factory soot darkened trees, dark moths survived better than pale ones.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/189-masters-of-camouflage/11/)
- [A squirrel can run down a tree head first because its back ankles turn round so its claws hook into the bark facing up.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/215-foxes-and-squirrels/10/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «bark» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bark/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.