Word of the Day

: May 14, 2012

skulk

verb SKULK

What It Means

1 : to move in a stealthy or furtive manner

2 : to hide or conceal something (as oneself) often out of cowardice or fear or with sinister intent b chiefly British : malinger

skulk in Context

"I sometimes met with hounds in my path prowling about the woods, which would skulk out of my way, as if afraid, and stand silent amid the bushes till I had passed." - From Henry David Thoreau's 1854 collection of essays, Walden

"These handsome gray birds … are usually found skulking amid the shadows of shrubs and thickets below a forest canopy." - From an article by Gary Phillips at MyrtleBeachOnline.com, April, 11, 2012

Did You Know?

Here's one for the word-puzzle lovers. Can you name three things that the word "skulk" has in common with all of these other words: booth, brink, cog, flit, give, kid, meek, scab, seem, skull and wing? If you noticed that all of the terms on that list have just one syllable, then you've got the first (easy) similarity, but the next two are likely to prove a little harder to guess. Do you give up? All of the words listed above are of Scandinavian origin and all were first recorded in English in the 13th century. As for "skulk," its closest known Scandinavian relative is the Norwegian dialect word "skulka," which means "to lie in wait" or "lurk."