Library / English Dictionary

HAWK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Diurnal bird of prey typically having short rounded wings and a long tail

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("hawk" is a kind of...):

bird of prey; raptor; raptorial bird (any of numerous carnivorous birds that hunt and kill other animals)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hawk"):

fish eagle; fish hawk; osprey; Pandion haliaetus; sea eagle (large harmless hawk found worldwide that feeds on fish and builds a bulky nest often occupied for years)

falcon (diurnal birds of prey having long pointed powerful wings adapted for swift flight)

harrier eagle; short-toed eagle (any of numerous large Old World hawks intermediate in some respects between typical hawks and typical eagles)

harrier (hawks that hunt over meadows and marshes and prey on small terrestrial animals)

kite (any of several small graceful hawks of the family Accipitridae having long pointed wings and feeding on insects and small animals)

honey buzzard; Pernis apivorus (Old World hawk that feeds on bee larvae and small rodents and reptiles)

Buteo buteo; buzzard (the common European short-winged hawk)

Buteo lineatus; red-shouldered hawk (North American hawk with reddish brown shoulders)

Buteo lagopus; rough-legged hawk; roughleg (large hawk of the northern hemisphere that feeds chiefly on small rodents and is beneficial to farmers)

Buteo jamaicensis; red-tailed hawk; redtail (dark brown American hawk species having a reddish-brown tail)

buteonine (any hawk of the genus Buteo)

chicken hawk; hen hawk (nontechnical term for any hawks said to prey on poultry)

Accipiter cooperii; blue darter; Cooper's hawk (bluish-grey North American hawk having a darting flight)

Accipiter nisus; sparrow hawk (small hawk of Eurasia and northern Africa)

Accipiter gentilis; goshawk (large hawk of Eurasia and North America used in falconry)

tercel; tercelet; tiercel (male hawk especially male peregrine or gyrfalcon)

eyas (an unfledged or nestling hawk)

Holonyms ("hawk" is a member of...):

Accipitridae; family Accipitridae (hawks; Old World vultures; kites; harriers; eagles)

Derivation:

hawk (hunt with hawks)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A square board with a handle underneath; used by masons to hold or carry mortar

Synonyms:

hawk; mortarboard

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("hawk" is a kind of...):

board (a flat piece of material designed for a special purpose)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An advocate of an aggressive policy on foreign relations

Synonyms:

hawk; war hawk

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("hawk" is a kind of...):

militarist; warmonger (a person who advocates war or warlike policies)

Antonym:

dove (someone who prefers negotiations to armed conflict in the conduct of foreign relations)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Clear mucus or food from one's throat

Example:

he cleared his throat before he started to speak

Synonyms:

clear the throat; hawk

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "hawk" is one way to...):

cough (exhale abruptly, as when one has a chest cold or congestion)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 2

Meaning:

Hunt with hawks

Example:

the tribes like to hawk in the desert

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "hawk" is one way to...):

hunt; hunt down; run; track down (pursue for food or sport (as of wild animals))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

In the summer they like to go out and hawk

Derivation:

hawk (diurnal bird of prey typically having short rounded wings and a long tail)

hawker (a person who breeds and trains hawks and who follows the sport of falconry)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Sell or offer for sale from place to place

Synonyms:

hawk; huckster; monger; peddle; pitch; vend

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "hawk" is one way to...):

deal; sell; trade (do business; offer for sale as for one's livelihood)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

hawker (someone who travels about selling his wares (as on the streets or at carnivals))

hawking (the act of selling goods for a living)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Nearer and nearer came the two birds, all absorbed in their own contest, the stork wheeling upwards, the hawk still fluttering above it, until they were not a hundred paces from the camp.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But the hawk refused to come down and give battle, and the cub crawled away into a thicket and whimpered his disappointment and hunger.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Lightly armed, with his vizor open and a hawk perched upon his left wrist, he looked about him with the careless air of a man who is bent wholly upon pleasure, and unconscious of the possibility of danger.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The hawk would also have eaten him.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

“Ah! camarade,” he cried, “you shall have a stoup with me for this! What then, old dog, would not the hawk please thee, but thou must have the stork as well. Oh, to my heart again!”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And there came a day when the hawk's shadow did not drive him crouching into the bushes.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

But, to be brief over the matter, my father would have none of his wooing, nor in sooth would I. On that he swore a vow against us, and as he is known to be a perilous man, with many outlaws and others at his back, my father forbade that I should hawk or hunt in any part of the wood to the north of the Christchurch road.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He never forgot the hawk, and its moving shadow always sent him crouching into the nearest thicket.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

So intent were they upon each other that neither took note of his approach; until, when he was close upon them, the man threw his arm roughly round the damsel's waist and drew her towards him, she straining her lithe, supple figure away and striking fiercely at him, while the hooded hawk screamed with ruffled wings and pecked blindly in its mistress's defence.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Nevertheless he felt a little prick of ambition, a sneaking desire to have another battle with that ptarmigan hen—only the hawk had carried her away.

(White Fang, by Jack London)