*awk*

adv. Perversely; in the wrong way. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. 1. In an unlucky (left-handed) or perverse manner. [ Obs. ] Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Awkwardly. [ Obs. ] Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Awk + -ward. ] 1. Wanting dexterity in the use of the hands, or of instruments; not dexterous; without skill; clumsy; wanting ease, grace, or effectiveness in movement; ungraceful; as, he was awkward at a trick; an awkward boy. [ 1913 Webster ]

And dropped an awkward courtesy. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Not easily managed or effected; embarrassing. [ 1913 Webster ]

A long and awkward process. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

An awkward affair is one that has gone wrong, and is difficult to adjust. C. J. Smith. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Perverse; adverse; untoward. [ Obs. ] “Awkward casualties.” “Awkward wind.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

O blind guides, which being of an awkward religion, do strain out a gnat, and swallow up a cancel. Udall. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Ungainly; unhandy; clownish; lubberly; gawky; maladroit; bungling; inelegant; ungraceful; unbecoming. -- Awkward, Clumsy, Uncouth. Awkward has a special reference to outward deportment. A man is clumsy in his whole person, he is awkward in his gait and the movement of his limbs. Clumsiness is seen at the first view. Awkwardness is discovered only when a person begins to move. Hence the expressions, a clumsy appearance, and an awkward manner. When we speak figuratively of an awkward excuse, we think of a lack of ease and grace in making it; when we speak of a clumsy excuse, we think of the whole thing as coarse and stupid. We apply the term uncouth most frequently to that which results from the lack of instruction or training; as, uncouth manners; uncouth language. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- Awk"ward*ly adv. -- Awk"ward*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Mil.) A squad of inapt recruits assembled for special drill. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

adj. (Baseball or basketball or football) skilled in stealing the ball or robbing a batter of a hit; -- used of a Baseball or basketball or football player. a ball-hawking center fielder [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Prov. E. cauk limestone. A doublet of chalk. ] (Min.) An opaque, compact variety of barite, or heavy spar. [ Also written cauk. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Calker. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to cawk; like cawk. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. See Dak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Prov. E. dauk to cut or pierce with a jerk; cf. OE. dalk a dimple. Cf. Ir. tolch, tollachd, tolladh, a hole, crevice, toll to bore, pierce, W. tyllu. ] To cut or mark with an incision; to gash. Moxon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A hollow, crack, or cut, in timber. Moxon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The European goatsucker; -- so called because it eats the dor beetle. See Goatsucker. [ Written also dorrhawk. ] Booth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) See Dorhawk. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ , n. 1. A woodworker`s and joiner's tool having a blade with a handle at each end, used to shave off surfaces, by drawing it toward one; a shave; -- called also drawshave, and drawing shave. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Carp.) A tool used for the purpose of making an incision along the path a saw is to follow, to prevent it from tearing the surface of the wood. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. see drawing knife.
Syn. -- drawshave. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ See Falconer. ] A falconer. [ Obs. ] Donne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The osprey (Pandion haliaëtus), found both in Europe and America; -- so called because it plunges into the water and seizes fishes in its talons. Called also fishing eagle, and bald buzzard. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. gok, gowk, cuckoo, fool, Icel. gaukr cuckoo; akin to OHG. gouh, G. gauch cuckoo, fool, AS. géac cuckoo, Sw. gök, Dan. giög ] 1. A cuckoo. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A simpleton; a booby; a gawky. Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To act like a gawky. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To stare with empty-minded fascination; to stare stupidly; to gape; -- usually used with at. [ PJC ]

a. [ Compar. Gawkier superl. Gawkiest. ] Foolish and awkward; clumsy; clownish; as, gawky behavior. -- n. A fellow who is awkward from being overgrown, or from stupidity, a gawk. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. gōshafuc, lit., goosehawk; or Icel. gāshaukr. See Goose, and Hawk the bird. ] (Zool.) Any large hawk of the genus Astur, of which many species and varieties are known. The European (Astur palumbarius) and the American (A. atricapillus) are the best known species. They are noted for their powerful flight, activity, and courage. The Australian goshawk (A. Novæ-Hollandiæ) is pure white. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ W. hochi. ] To clear the throat with an audible sound by forcing an expiratory current of air through the narrow passage between the depressed soft palate and the root of the tongue, thus aiding in the removal of foreign substances. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To raise by hawking, as phlegm. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ W. hoch. ] An effort to force up phlegm from the throat, accompanied with noise. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. hauk (prob. fr. Icel.), havek, AS. hafoc, heafoc; akin to D. havik, OHG. habuh, G. habicht, Icel. haukr, Sw. hök, Dan. hög, prob. from the root of E. heave. ] (Zool.) One of numerous species and genera of rapacious birds of the family Falconidae. They differ from the true falcons in lacking the prominent tooth and notch of the bill, and in having shorter and less pointed wings. Many are of large size and grade into the eagles. Some, as the goshawk, were formerly trained like falcons. In a more general sense the word is not infrequently applied, also, to true falcons, as the sparrow hawk, pigeon hawk, duck hawk, and prairie hawk. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Among the common American species are the red-tailed hawk (Buteo borealis); the red-shouldered (Buteo lineatus); the broad-winged (Buteo Pennsylvanicus); the rough-legged (Archibuteo lagopus); the sharp-shinned (Accipiter fuscus). See Fishhawk, Goshawk, Marsh hawk, under Marsh, Night hawk, under Night. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bee hawk (Zool.), the honey buzzard. --
Eagle hawk. See under Eagle. --
Hawk eagle (Zool.), an Asiatic bird of the genus Spizaetus, or Limnaetus, intermediate between the hawks and eagles. There are several species. --
Hawk fly (Zool.), a voracious fly of the family Asilidae. See Hornet fly, under Hornet. --
Hawk moth. (Zool.) See Hawk moth, in the Vocabulary. --
Hawk owl. (Zool.) (a) A northern owl (Surnia ulula) of Europe and America. It flies by day, and in some respects resembles the hawks. (b) An owl of India (Ninox scutellatus). --
Hawk's bill (Horology), the pawl for the rack, in the striking mechanism of a clock. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Hawked p. pr. & vb. n. Hawking. ] 1. To catch, or attempt to catch, birds by means of hawks trained for the purpose, and let loose on the prey; to practice falconry. [ 1913 Webster ]

A falconer Henry is, when Emma hawks. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make an attack while on the wing; to soar and strike like a hawk; -- generally with at; as, to hawk at flies. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

A falcon, towering in her pride of place,
Was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Akin to D. hauker a hawker, G. höken, höcken, to higgle, to retail, höke, höker, a higgler, huckster. See Huckster. ] To offer for sale by outcry in the street; to carry (merchandise) about from place to place for sale; to peddle; as, to hawk goods or pamphlets. [ 1913 Webster ]

His works were hawked in every street. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Masonry) A small board, with a handle on the under side, to hold mortar. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hawk boy, an attendant on a plasterer to supply him with mortar. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) The fall dandelion (Leontodon autumnale). [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Curved like a hawk's bill; crooked. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To sell goods by outcry in the street. [ Obs. ] Hudibras. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. AS. hafecere. See 1st Hawk. ] A falconer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who sells wares by crying them in the street; hence, a peddler or a packman. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Hockey. Holloway. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having very keen vision; sharp-sighted; discerning. [ wns=1 ]
Syn. -- keen-sighted, lynx-eyed, quick-sighted, sharp-eyed, sharp-sighted. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. alert to possible danger. [ wns=2 ]
Syn. -- argus-eyed, open-eyed, unsleeping, vigilant, wary, watchful. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

. Iowa; -- a nickname of obscure origin. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

(Zool.) Any moth of the family Sphingidae, of which there are numerous genera and species. They are large, handsome moths with long narrow forewings capable of powerful flight and hovering over flowers to feed. They fly mostly at twilight and hover about flowers like a humming bird, sucking the honey by means of a long, slender proboscis. The larvae are large, hairless caterpillars ornamented with green and other bright colors, and often with a caudal spine. See Sphinx, also Tobacco worm, and Tomato worm.
Syn. -- hawk moth, sphingid, sphinx moth, hummingbird moth. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

Tobacco Hawk Moth (Macrosila Carolina), and its Larva, the Tobacco Worm. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The larvae of several species of hawk moths feed on grapevines. The elm-tree hawk moth is Ceratomia Amyntor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Any of various plants of the genus Crepis having loose heads of yellow flowers on top of a long branched leafy stem; found in the Northern hemisphere.
Syn. -- hawk's-beards. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Zool.) A sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), which yields the best quality of tortoise shell; -- called also caret.
Syn. -- hawksbill turtle, hawkbill, tortoiseshell turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See hawkbill.
Syn. -- hawksbill turtle, hawkbill, tortoiseshell turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Bot.) (a) A plant of the genus Hieracium; -- so called from the ancient belief that birds of prey used its juice to strengthen their vision. (b) A plant of the genus Senecio (Senecio hieracifolius). Loudon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The kestrel. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ A corruption of eyas hawk. ] (Zool.) A young hawk. Booth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A name given to a free-booting, unenlisted, armed man or guerrilla. [ A term of opprobrium used in the war of 1861-65, U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. mauk, maðek, Icel. maðkr; akin to Dan. maddik, and E. mad an earthworm. See Mad, n. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A maggot. [ Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A slattern; a mawks. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Malkin, and Maukin. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Slatternly. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Orig., maggoty. See Mawk. ] 1. Apt to cause satiety or loathing; nauseous; slightly nauseating; disgusting. [ 1913 Webster ]

So sweetly mawkish', and so smoothly dull. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Easily disgusted; squeamish; sentimentally fastidious. J. H. Newman. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Weakly sentimental; maudlin. [ PJC ]