Barking

How to spell barking

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce barking

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does barking mean?

1. verbMaking the short, loud cry characteristic of a dog.
2. adjectiveCompletely mad or irrational (British informal, often in the phrase 'barking mad').

Barking in a sentence

• verb

  The neighbour's dog was barking all night and kept us awake.

• adjective

  Spending that much on a sofa is absolutely barking mad.

• verb

  A barking spaniel greeted us at the front gate.

• adjective

  His plan to drive through the night without a break sounded barking to me.

Where does barking come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word grows from the Old English verb beorcan, meaning to make the sharp, rough cry of a dog. The root is Germanic, and it is thought to be imitative in origin, echoing the abrupt sound itself, much like the related Old Norse word berkja, meaning to bluster or roar. Over the centuries the verb settled into modern English as 'bark', and the present participle 'barking' became the everyday word for that canine noise. In British informal speech the word later took on a colourful second life: the phrase 'barking mad' (and the clipped form 'barking') came to mean utterly crazy, likening someone's behaviour to a dog yapping wildly. The spelling stays pleasingly regular, since 'bark' simply takes the -ing ending with no doubling or dropped letters.

How the word is built

• bark (from Old English beorcan, to make a dog's cry)
• -ing (present participle / gerund suffix)