as in to snarl
to speak sharply or irritably
the new supervisor found that speaking to people with a civil tongue got better results than barking at them
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in ship
a boat equipped with one or more sails
took a small bark out on the lake
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bark
Luca Evans, Denver Post, 12 Sep. 2025
Dogs can bark, but robots can talk back Even the most advanced quadruped robot on the market today can’t match a real dog’s innate sense of smell or its highly developed navigational instincts.
—Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 11 Sep. 2025
Ted Katauskas, Outside, 23 Sep. 2025
Their charred bark was peeling off in curls, like terra-cotta tiles.
—Dana Goodyear, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bark
Verb
His buddies just … barked at him in the weight room.
—Luca Evans, Denver Post, 12 Sep. 2025
Dogs can bark, but robots can talk back Even the most advanced quadruped robot on the market today can’t match a real dog’s innate sense of smell or its highly developed navigational instincts.
—Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 11 Sep. 2025
Noun
His rapturous barks bounce from wall to wall around the granite basin.
—Ted Katauskas, Outside, 23 Sep. 2025
Their charred bark was peeling off in curls, like terra-cotta tiles.
—Dana Goodyear, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bark
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bark
Noun
-
The fleet encountered a hurricane off the coast of Eastern Florida in an area now known as the Treasure Coast — named for the fact that a large number of shipwrecks took place there — and all but one of the fleet’s approximately 12 ships were destroyed.—
Toria Sheffield,
PEOPLE,
4 Oct. 2025
-
By the time the ship arrived in Miami, federal health agency says 94 passengers onboard Serenade of the Seas reported falling ill.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
3 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Researchers discovered a schooner that sank in Lake Michigan 140 years ago, ending decades of searches for the elusive ghost ship.—
Staff,
FOXNews.com,
30 Sep. 2025
-
On June 28, the team discovered the ship, a 144-foot-long schooner – a type of sailing vessel with two or more masts – that sank to the bottom of Lake Michigan in 1886.—
Julia Gomez,
USA Today,
17 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Several other countries have contributed anti-drone assets, and an air defense frigate operated by NATO's Maritime Command (MARCOM) arrived in Copenhagen on Sunday as part of the alliance's Baltic Sentry initiative.—
Ellie Cook,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Sep. 2025
-
Back on the Danish frigate, in the Nuuk Fjord, flanked by Greenland’s bleak mountains of sheer black rock, the boom of practicing naval artillery guns reverberates into the Arctic abyss, as fighter jets scream overhead.—
Matthew Chance,
CNN Money,
16 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Inspired by the original 1926 Q Class sloop, known as Q7 Falcon, aka Lively Lady, which Peter sails regularly around San Diego.—
Kathleen Turner,
Forbes.com,
12 Sep. 2025
-
From Ocean Swell to Living-Room Calm Industrial designer Roey Pan sketched the first arc aboard a 27-ft sloop, tracing the way a mainsail breathes with the wind.—
Malana VanTyler,
USA Today,
23 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Amidst these displays is also, inexplicably, a poster of her and John on a yacht and at a Utah Jazz game (which Bronwyn points out isn’t courtside).—
Tom Smyth,
Vulture,
1 Oct. 2025
-
Ximena is Alia’s first new yacht of 2025, but more fleet members are on the horizon.—
Rachel Cormack,
Robb Report,
1 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Dozens have died in recent years trying to cross one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes in overcrowded dinghies.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
28 Sep. 2025
-
An additional autonomous dinghy could serve as the above water collection point.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
23 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bark.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bark. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share