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honk

(hôngk, hŏngk)

1. The raucous, resonant sound characteristic of a wild goose.

a. A sound similar to a goose's honk: blew a loud honk on the bass saxophone.

b. The blaring sound of the horn on a motor vehicle.

v. honked, honk·ing, honks

v.intr.

To emit a honk.

v.tr.

To cause (a horn) to produce a honk.

[Imitative.]

honker n.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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