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honk (hôngk, hŏngk)
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n.
1. The raucous, resonant sound characteristic of a wild goose.
2.
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.]
honker n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
 

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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