Meaning

(ambitransitive, chiefly US) Alternative spelling of hearken: to hear, to listen, to have regard..

Definitions by Sense

1. (ambitransitive, chiefly US) Alternative spelling of hearken: to hear, to listen, to have regard.
2. (intransitive, US, figuratively) To hark back, to return or revert (to a subject, etc.), to allude to, to evoke, to long or pine for (a past event or era).

Example Sentences

Ev'n from the depths of Hell the Damn'd advance, / Th' Infernal Manſions nodding ſeem to dance; / The gaping three-mouth'd Dog forgets to ſnarl, / The Furies harken, and their Snakes uncurl.

How, then, am I mad? Harken! and observe how healthily—how calmly I can tell you the whole story.

[T]he mother who had shaped him if any had toward the man he almost was, [...] whom he had revered and harkened to and loved and lost and grieved: [...]

Bell argued that the manual approach was "backwards," and harkened to a primitive age where humans used gesture and pantomime.

Word Forms

• harkens
• harkening
• harkened

Synonyms for harken

Related Words

When Should You Use Harken?

Use harken when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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