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lurk Definition

lurk (lʉrk)

intransitive verb

  1. to stay hidden, ready to spring out, attack, etc.; lie in wait
  2. to exist undiscovered or unobserved; be present as a latent or not readily apparent threat
  3. to move furtively

Etymology: ME lurken, akin to louren (see lower), Norw lurka, to sneak off

lurk Synonyms

lurk

v.

slink, prowl, steal, conceal oneself; see hide 2, sneak.

lurk Usage Examples

Object

  • menace: It was traditional in form but beneath the surface there lurked a quiet menace - as exemplified in poems such as The Horses.
  • suspicion: And yet I'm left with a lurking suspicion that there is at least one more layer down.
  • danger: Inside and outside the hospital lurk dangers to a deposed and dangerous dictator.

Preposition: at

  • bottom: However, there are some annoying things lurking at the bottom of one's consciousness, somehow.

Preposition: around

  • corner: The Tory disaster you thought you had banished forever lurks just around the corner.

Adjective complement

  • unseen: Option theory is similar to an iceberg where the majority of matter lurks unseen.

Modifying Another Word

  • menacingly: A tree might lurk menacingly, or a bed might meander aimlessly.
  • somewhere: However, lurking somewhere in the tangled mass are some insights worth having.
  • everywhere: Horror Films in the 70s: In the 1970s, nightmarish horror and terror lurked everywhere.

Followed by an intransitive particle

  • around: It's a great way to clear away all the ghosts lurking around in XP.

Followed by a transitive particle

  • around: We do not know who or what is lurking around the corner.

Particle object:

  • corner: We do not know who or what is lurking around the corner.

Preposition: in

  • shadow: Suppose you saw or even thought you saw a tiger lurking in the nearby shadows.
  • undergrowth: There too, it seems to prefer lurking in the undergrowth at the water's edge.
  • recess: It is also the reason he constantly returns to the kinds of empirical experiments that lurked in the recesses of Thomas Edison's garage.
  • bush: As you come up the driveway to the entrance you see strange animals lurk in the bushes.
  • background: These two problems will lurk in the background of all the discussions here.
  • darkness: Proceed with caution through the shadows as the deathly, dank dungeon is full of terror lurking in the darkness.

Preposition: for

  • while: I've been lurking here for a while and against my better instincts, thought I'd add to the debate.

Preposition: beneath

  • surface: In the UK we too have seen the level of underlying violence that lurks beneath the surface within certain elements of this religion.

Browse dictionary entries near lurk

  1. lurid
  2. Lurex
  3. lure
  4. lurdan
  5. lurcher
  6. lurch
  7. lupus vulgaris
  8. lupus erythematosus
  9. lupus
  10. lupulin
  1. lurking
  2. Lusaka
  3. Lusatia
  4. Lusatian
  5. luscious
  6. lush
  7. Lusitania
  8. lust
  9. lust (after)
  10. luster