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Webster 1913 Edition

Walk

Walk

(wa̤k)
,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Walked
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Walking
.]
[OE.
walken
, probably from AS.
wealcan
to roll, turn, revolve, akin to D.
walken
to felt hats, to work a hat, G.
walken
to full, OHG.
walchan
to beat, to full, Icel.
vālka
to roll, to stamp, Sw.
valka
to full, to roll, Dan.
valke
to full; cf. Skr.
valg
to spring; but cf. also AS.
weallian
to roam, ramble, G.
wallen
. √130.]
1.
To move along on foot; to advance by steps; to go on at a moderate pace; specifically, of two-legged creatures, to proceed at a slower or faster rate, but without running, or lifting one foot entirely before the other touches the ground.
At the end of twelve months, he
walked
in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.
Dan. iv. 29.
When Peter was come down out of the ship, he
walked
on the water, to go to Jesus.
Matt. xiv. 29.
☞ In the walk of quadrupeds, there are always two, and for a brief space there are three, feet on the ground at once, but never four.
2.
To move or go on the feet for exercise or amusement; to take one’s exercise; to ramble.
3.
To be stirring; to be abroad; to go restlessly about; – said of things or persons expected to remain quiet, as a sleeping person, or the spirit of a dead person; to go about as a somnambulist or a specter.
I have heard, but not believed, the spirits of the dead
May
walk
again.
Shakespeare
When was it she last
walked
?
Shakespeare
4.
To be in motion; to act; to move; to wag.
[Obs.]
“Her tongue did walk in foul reproach.”
Spenser.
Do you think I'd
walk
in any plot?
B. Jonson.
I heard a pen
walking
in the chimney behind the cloth.
Latimer.
5.
To behave; to pursue a course of life; to conduct one's self.
We
walk
perversely with God, and he will
walk
crookedly toward us.
Jer. Taylor.
6.
To move off; to depart.
[Obs. or Colloq.]
He will make their cows and garrans to
walk
.
Spenser.
To walk
in, to go in; to enter, as into a house.
–
To walk after the flesh
(Script.)
,
to indulge sensual appetites, and to live in sin.
Rom. viii. 1.
–
To walk after the Spirit
(Script.)
,
to be guided by the counsels and influences of the Spirit, and by the word of God.
Rom. viii. 1.
–
To walk by faith
(Script.)
,
to live in the firm belief of the gospel and its promises, and to rely on Christ for salvation.
2 Cor. v. 7.
–
To walk in darkness
(Script.)
,
to live in ignorance, error, and sin.
1 John i. 6.
–
To walk in the flesh
(Script.)
,
to live this natural life, which is subject to infirmities and calamities.
2 Cor. x. 3.
–
To walk in the light
(Script.)
,
to live in the practice of religion, and to enjoy its consolations.
1 John i. 7.
–
To walk over
,
in racing, to go over a course at a walk; – said of a horse when there is no other entry; hence, colloquially, to gain an easy victory in any contest.
–
To walk through the fire
(Script.)
,
to be exercised with severe afflictions.
Isa. xliii. 2.
–
To walk with God
(Script.)
,
to live in obedience to his commands, and have communion with him.

Walk

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To pass through, over, or upon; to traverse; to perambulate;
as, to
walk
the streets
.
As we
walk
our earthly round.
Keble.
3.
[AS.
wealcan
to roll. See
Walk
to move on foot.]
To subject, as cloth or yarn, to the fulling process; to full.
[Obs. or Scot.]
To walk one's chalks
,
to make off; take French leave.
–
To walk the plank
,
to walk off the plank into the water and be drowned; – an expression derived from the practice of pirates who extended a plank from the side of a ship, and compelled those whom they would drown to walk off into the water; figuratively, to vacate an office by compulsion.
Bartlett.

Walk

,
Noun.
1.
The act of walking, or moving on the feet with a slow pace; advance without running or leaping.
2.
The act of walking for recreation or exercise;
as, a morning
walk
; an evening
walk
.
3.
Manner of walking; gait; step;
as, we often know a person at a distance by his
walk
.
4.
That in or through which one walks; place or distance walked over; a place for walking; a path or avenue prepared for foot passengers, or for taking air and exercise; way; road; hence, a place or region in which animals may graze; place of wandering; range;
as, a sheep
walk
.
A woody mountain . . . with goodliest trees
Planted, with
walks
and bowers.
Milton.
He had
walk
for a hundred sheep.
Latimer.
Amid the sound of steps that beat
The murmuring
walks
like rain.
Bryant.
5.
A frequented track; habitual place of action; sphere;
as, the
walk
of the historian
.
The mountains are his
walks
.
Sandys.
He opened a boundless
walk
for his imagination.
Pope.
6.
Conduct; course of action; behavior.
7.
The route or district regularly served by a vender;
as, a milkman's
walk
.
[Eng.]

Webster 1828 Edition

Walk

WALK

,
Verb.
I.
[G., to full, to felt hats; a fuller; to stir, to be agitated, to rove, to travel, to wander, to roll. Our ancestors appropriated the verb to moving on the feet, and the word is peculiarly expressive of that rolling or wagging motion which marks the walk of clownish people.]
1.
To move slowly on the feet; to step slowly along; to advance by steps moderately repeated; as animals. Walking in men differs from running only in the rapidity and length of the steps; but in quadrupeds, the motion or order of the feet is sometimes changed.
At the end of twelve months, he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. Daniel 4.
When Peter had come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. Matthew 14.
2.
To move or go on the feet for exercise or amusement. Hundreds of students daily walk on Downing terrace in Cambridge.
3.
To appear, as a specter.
The spirits of the dead may walk again.
4.
To act on any occasion.
Do you think Id walk in any plot?
5.
To be in motion, as a clamorous tongue.
Her tongue did walk in foul reproach.
6.
To act or move on the feet in sleep.
When was it she last walkd? [But this is unusual. When we speak of noctambulation, we say, to walk in sleep.]
7.
To range; to be stirring.
Affairs that walk, as they say spirits do at midnight. [Unusual.]
8.
To move off; to depart.
When he comes forth he will make their cows and garrans walk. [Not elegant.
9.
In Scripture, to live and act or behave; to pursue a particular course of life.
To walk with God, to live in obedience to his commands, and have communion with him. Genesis 5.
To walk in darkness, to live in ignorance, error and sin, without comfort. 1 John 1.
To walk in the light, to live int he practice of religion, and to enjoy its consolations. 1 John 1.
To walk by faith, to live in the firm belief of the gospel and its promises, and to rely on Christ for salvation. 2 Corinthians 5.
To walk through the fire, to be exercised with severe afflictions. Isaiah 43.
To walk after the flesh, to indulge sensual appetites, and to live in sin. Romans 8.
To walk after the Spirit, to be guided by the counsels and influences of the Spirit and by the word of God, and to live a life of holy deportment.
To walk in the flesh, to live this natural life, which is subject to infirmities and calamities. 2 Corinthians 10.
To walk in, to enter, as a house. Walk in, gentlemen.

WALK

,
Verb.
T.
wauk.
1.
To pass through or upon; as, to walk the streets. [This is elliptical for to walk in or through the street.]
2.
To cause to walk or step slowly; to lead, drive or ride with a slow pace. He found the road so bad he was obliged to walk his horse. The coachman walked his horses from Woodbridge to Princeton.

WALK

,
Noun.
Wauk.
1.
The act of walking; the act of moving on the feet with a slow pace.
2.
The act of walking for air or exercise; as a morning walk; an evening walk.
3.
Manner of walking; gait; step. We often know a person in a distant apartment by his walk.
4.
Length of way or circuit through which one walks; or a place for walking; as a long walk; a short walk. The gardens of the Tuilerie and of the Luxemburgh are very pleasant walks.
5.
An avenue set with trees.
6.
Way; road; range; place of wandering.
The mountains are his walks.
The starry walks above.
7.
Region; space.
He opened a boundless walk for his imagination.
8.
Course of life or pursuit. This is not within the walk of the historian.
9.
The slowest pace of a horse, ox or other quadruped.
10.
A fish. [A mistake for whelk.]
11.
In the West Indies, a plantation of canes, &c.
A sheep walk, so called, is high and dry land where sheep pasture.

Definition 2024

walk

walk

English

A horse walking.

Verb

walk ‎(third-person singular simple present walks, present participle walking, simple past and past participle walked)

  1. (intransitive) To move on the feet by alternately setting each foot (or pair or group of feet, in the case of animals with four or more feet) forward, with at least one foot on the ground at all times. Compare run.
    To walk briskly for an hour every day is to keep fit.‎
    • 1893, Walter Besant, The Ivory Gate, Prologue:
      Athelstan Arundel walked home all the way, foaming and raging. […] His mother lived at Pembridge Square, which is four good measured miles from Lincoln's Inn. He walked the whole way, walking through crowds, and under the noses of dray-horses, carriage-horses, and cart-horses, without taking the least notice of them.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 15, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      Edward Churchill still attended to his work in a hopeless mechanical manner like a sleep-walker who walks safely on a well-known round. But his Roman collar galled him, his cossack stifled him, his biretta was as uncomfortable as a merry-andrew's cap and bells.
  2. (intransitive, colloquial, law) To "walk free", i.e. to win, or avoid, a criminal court case, particularly when actually guilty.
    If you can’t present a better case, that robber is going to walk.‎
  3. (intransitive, colloquial, euphemistic) Of an object, to be stolen.
    If you leave your wallet lying around, it’s going to walk.‎
  4. (intransitive, cricket, of a batsman) To walk off the field, as if given out, after the fielding side appeals and before the umpire has ruled; done as a matter of sportsmanship when the batsman believes he is out.
  5. (transitive) To travel (a distance) by walking.
    I walk two miles to school every day.  The museum’s not far from here – you can walk it.‎
    • 1893, Walter Besant, The Ivory Gate, Prologue:
      Athelstan Arundel walked home all the way, foaming and raging. […] His mother lived at Pembridge Square, which is four good measured miles from Lincoln's Inn. He walked the whole way, walking through crowds, and under the noses of dray-horses, carriage-horses, and cart-horses, without taking the least notice of them.
  6. (transitive) To take for a walk or accompany on a walk.
    I walk the dog every morning.  Will you walk me home?‎
    • William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
      I will rather trust […] a thief to walk my ambling gelding.
  7. (transitive, baseball) To allow a batter to reach base by pitching four balls.
  8. (transitive) To move something by shifting between two positions, as if it were walking.
    I carefully walked the ladder along the wall.‎
  9. (transitive) To full; to beat cloth to give it the consistency of felt.
  10. (transitive) To traverse by walking (or analogous gradual movement).
    I walked the streets aimlessly.   Debugging this computer program involved walking the heap.‎
  11. (intransitive, colloquial) To leave, resign.
    If we don't offer him more money he'll walk.‎
    • Edmund Spenser (c.1552–1599)
      He will make their cows and garrans to walk.
  12. (transitive) To push (a vehicle) alongside oneself as one walks.
    • 1994, John Forester, Bicycle Transportation: A Handbook for Cycling Transportation Engineers, MIT Press, p.245:
      The county had a successful defense only because the judge kept telling the jury at every chance that the cyclist should have walked his bicycle like a pedestrian.
  13. To behave; to pursue a course of life; to conduct oneself.
    • Jeremy Taylor (1613–1677)
      We walk perversely with God, and he will walk crookedly toward us.
  14. To be stirring; to be abroad; to go restlessly about; said of things or persons expected to remain quiet, such as a sleeping person, or the spirit of a dead person.
    • Hugh Latimer (c.1485-1555)
      I heard a pen walking in the chimney behind the cloth.
  15. (obsolete) To be in motion; to act; to move.
    • Edmund Spenser (c.1552–1599)
      Her tongue did walk in foul reproach.
    • William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
      I have heard, but not believed, the spirits of the dead / May walk again.
    • Ben Jonson (1572-1637)
      Do you think I'd walk in any plot?
  16. (transitive, historical) To put, keep, or train (a puppy) in a walk, or training area for dogfighting.

Conjugation

Synonyms

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

walk ‎(plural walks)

  1. A trip made by walking.
    I take a walk every morning
  2. A distance walked.
    It’s a long walk from my house to the library
  3. (sports) An Olympic Games track event requiring that the heel of the leading foot touch the ground before the toe of the trailing foot leaves the ground.
  4. A manner of walking; a person's style of walking.
    The Ministry of Silly Walks is underfunded this year
  5. A path, sidewalk/pavement or other maintained place on which to walk. Compare trail.
  6. (poker) A situation where all players fold to the big blind, as their first action (instead of calling or raising), once they get their cards.
  7. (baseball) An award of first base to a batter following four balls being thrown by the pitcher; known in the rules as a "base on balls".
    The pitcher now has two walks in this inning alone
  8. In coffee, coconut, and other plantations, the space between them.
  9. (historical) A place for keeping and training puppies for dogfighting.
  10. (historical) An enclosed area in which a gamecock is confined to prepare him for fighting.
  11. (graph theory) A sequence of alternating vertices and edges, where each edge's endpoints are the preceding and following vertices in the sequence.
  12. (colloquial) Something very easily accomplished; a walk in the park.
    • 1980, Robert Barr, The Coming Out Present (episode of Detective, BBC radio drama; around 16 min 20 sec)
      And for the strongroom itself, he can tell us where to find the combination of the day. We had allowed four hours, Joe, but with this help, once you get us inside, it's a walk! I've been timing it.

Synonyms

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: horses · wonder · smile · #707: walk · places · simple · fresh

Manx

Etymology

Borrowing from English waulk.

Verb

walk ‎(verbal noun walkal or walkey, past participle walkit)

  1. to full (cloth), waulk, tuck

Synonyms

Derived terms

  • walker ‎(“tucker”)
  • walkeyder ‎(“fuller, tucker”)

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Probably cognate with Modern English watch and wake.

Verb

walk

  1. to watch

Related terms

Etymology

From Middle English walken ‎(“to move, roll, turn, revolve, toss”), from Old English wealcan ‎(“to move round, revolve, roll, turn, toss”), ġewealcan ‎(“to go, traverse”); and Middle English walkien ‎(“to roll, stamp, walk, wallow”), from Old English wealcian ‎(“to curl, roll up”); both from Proto-Germanic *walkaną, *walkōną ‎(“to twist, turn, roll about, full”), from Proto-Indo-European *walg-, *walk- ‎(“to twist, turn, move”). Cognate with Scots walk ‎(“to walk”), Saterland Frisian walkje ‎(“to full; drum; flex; mill”), West Frisian swalkje ‎(“to wander, roam”), Dutch walken ‎(“to full, work hair or felt”), Dutch zwalken ‎(“to wander about”), German walken ‎(“to flex, full, mill, drum”), Danish valke ‎(“to waulk, full”), Latin valgus ‎(“bandy-legged, bow-legged”). More at vagrant.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) enPR: wôk, IPA(key): /wɔːk/
  • (US) enPR: wôk, IPA(key): /wɔk/
  • (cot–caught merger) enPR: wäk, IPA(key): /wɑk/
  • Rhymes: -ɔːk
  • Homophone: wok (in some US dialects)

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