English

Verb

chirk ‎(third-person singular simple present chirks, present participle chirking, simple past and past participle chirked)

1. (intransitive, especially as chirk up) To become happier.
   • 1917, Sewell Ford, Wilt Thou Torchy:
   • 1908, Grace Livingston Hill Lutz, Marcia Schuyler:

     Now you jest wipe your eyes and chirk up.

   • 1894, Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), Tom Sawyer Abroad:

     "Go ahead," he says, and I see Jim chirk up to listen.

2. (transitive, especially as chirk up) To make happier.
   • 1912, Zona Gale, Christmas:

     But--" "Well, I think," said Mis' Jane Moran, "that we've hit on the only way we could have hit on to chirk each other up over a hard time."

3. To make the sound of a bird; to chirp.

Adjective

chirk ‎(comparative chirker or more chirk, superlative chirkest or most chirk)

1. (colloquial, US, chiefly New England) lively; cheerful; in good spirits

Usage notes

• The comparative and superlative forms of chirky, chirkier and chirkiest, are sometimes used suppletively as comparative and superlative forms of chirk.

Scots

Alternative forms

• chairk
• jirg

Etymology

From Old English cracian, ċearcian, ċiercian, from Proto-Germanic *krakōną ‎(“to crack; crackle; shriek”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [tʃɪrk], [tʃʌrk]

Noun

chirk ‎(plural chirks)

1. a harsh grating or creaking noise
2. (geology, North Northern Scots, Insular Scots) wet gravelly subsoil

Verb

chirk ‎(third-person singular present chirks, present participle chirkin, past chirkit, past participle chirkit)

1. to make a harsh, strident noise
2. (of a door) to creak
3. (of the teeth or gums) to gnash, rub together
4. to make a squelching noise

Derived terms

• chirker ‎(“house-cricket”)