Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive & intransitive verb To make or become cheerful. Used with up.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To creak; shriek; groan.
- To make a noise, as a bird; chirp.
- Also spelled
cherk . - To be or become cheerful.
- Lively; cheerful; pert; in good spirits.
- noun A perverted form of
chert .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb Colloq. New Eng. To cheer; to enliven.
- adjective Colloq. New Eng. Lively; cheerful; in good spirits.
- intransitive verb obsolete To shriek; to gnash; to utter harsh or shrill cries.
- intransitive verb obsolete To chirp like a bird.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb intransitive To become
happier . - adjective colloquial, US
lively ;cheerful ; in good spirits
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb make a shrill creaking, squeaking, or noise, as of a door, mouse, or bird
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Chirk, chirk, chirk, it went, the sound of a spoon being rapidly whisked round a basin.
The Invisible Man Herbert George 2006
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Ayla lay awake under the starlit sky, staring up at the patterns of constellations and listening to the night sounds: the wind sifting through the trees, the soft liquid running of the river, the chirk of crickets, the harsh harumph of a bullfrog.
The Plains of Passage Auel, Jean M. 1990
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Mr. Haynes told me that if I would "chirk up" he would give me his elk teeth.
Letters on an Elk Hunt Elinore Pruitt Stewart
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Just before dinner time I donned a becoming gown to chirk up my courage, groped my way down the long, dim stairs, and telephoned to Von Gerhard.
Dawn O'Hara, the Girl Who Laughed Edna Ferber 1926
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Now, you chirk up, Boston, and smile and try to be a good sport, or I'll work you over and make a man out of you.
The Long Chance 1918
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Five dollars would make me chirk up; ten would start a slight smile; twenty would put a beam in mine eye; fifty would cause me to utter shrill cries of unadulterated joys and a hundred would inspire me to actions like unto those of a whirling dervish.
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Not that anyone in particular expected "them poor Hayneses" to keep bright or "chirk up."
The Best Short Stories of 1917 and the Yearbook of the American Short Story Various 1915
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And such was the power of mercury and mind combined over matter that he would immediately chirk up and feel warm.
Europe Revised 1910
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It's only when you come she seems to chirk up a bit.
Anne of Avonlea 1909
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We were in the very centre of a prairie-dog town, but before I could formulate in my mind the probabilities of holes and broken legs, the chirk, chirk, chirking had fallen astern.
Arizona Nights Stewart Edward White 1909
fbharjo commented on the word chirk
chirk What a cheerful word!
December 27, 2006
qms commented on the word chirk
The imps of the silly will work
And times meant for tears they will chirk.
At loved ones' last parting
You imagine them farting
And struggle to stifle your smirk.
June 16, 2015