Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A stroke; a lash.
  • To carry away or about; carry; move.
  • To drive away.
  • To beat; drub; trounce.
  • To rouse; raise up.
  • To move quickly; go off or fly out suddenly: sometimes used reflexively.
  • noun A freak; a trick.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb obsolete To beat; to strike; to chastise.
  • noun obsolete A freak; trick; quirk.
  • intransitive verb obsolete To fly out; to turn out; to go off.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A freak; trick; quirk.
  • verb transitive To carry away or about; carry; move.
  • verb transitive To drive away.
  • verb obsolete To have sexual intercourse, to copulate.
  • verb transitive To rouse; raise up.
  • verb intransitive To move quickly; go off or fly out suddenly; turn out.
  • noun A stroke; lash.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Frobably an alteration of freak.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English firken, ferken ("to proceed, hasten"), from Old English fercian ("to bring, assist, support, carry, conduct, convey, proceed"); perhaps akin to Old English faran ("to fare, go"), English fare. Cognate with Old High German fuora ("benefit, sustenance, support"), Swabian fergen, ferken ("to bring, dispatch").

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Examples

Comments

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  • v. t. 1. To beat; to strike; to chastise.

    "I'll fer him, and firk him, and ferret him."-Shakespeare.

    v. i. 1.To fly out; to turn out; to go off.

    "A wench is a rare bait, with which a man

    No sooner's taken but he straight firks mad." -B.Jonson.

    n. 1. A freak; trick; quirk.

    September 24, 2007

  • Fantastic! From Henry V.

    September 24, 2007

  • No firkin way!

    September 24, 2007

  • Remorse for his delinquencies was to be excited only by sympathy; so that whenever it became necessary to make a bloody example, my seat of vengeance was firked most unmercifully.

    - Lesage, The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane, tr. Smollett, bk 5 ch. 1

    September 19, 2008