murk

¹

or mirk

[ murk ]

noun

1. darkness; gloom:

   the murk of a foggy night.

adjective

1. Archaic. dark; murky.

murk

²

[ murk ]

verb (used with object)

1. Slang. a variant of merk ¹( def ).

murk

¹

/ mɜːk /

noun

1. gloomy darkness

adjective

1. an archaic variant of murky

murk

²

/ mɜːk /

verb

1. to murder (a person)
2. to defeat (a team) convincingly

Word History and Origins

Origin of murk¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English mirke, myrke, from Old Norse myrkr “dark, darkness,” replacing Old English myrce “dark”

Origin of murk²

First recorded in 2005–10

Word History and Origins

Origin of murk¹

C13: probably from Old Norse myrkr darkness; compare Old English mirce dark

Origin of murk²

C20: of unknown origin

Example Sentences

The murk and mizzle kept the players off for almost three hours, though the break did little to stall England's momentum.

From BBC

By then, when the flat gray murk of Steve Annis’ cinematography and Robin Brown’s production design have dulled your senses, you’ll be hungry for stunts and what a samurai sword can do.

From Los Angeles Times

Maybe it’s better to refrain from pondering the road ahead, which looks dark enough with or without Stewart and other late-night hosts shepherding us through the murk.

From Salon

There are pinholes in the murk, apertures such as the Instagram feeds of Gaza photographers and a small number of testimonies that slip through.

From New York Times

They’d already captured footage of a few larger great whites, but then something completely unexpected drifted up out of the murk.

From National Geographic