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Jan 6, 2005

This week's theme
Words borrowed from other languages

This week's words
skookum
chaparral
bosh
nark
peri

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nark

noun:
1. An annoying person.
2. A stool pigeon or informer

verb intr.:
1. To irritate or annoy.
2. To be an informer.

[From Romany nak (nose). Ultimately from the Indo-European root nas- (nose) that is also the source of other words for nose: English nose, Hindi nak, Spanish nariz, French nez, and related words nuzzle, nostril, and nasal.]

noun: A variant of narc: a police officer involved in investigating narcotics violations.

[From shortening of narcotic.]

"He's a nark, complaining all the time."
Today's Footie Latest; The Sun (London, UK); Dec 3, 2004.

"They were going to teach the Heremaia boys a lesson - you don't nark on patched gang members."
Bridget Carter; The Short Sad Life of a Youth Who Took the Wrong Path; The New Zealand Herald (Auckland); Dec 4, 2004.

See more usage examples of nark in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

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