Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Bible The chest containing the Ten Commandments written on stone tablets, carried by the Hebrews during their desert wanderings.
  • noun Judaism The Holy Ark.
  • noun Bible The boat built by Noah for survival during the Flood.
  • noun Nautical A large, commodious boat.
  • noun A shelter or refuge.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To inclose in an ark.
  • noun A chest, box, coffer, or other close receptacle; a bin or hutch: as, a meal-ark.
  • noun In Scripture: The repository of the covenant or tables of the law.
  • noun The large floating vessel in which, according to the account in the Old Testament, Noah and his family were preserved during the deluge.
  • noun The vessel of bulrushes in which the infant Moses was laid.
  • noun In the Ethiopic Ch., a sacred chest, called the tabout, serving as an altar.
  • noun A large boat used on western American rivers to transport produce to market.
  • noun In zoology, a name common to the bivalve mollusks of the family Arcidœ; an ark-shell.
  • noun An Arabian measure of capacity, equal to the Spanish fanega, or 58 quarts; also, a measure of three fourths of this capacity, or 43 quarts.
  • noun An old spelling of arc, a bow, arch.

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

  • noun obsolete A chest, or coffer.
  • noun (Jewish Hist.) The oblong chest of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, which supported the mercy seat with its golden cherubs, and occupied the most sacred place in the sanctuary. In it Moses placed the two tables of stone containing the ten commandments. Called also the Ark of the Covenant.
  • noun The large, chestlike vessel in which Noah and his family were preserved during the Deluge. Gen. vi. Hence: Any place of refuge.
  • noun A large flatboat used on Western American rivers to transport produce to market.

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

  • noun A large box with a flat lid.
  • noun Judaism, Christianity, Islam The ship built by Noah to save his family and a collection of animals from the deluge.
  • noun Something affording protection; safety, shelter, refuge
  • noun A spacious type of boat with a flat bottom.
  • noun Judaism A consecrated container.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a boat built by Noah to save his family and animals from the flood
  • noun (Judaism) sacred chest where the ancient Hebrews kept the two tablets containing the Ten Commandments

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English arc, from Germanic *arka, from Latin arca, chest.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old English ærc, from Latin arca ("chest, box, coffer"), from arcere ("to keep").

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Examples

  • Water saving projects Fire hydrant line above the ground Before After Water Saving: 250 m3 leakage losses eliminated Investment: 40 Lacks Global Norms/Bench mark Benchmarks for S pecific Water Cons um ption Nation al International MPCB Benchm ark * Benchm ark* Benchm ark**

    Recently Uploaded Slideshows 2009

  • The word ark means a “box” or a “chest,” but the ark of God was no ordinary box.

    The Shepherd’s Song Dr. Lynn Anderson 1996

  • The word ark means a “box” or a “chest,” but the ark of God was no ordinary box.

    The Shepherd’s Song Dr. Lynn Anderson 1996

  • The word ark means a “box” or a “chest,” but the ark of God was no ordinary box.

    The Shepherd’s Song Dr. Lynn Anderson 1996

  • If the ark is actually a giant spaceship and Noah is played by Diora Baird in a thin t-shirt, I'm so on board for this.

    Darren Aronofsky’s Noah | /Film 2008

  • Just above them are placed a great number of the pieces of wood; and it was also here, where the _maro_, and the other bundle supposed to contain the god Ooro (and which I call the ark), were laid during the ceremony, a circumstance which denotes its agreement with the altar of other nations.

    A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 16 Robert Kerr 1784

  • The ark is 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 cubits wide.

    November | 2009 | My[confined]Space 2009

  • The ark is 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 cubits wide.

    Working Replica of Noah’s Ark | My[confined]Space 2009

  • Their meager ark is a decrepit shopping cart filled with muddy blankets and morsels they share amongst themselves and rarely with strangers.

    Current Movie Reviews, Independent Movies - Film Threat 2009

  • An ark is a house-boat of small though comfortable dimensions, and is as necessary to the Upper Bay fisherman as are nets and boats.

    The King of the Greeks 2010

Comments

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  • Thomas Keneally: Schindler's Ark

    Published as Schindler's List

    (this was also the title of the movie adaptation)

    March 12, 2008

  • Look, "list" isn't awful; Schindler does indeed keep a list. But "ark" has so many more layers of resonance.

    March 12, 2008