Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An informer, especially a police informer.
- intransitive verb To be an informer.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun slang A law enforcement agent specializing in narcotics law violations.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun US, slang A narcotics law enforcement officer.
- noun UK, slang A
police spy orinformer . - verb transitive, slang To
annoy orirritate . - verb transitive, slang, often imperative To
stop . - verb intransitive, slang To
serve orbehave as a spy or informer. - verb intransitive, slang To
complain .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb inform or spy (for the police)
- noun an informer or spy working for the police
- noun a lawman concerned with narcotics violations
- verb cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word nark.
Examples
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I looked out of the spy window in the back of the cab and saw my "nark" standing staring in the middle of the road.
A Girl Among the Anarchists Isabel Meredith
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Had Johnson been a "nark" of the police he would soon have been exposed, but as he dealt with cases which never came directly into the courts, his activities were never realized by his companions.
The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir, 1859-1930 1927
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Had Johnson been a "nark" of the police he would soon have been exposed, but as he dealt with cases which never came directly into the courts, his activities were never realized by his companions.
The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir, 1859-1930 1927
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Had Johnson been a "nark" of the police he would soon have been exposed, but as he dealt with cases which never came directly into the courts, his activities were never realized by his companions.
The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir, 1859-1930 1927
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Had Johnson been a "nark" of the police he would soon have been exposed, but as he dealt with cases which never came directly into the courts, his activities were never realized by his companions.
The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir, 1859-1930 1927
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He had risen very rapidly, but from very dirty beginnings; being first a "nark" or informer, and then a money-lender: but as solicitor to the Eyres he had the sense, as I say, to keep technically straight until he was ready to deal the final blow.
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A 'nark' is an informer, a spy among criminals who sells the police whatever information he can scrape up.
The Red Triangle Being Some Further Chronicles of Martin Hewitt, Investigator Arthur Morrison 1904
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"The fear of being labelled a 'nark' … can stop prisoners from speaking up with that information."
Stuff.co.nz - Stuff 2010
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A screaming match erupted in the Hamilton District Court yesterday as a man who went on a pokie-machine burglary spree in New Plymouth early this year was labelled a "nark".
Stuff.co.nz - Stuff 2009
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A screaming match erupted in the Hamilton District Court yesterday as a man who went on a pokie-machine burglary spree in New Plymouth early this year was labelled a "nark".
Stuff.co.nz - Stuff 2009
likeflannel commented on the word nark
should this be with a q, c, or k?
i've read that it could be with any, but what is preferred?
September 18, 2009