Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

bork

/boɹk/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.50 in modern English

Syllables: bork
IPA: /boɹk/

10

Scrabble Score

4

Letters

1

Syllables

4

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To defeat a person's appointment or election, judicial nomination, etc., through a concerted attack on the person's character, background, and philosophy.

American usage; Derogatory

verb

To misconfigure, break, or damage, especially a computer or other complex device.

Slang; Transitive verb

verb

To become broken or damaged, especially of a computer or other complex device.

Intransitive verb; Slang

noun

The bald notothen or bald rockcod (Pagothenia borchgrevinki), a species of cod icefish (Nototheniidae) native to the Southern Ocean.

Informal

noun

The sound that a dog makes.

Humorous

verb

Of a dog, to bark.

Humorous

verb

To boink; to have sex with.

Slang

verb

To retch or vomit.

Slang

Example Sentences

"In light of the current furor over trying to appoint a new Supreme Court justice, I would like to submit a new verb in the English language. Three forms would be "to bork," "borking," and "borked." This would describe the act of partisan political character assassination."
"George [H. W.] Bush will almost certainly have an opportunity to nominate one or more justices. It would be a pity for all of us if they are subjected to the treatment accorded Robert Bork. Honest disagreement is one thing; "borking" is something else."
"I feel strongly that he [Senator John Tower] is being borked. … The charges that have been leveled at him have all proved groundless, baseless."
"In other words, I am intentionally borking the headline writer, for no other reason than to make my point with greater force."
"After an eight-year hiatus, these groups are back on the scene, ready to implement an apparent vicious strategy of Borking any judicial nominee who happens to disagree with their view of how the world should be."
"[Stephen L.] Carter believes that liberals seem to think that only conservatives "bork" and likewise conservatives seem to believe that only liberals "bork," but the unhappy truth is that everybody "borks"."

Etymology

A reference to the unsuccessful 1987 United States Supreme Court nomination of Robert Bork (1927–2012); first appeared in print that same year.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /boɹk/
British English: /bɔːk/

Usage

Subject

Wiktionary places this term in Computing.

Inflected Forms

borks (present, singular) borking (participle, present) borked (participle, past) borked (past) borken (participle, past) borks (plural)

Derived Forms

borking borked borkage borky

Homonyms

bork

Rhymes With

york new-york fork pork cork torque o'rourke stork yorke rourke bjork roark

Questions

How do you pronounce bork?: The recorded pronunciation is /boɹk/.
What does bork mean?: To defeat a person's appointment or election, judicial nomination, etc., through a concerted attack on the person's character, background, and philosophy.
Where does bork come from?: A reference to the unsuccessful 1987 United States Supreme Court nomination of Robert Bork (1927–2012); first appeared in print that same year.

How to pronounce bork

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “bork”.
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