skulk

Etymology

From Middle English skulken, of North Germanic origin; compare Danish skulke (“shirk”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /skʌlk/
• Rhymes: -ʌlk

Noun

skulk (plural skulks)

1. A group of foxes.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Wright to this entry?)

2. One who skulks; a skulker.

Verb

skulk (third-person singular simple present skulks, present participle skulking, simple past and past participle skulked)

1. to conceal oneself; to hide
   • Dryden

     Discovered and defeated of your prey, / You skulked behind the fence, and sneaked away.

   • 1852, Charles Dickens, Bleak House, chapter 26

     Behind dingy blind and curtain, in upper story and garret, skulking more or less under false names, false hair, false titles, false jewellery, and false histories, a colony of brigands lie in their first sleep.

2. to sneak around, sneak about
   • 1904, Paul Laurence Dunbar, The Lynching Of Jube Benson

     Fully a dozen of the citizens had seen him hastening toward the woods and noted his skulking air [...]

3. to shirk; to avoid obligation