skylark

From sky +‎ lark.

Verb sense 1809, originally nautical, possibly influenced by northern English dialectal term lake/laik (“to play”) (from Old Norse leika (“to play (as opposed to work)”)); see lark for details.[1]

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈskʌɪ.lɑːk/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈskaɪ.lɑɹk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

skylark (plural skylarks)

1. A small brown passerine bird, Alauda arvensis, that sings as it flies high into the air.

• Eurasian skylark (Alauda arvensis)
• Japanese skylark (Alauda japonica)
• oriental skylark (Alauda gulgula)

skylark (third-person singular simple present skylarks, present participle skylarking, simple past and past participle skylarked)

1. (dated, originally nautical) To jump about joyfully, frolic; to play around, play tricks.
   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 5:

     I cherished no malice towards him, though he had been skylarking with me not a little in the matter of my bedfellow.

• skylarker
• skylarking

• Google Ngram Viewer: "skylark, skylarking"

  Peak usage 1900—1925, steady decline thereafter.

• Cultural Studies Review, October 2008, p. 40:

  "...'skylarking' is a somewhat outmoded term..."