lark
Preserved but no longer current.
A frolic, a joke; "let’s have a jolly good LARK," let us have a piece of fun.—Anglo-Saxon, LAC, sport; but more probably from the nautical term SKYLARKING, i.e., mounting to the highest yards and sliding down the ropes for amusement, which is allowed on certain occasions.
Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “lark” mean?
A frolic, a joke; "let’s have a jolly good LARK," let us have a piece of fun.—Anglo-Saxon, LAC, sport; but more probably from the nautical term SKYLARKING, i.e., mounting to the highest yards and sliding down the ropes for amusement, which is allowed on certain occasions.
Is “lark” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.