barks

1. 1
   verb

   Third person singular simple present of bark.

   Our neighbor's terrier barks at every passing car.

   The sergeant barks commands across the parade ground.

   Note

   Here the -s marks a present-tense verb with a singular subject, and what follows it decides the meaning. With no object it is the animal's cry (the dog barks all night). With words as its object it is sharp speech (she barks orders). With a tree or log as its object it belongs to the tree-covering sense: a forester barks a trunk by stripping off its outer layer, or by girdling it.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of bark.

   Sharp barks rang out from the kennel as the visitors arrived.

   The herbalist sorted the dried barks by tree species.

   Note

   One spelling serves two quite different nouns: the sharp cries of a dog or fox, and the outer covering of trees. The cries count naturally (three sharp barks). Tree bark is usually a mass noun, so its plural tends to mean kinds of bark, such as an herbalist's dried barks or the cinchona barks that yield quinine. It can also mean varieties of the flat candy, like chocolate and peppermint barks. The same letters spell the present-tense verb.

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