mark

Less common meanings

18. 18
    model versionnouncountable

    A particular design or model of a manufactured item, now usually specified with a following numeral.

    Early marks of the tank broke down often, but later ones proved far more reliable in the field.

    Collectors pay far more for the Mark I than for any later version of the camera.

    UsageIn a model name it is capitalized and comes before the number: Mark I, Mark II.

    Similarmodel, version, type

    Note

    A manufacturer's word that now appears mostly as a label in front of a number: Mark I, Mark II, or spoken aloud, mark two. Even without the numeral, as in the aircraft's later mark, it names a revision of one design rather than a different product.

19. 19
    targetnouncountable

    An object aimed at and shot at with a projectile such as an arrow or bullet.

    Every arrow struck the mark dead center.

    The gunner adjusted his aim until the shells found their mark.

    UsageMostly in set phrases: a shot finds its mark or goes wide of the mark. For the object itself, say target.

    Similartarget

    Note

    An archer's word long before it was a gunner's. Francis Grose, writing in 1786, describes young archers who were forbidden to shoot at any "standing mark" except when shooting at a rover, and then the mark had to change with every shot. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • The target sense of mark predates English gunnery: it is attested from the thirteenth century. en.wiktionary.org
    • European firearms appeared later than the medieval target sense, supporting the stated chronology. en.wikipedia.org
    • Grose's A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons bears the publication date 1786. archive.org
    • Grose describes archers under twenty-four being restricted to roving marks, changed after every shot; standing mark is his wording. archive.org
20. 20
    nouncountable

    The line that shows where an athlete starts, as at the beginning of a race.

    After the false start, the sprinters walked back to the mark and settled into their blocks again.

    The swimmers took their marks on the edge of the pool.

    UsageRunners take their marks, and the starter calls on your marks or on your mark.

    Similarline

    Note

    The starting line of a race, the place a runner or swimmer returns to before the start. Athletes take their marks, and when a start is recalled the field goes back to the mark and settles again. Because it names an exact spot, the word suits sprinting and swimming, where a start is made from a fixed line rather than in a pack. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • Mark can mean the line indicating an athlete's starting point. en.wiktionary.org
    • Runners take their starting positions in response to the command on your marks. worldathletics.org
    • This applies when a start is recalled. In swimming, if the starting signal has sounded before disqualification is declared, the race continues and the offending swimmer is disqualified afterward. resources.fina.org
    • Sprint runners start from fixed positions in their allocated lanes. worldathletics.org
    • Pool swimmers take fixed starting positions before the start. resources.fina.org
21. 21
    con victimnouncolloquialcountable

    A gullible person chosen as the target or intended victim of a swindle or con game.

    The grifters identified a lonely retiree as the perfect mark.

    Every good con depends on keeping the mark convinced until the final payout.

    UsageOften an easy mark, and it can be graded: such a mark, this big a mark.

    Similarsucker, dupe, victim, patsy, target

    Note

    The victim is seen from the con artist's side. The word is countable and even gradable: a shell game lets a criminal "rip off many marks", and in The White Lotus (2022) a father asks his son how he will make it in life if he is "this big a mark." John Bolton's 2020 memoir uses it of a head of state, so it reaches well beyond street crime. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

    • The shell-game example contains the quotation "rip off many marks". en.wiktionary.org
    • The White Lotus episode containing the exchange aired in 2022. en.wikipedia.org
    • Dominic Di Grasso asks Albie how he will make it in life, using the exact phrase "this big a mark". en.wiktionary.org
    • The characters in that exchange are father and son. en.wikipedia.org
    • John Bolton's memoir The Room Where It Happened was published in 2020. simonandschuster.com
    • Bolton uses "mark" of Donald Trump, supporting the example outside street crime. en.wiktionary.org
22. 22
    nouncountable

    An official entry made in the record kept on a person's conduct or performance.

    A single disciplinary mark stayed on her file for years.

    Missing the deadline left a black mark on his otherwise spotless employment record.

    UsageThe offense follows for (a mark for lateness). A bad one is often a black mark on a record.

    Similardemerit, strike

    Note

    The Chicago Board of Education's annual report of 1871 shows this disciplinary sense in schools: pupils made strenuous efforts to avoid "a mark for tardiness or for absence", which most of them counted a disgrace. The sense leans negative, closer to a black mark than to a score for good work. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The report contains the exact wording "a mark for tardiness or for absence". en.wiktionary.org
    • The quoted passage says most pupils regarded such a mark as disgraceful and made strenuous efforts to avoid it. en.wiktionary.org
23. 23
    lasting harmverbfigurativelytransitive

    To cause lasting harm to someone or something.

    Losing his father at such a young age marked him deeply, and he struggled with trust for years.

    Such early hardships can mark a child well into adulthood.

    UsageSay marked by an experience and marked with a feeling: marked by war, marked with guilt.

    Similarscar, taint, stain, blight, damage

    Note

    The damage moves from a surface into a life. In The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck writes that a man's grief "had marked him with guilt and shame", and Octavia Butler's narrator asks what a man would be like "unmarked by horror." The adjective unmarked works the same way, describing someone untouched by such harm. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath describes a man's bereavement and isolation as having marked him with guilt and shame. fadedpage.com
    • The words "unmarked by horror" occur in a question in Octavia Butler's fiction. en.wiktionary.org
24. 24
    take noteverbtransitive

    To heed or take careful notice of something or someone.

    Mark how carefully she chooses each word.

    He bade them mark the warning signs before the storm.

    UsageToday mostly in mark my words, said before a warning. Elsewhere notice or watch is the usual word.

    Similarobserve, watch, heed

    Oppositeignore, disregard

    Note

    The verb survives in everyday speech through one imperative: mark my words, said before a warning the listener should remember. Elsewhere it now sounds dated, though it was once ordinary. Shakespeare's Benedick is told "nobody marks you", and the King James Bible of 1611 says "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright." Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • Benedick is a character in a work by Shakespeare. gutenberg.org
    • Benedick is told "nobody marks you"; the speaker is Beatrice. gutenberg.org
    • The King James Bible was first published in 1611. en.wikipedia.org
    • The King James Bible contains the quoted wording, in Psalm 37:37. en.wikisource.org
25. 25
    German moneynounhistoricalcountable

    Any of several former currencies of Germany, including the Deutsche Mark of West and later unified Germany and the mark of East Germany.

    The shopkeeper counted out the change in marks and pfennigs.

    Aus der Geschichte der menschlichen Dummheit. By Dr. Max Kemmerich. Price 3 mark 50 pfennige. Bavaria: Verlag Albert Langen, Munich.

    1928, “Reviews”, in The Occult Review

    UsageThe plural is marks, but after a number mark is also found: ten mark.

    SimilarDeutschmark

    Note

    The currency has its own etymology: it comes from German Mark, and the identical plural came with it. That is why a 1928 review in The Occult Review prices a book at "3 mark 50 pfennige." The old English and Scottish money called a mark descends from the same West Germanic word, but through Old English. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • The German-currency sense was borrowed from German Mark, including its unchanged plural. en.wiktionary.org
    • A 1928 review in The Occult Review gives a book's price as "3 mark 50 pfennige." en.wiktionary.org
    • The quoted price is reproduced accurately. en.wiktionary.org
    • The older English and Scottish monetary word and German Mark share the reconstructed ancestor Proto-West Germanic *mark; the English and Scots forms descend through Old English. en.wiktionary.org
26. 26
    verbtransitive

    When defending, to stay close to an opponent who does not have the ball so that the opponent cannot easily receive a pass.

    Our defenders have to mark their strikers tightly on every corner kick.

    Nobody was marking the tall forward, and he headed the cross straight into the net.

    Similarguard, cover

    Note

    The defender's basic job in ball games such as soccer and hockey. A player can mark one opponent wherever that opponent goes, or cover whoever comes into an area, and defenders are told to mark tightly at corners. An attacker no one is covering is unmarked, and a free header from an unmarked forward is the classic sign that the marking failed. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Marking an opponent to prevent a reception is a defensive task in hockey. fih.hockey
    • Football defenders can mark an individual opponent or defend an area and mark opponents entering it. en.wikipedia.org
    • Tight marking is used when defending corners. fifatrainingcentre.com
    • An unmarked attacker can obtain a free header when defensive coverage breaks down. fifatrainingcentre.com
27. 27
    verbCanadaUKtransitive

    To check a school assignment or exam for correctness and assign it a score.

    Lecturers mark the scripts against a detailed rubric.

    Examiners marked the papers anonymously this term.

    UsageIn American use the usual word is grade; the person who marks is a marker.

    Similargrade, score

    Note

    The verb is so tied to homework that a 2024 article in RAIL could promise that a rail body "will not be marking its own homework", meaning it will not judge its own performance. The matching noun is the score itself. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The cited RAIL article appeared in 2024. en.wiktionary.org
    • The article uses the quoted wording about GBR, Great British Railways. en.wiktionary.org
28. 28
    symbol of honornouncountable

    An emblem or badge that signifies honor, rank, or the holding of an office.

    The sash he wore was a mark of his office.

    Knights bore special marks of honor on their shields.

    Similarbadge, emblem, symbol, sign, token

29. 29
    keep countverbtransitive or intransitive

    To keep account of something; to enumerate and register, or to keep score.

    She didn't feel like playing darts, so she spent the evening marking for the others and chalking up their scores.

    Someone has to mark while the rest of us play.

    Similarrecord, register, tally, log, score

    Note

    A scorekeeper's verb from billiards and card games, and one that can stand without an object. In Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad (1869), "Dan was to mark while the doctor and I played." With an object, you mark the points. Used alone, to mark is to be the person keeping score. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • Mark Twain wrote The Innocents Abroad, first published in 1869. gutenberg.org
    • The quoted sentence occurs in The Innocents Abroad as narration describing Dan's role during a billiards game. gutenberg.org
30. 30
    verbtransitive

    To pick out or destine a person for a particular end or purpose.

    The spy knew that once the regime decided to mark him for death, no border would keep him safe.

    From her first season, the club's coaches had marked her for the captaincy.

    UsageUsually mark someone for something: marked for death, marked for the captaincy.

    Similartarget, destine

    Note

    A grave, often fateful choosing, usually built as mark someone for something. Chapman's Iliad has a king who has "markt for his hate" a lesser man, and Saul Bellow's Mr. Sammler's Planet (1970) says humankind "marks certain people for death". It can be hopeful too (marked for the captaincy), and mark out, destine and target come close in meaning. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • George Chapman's translation of the Iliad contains the quoted wording about a king choosing an inferior man for his hatred. en.wiktionary.org
    • Saul Bellow wrote Mr. Sammler's Planet, first published in 1970. en.wikipedia.org
    • The novel contains the exact phrase “marks certain people for death”, with humankind as its subject. en.wiktionary.org
31. 31
    nounUKIrelandcountable

    A numbered level on the scale used to set the temperature of a gas oven.

    Roast the chicken at mark 5, then turn the heat down for the last twenty minutes.

    Bake the pie at gas mark 6 for about forty minutes, until the crust is golden.

    UsageThe number comes after: gas mark 6, at mark 5.

    Note

    Many gas ovens use a dial numbered in gas marks, so a recipe may say mark 5 or mark 8 instead of naming a temperature in degrees. The number always follows the word, and careful recipes give both settings, as in "450 degrees Fahrenheit, or mark 8", so that cooks with electric ovens can follow along. Older family recipes may give only the mark. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Some gas ovens use gas-mark dials; others have controls set directly in degrees. Gas marks are principally a British, Irish and Commonwealth convention. lg.com
    • Gas marks 5 and 8 are actual oven settings, and mark 8 corresponds to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. support.aeg.co.uk
    • Recipes can give both degree temperatures and gas-mark settings for different oven types. be-ro.co.uk
    • Older recipes may specify gas marks alone. edmondscooking.co.nz
32. 32
    nouncountable

    In rugby and Australian rules football, a clean catch made directly from a kick, untouched on the way, that earns the catcher a free kick.

    The forward took a strong mark in front of goal and lined up his shot.

    Two contested marks late in the game swung the match their way.

    Similarcatch

    Note

    A catch that is rewarded rather than just completed: the player who takes it earns a free kick, which is why football commentary counts marks the way cricket counts catches. Players take a mark, and one fought for in the air is a contested mark. The same word serves as a verb for making the catch, which is quite different from marking an opponent in soccer. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • In rugby, claiming a mark earns the catcher a free kick. passport.world.rugby
    • In Australian rules football, taking a mark earns the catcher a free kick. en.wikipedia.org
    • Marks are counted in football statistics and reporting. afc.com.au
    • Catches are counted in cricket statistics and reporting. icc-cricket.com
33. 33
    nounobsolete

    The edge or line dividing one territory from another.
34. 34
    nounobsolete

    A post, stake, or fence set up to show where a property or territory ends.
35. 35
    noun

    A post or stone set by a road or path to show where one is and help people find their way.
36. 36
    nounarchaic

    A small territory or minor princedom, often on a frontier, such as Brandenburg in medieval Germany.

    There dwells Théoden son of Thengel, King of the Mark of Rohan.

    1954, J R R Tolkien, The Two Towers
37. 37
    noun

    In early Germanic society, the shared fields and woods owned jointly by a village.
38. 38
    noun

    A brand or sign set on a person's body, as a token of ownership, shame, or belonging.
39. 39
    nounobsolete

    A likeness or image of something.
40. 40
    nounobsolete

    The vulva.

    A mark saies my Lady. Let the mark haue a prick in't, to meate at, if it may be.

    c. 1595, William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”
41. 41
    nounarchaic

    High rank or distinction, as in a family of great standing.
42. 42
    noun

    A defining quality that sets one thing apart from others of its kind.
43. 43
    noun

    One of the strips of leather or colored cloth tied at set fathom intervals along a sounding line to show depth.
44. 44
    nounarchaic

    Heed or observation, as in a remark worthy of note.
45. 45
    noun

    Distinction or importance, usually placed after a noun with "of" to describe a person of real standing.
46. 46
    nounobsolete

    Esteem or high regard for someone.
47. 47
    nounslang

    A wrestling fan who insists that professional matches are real contests and not staged, used mockingly.
48. 48
    verbdated

    To notice something by seeing, hearing, or another sense.

    Some of them [the Animals] coming forward near the place where I lay, gave me an opportunity of distinctly marking their Form.

    1726, [Jonathan Swift], Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. [Gulliver’s Travels]
49. 49
    verb

    To keep someone in view, watching where they are.
50. 50
    verb

    To enter in a record that someone is in some state, such as present or absent.
51. 51
    verb

    In Australian rules football, to take a clean catch from a kick that has traveled at least 15 meters untouched, earning a free kick.
52. 52
    verb

    In golf, to set down a small marker where one's ball lies before picking it up.
53. 53
    verb

    In a rehearsal, to sing quietly, sometimes an octave down, to save one's voice.
54. 54
    noun

    An old unit of weight equal to half a pound, about 227 grams.
55. 55
    noun

    A comparable weight of about half a pound in other countries, used mostly to weigh precious metals.

    As a reward for his poetry, Athelstan gave Egil two more gold rings weighing a mark each, along with an expensive cloak that the king himself had worn.

    1997, “Egil's Saga”, in Bernard Scudder
56. 56
    noun

    A former unit of account in England and Scotland worth 13 shillings and 4 pence, two-thirds of a pound, notionally a mark weight of silver.

    He had been made a royal counsellor, drawing a substantial annual salary of a hundred marks.

    2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King
57. 57
    noun

    Various other old moneys valued, in theory, at a mark's weight of precious metal.
58. 58
    verb

    A form of march used in spoken drill commands, as in "Quick, mark!"