mark

noun

1. (obsolete)Boundary, land within a boundary.
2. (obsolete)Boundary, land within a boundary.
3. Boundary, land within a boundary.

   “I do remember a great thron in Yatton field near Bristow-way, against which Sir William Waller's men made a great fire and killed it. I think the stump remains, and was a mark for travellers.”

4. (archaic)Boundary, land within a boundary.

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

5. (historical)Boundary, land within a boundary.
6. Characteristic, sign, visible impression.

   “depend upon it, you will speedily receive from me a letter of thanks for this as well as for every other mark of your regard during my stay in Hertfordshire.”

7. Characteristic, sign, visible impression.

   “A good sense of manners is the mark of a true gentleman.”

   “there is surely a physiognomy, which those experienced and master mendicants observe, whereby they instantly discover a merciful aspect, and will single out a face, wherein they spy the signatures and marks of mercy.”

8. Characteristic, sign, visible impression.

   “Then she put before her face her poor crushed hands, which bore on their whiteness the red mark of the Count's terrible grip[…].”

9. Characteristic, sign, visible impression.

   “Doubt not of thine election, it is an immutable decree; a mark never to be defaced: you have been otherwise, you may and shall be.”

10. Characteristic, sign, visible impression.

    “The font wasn't able to render all the diacritical marks properly.”

11. Characteristic, sign, visible impression.

    “With eggs, you need to check for the quality mark before you buy.”

    “But vvhat a vvretched, and diſconſolate Hermitage is that Houſe, vvhich is not viſited by thee [God], and vvhat a VVayue, and Stray is that Man, that hath not thy Markes vpon him?”

    “The mark of the artisan is found upon the most ancient fabrics that have come to light.”

12. (obsolete)Characteristic, sign, visible impression.
13. Characteristic, sign, visible impression.

    “I am proud to present my patented travelator, mark two.”

14. (Commonwealth)Characteristic, sign, visible impression.

    “What mark did you get in your history test?”

15. Indicator of position, objective etc.

    “A skilfull archer ought first to know the marke he aimeth at, and then apply his hand, his bow, his string, his arrow and his motion accordingly.”

    “To give them an accurate eye and strength of arm, none under twenty-four years of age might shoot at any standing mark, except it was for a rover, and then he was to change his mark at every shot; and no person above that age might shoot at any mark whose distance was less than eleven score yards.”

16. Indicator of position, objective etc.

    “I filled the bottle up to the 500ml mark.”

17. (informal)Indicator of position, objective etc.

    “Another common form of short con is the shell game. This scam has the advantage of giving the criminal the ability to rip off many marks all at one location.”

    “[Xi Jinping] asked for Trump's personal attention to the issue, probably figuring he had identified his mark and wasn't going to let him get away.”

    “Dominic Di Grasso (Michael Imperioli): How are you gonna make it in life if you're this big a mark? Albie Di Grasso (Adam DiMarco): I'm not a mark.”

18. Indicator of position, objective etc.
19. (obsolete)Indicator of position, objective etc.

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

    “her thighs were still spread, and the mark lay fair for him, who, now kneeling between them, displayed to us a side-view of that fierce erect machine of his[…].”

20. Indicator of position, objective etc.
21. Indicator of position, objective etc.
22. Indicator of position, objective etc.
23. Indicator of position, objective etc.

    “A mark for tardiness or for absence is considered by most pupils a disgrace, and strenuous efforts are made to avoid such a mark.”

24. Indicator of position, objective etc.

    “Now put the pastry in at 450 degrees, or mark 8.”

25. Indicator of position, objective etc.

    “The Mark I system had poor radar, and the Mark II was too expensive; regardless, most antiaircraft direction remained the responsibility of the Mark I Eyeball (as the jocular phrase calls it): that is, the operator's eye.”

26. Indicator of position, objective etc.

    “to be within the mark”

    “to come up to the mark”

27. Indicator of position, objective etc.

    “In the official marks invested, you / Anon do meet the Senate.”

28. (archaic)Indicator of position, objective etc.

    “patricians of mark”

    “a fellow of no mark”

29. Indicator of position, objective etc.
30. Indicator of position, objective etc.
31. Attention.

    “But faults so countenanced, that the strong statutes Stand like the forfeits in a barber's shop, as much in mock as mark”

32. (archaic)Attention.

    “His last comment is particularly worthy of mark.”

33. Attention.

    “in the short story of western flavor he was a pioneer of mark, the founder of a genre: probably no other writer is so significant in his field.”

34. (obsolete)Attention.
35. (historical)A half pound, a traditional unit of mass equivalent to 226.8 g.
36. (historical)Similar half-pound units in other measurement systems, chiefly used for gold and silver.

    “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.”

37. (historical)A half pound, a former English and Scottish currency equivalent to 13 shillings and fourpence and notionally equivalent to a mark of sterling silver.

    “George, on receiving it, instantly rose from the side of one of them, and said, in the hearing of them all, ‘I will bet a hundred merks that is Drummond.’”

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

38. (historical)Other similar currencies notionally equal to a mark of silver or gold.
39. (historical)A former currency of Germany and West Germany.

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

40. (abbreviation, alt-of)Abbreviation of Markarian.

verb

1. To put a mark on (something); to make (something) recognizable by a mark; to label or write on (something).

   “to mark a box or bale of merchandise”

   “to mark clothing with one's name”

   “[I]f you drink much from a bottle marked “poison,” it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later.”

   “Her son wrote badly, as if fearful of marking the page at all.”

2. To leave a mark (often an undesirable or unwanted one) on (something).

   “See where this pencil has marked the paper.”

   “The floor was marked with wine and blood.”

   “Those Wheels returning ne’er shall mark the Plain;”

   “Advertisements are from time to time inserted, stating that slaves have escaped […] marked with the lash, branded with red-hot irons, the initials of their master’s name burned into their flesh;”

3. (figuratively)To have a long-lasting negative impact on (someone or something).

   “The death of his wife, followed by months of being alone, had marked him with guilt and shame and had left an unbreaking loneliness on him.”

   “What Uncle Marc had been through as a slave marked him, I’m sure, but I don’t know how much. How can you know what a man would be like if he had grown up unmarked by horror?”

   “It is time the international community faced the reality: we have an unmanageable, unfair, distortionary global tax regime. It is a tax system that is pivotal in creating the increasing inequality that marks most advanced countries today […].”

4. To create an indication of (a location).

   “She folded over the corner of the page to mark where she left off reading.”

   “Some animals mark their territory by urinating.”

5. To be an indication of (something); to show where (something) is located.

   “This monument marks the spot where Wolfe died.”

   “A bell marked the end of visiting hours.”

   “And where the jolly Troop [of elves and fairies] had led the round The Grass unbidden rose, and mark’d the Ground:”

   “She gave her an answer which marked her contempt, and instantly left the room,”

   “[…] the cloth was laid for him […] and a plate laid thereon to mark that the table was retained,”

6. To indicate (something) in writing or by other symbols.

   “Prices are marked on individual items.”

   “In her Bible, the words of Christ were marked in red.”

   “[…] it was in the middle of May, on the sixteenth Day I think, as well as my poor wooden Calendar would reckon; for I markt all upon the Post still;”

   ““What does the clock mark now?” “Eight minutes to seven.””

7. To create (a mark) on a surface.

   “[…] on opening it [the handkerchief], I saw an S mark’d in one of the corners.”

   “I mark this cross of blood upon you, as a sign that I do it.”

   “[…] I was testing a stack of old whitewalls, dunking them in the water and marking a yellow chalk circle around each leak.”

8. To celebrate or acknowledge (an event) through an action of some kind.

   “The national holiday is marked by fireworks.”

   “It was only four thirty but Gerald was marking his guests’ arrival with a Pimm’s, […]”

9. To identify (someone as a particular type of person or as having a particular role).

   “His courage and energy marked him as a leader.”

   “[…] the son approached her with a cheerful eagerness which marked her as his peculiar object,”

   “The black dress, gold cross on the watch-chain, the hairless face, and the soft, black wideawake hat would have marked him as a holy man anywhere in all India.”

   “His long thin falling-away cheekbones marked him as a member of either the Xhosa or Zulu tribe.”

   “Enquiring about the movement of trains—even if you were a passenger on one—could mark you as a saboteur.”

10. To assign (someone) to a particular category or class.

    “The new captain would read the fitness report and mark him once and for all as an unreliable fool […]”

11. To choose or intend (someone) for a particular end or purpose.

    “When a king, hath once markt for his hate, / A man inferior; […] / […] euermore, he rakes vp in his brest, / Brands of quicke anger;”

    “[…] I know now that humankind marks certain people for death.”

12. To be a point in time or space at which something takes place; to accompany or be accompanied by (an event, action, etc.); to coincide with.

    “The creek marks the boundary between the two farms.”

    “That summer marked the beginning of her obsession with cycling.”

    “[…] we hastened toward the bordering desert which marked our entrance into the realm of Tal Hajus.”

    “Although the Second World War marked a turning away from inorganic chemicals as pesticides into the wonder world of the carbon molecule, a few of the old materials persist.”

    “My grandfather’s short employ at the Ford Motor Company marked the only time any Stephanides has ever worked in the automobile industry.”

13. To be typical or characteristic of (something).

    “[…] he still retained that simple, unostentatious elegance, that marks the man of real fashion—”

    ““Ah,” replied Roger Chillingworth, with that quietness which […] marked all his deportment,”

    “[…] Cyril’s attitude to his mother was marked by a certain benevolent negligence”

14. To distinguish (one person or thing from another).

    “Indeed the smoke was such they scarce could mark Their friends from foes,”

    “Despite their obvious differences these poets had a common view of life which marks them from their predecessors […]”

    “Each day was so like the day before, and Christmas Day, when it came, would not have anything to mark it from all the others.”

15. To focus one's attention on (something or someone); to pay attention to, to take note of.

    “Mark my words: that boy’s up to no good.”

    “More are men’s ends mark’d than their lives before:”

    “I wonder that you will still be talking, Signior Benedick: nobody marks you.”

    “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.”

    “When they had passed out of the wood into the pasture-land beyond, Ruth once more turned to mark him.”

16. (dated)To become aware of (something) through the physical senses.

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

    “He bent his eyes involuntarily upon the father as he spoke, and marked his uneasiness, for he coloured directly and turned his head away.”

    “1881, John Bascom, “Improvements in Language” in The Western: A Journal of Literature, Education, and Art, New Series, Volume 7, No. 6, December, 1881, p. 499, […] it is to be remembered that a poor speller is a poor pronouncer. The ear does not mark the sound any more exactly than the eye marks the letters.”

    “Helm had a great horn, and soon it was marked that before he sallied forth he would blow a blast upon it that echoed in the Deep;”

17. To hold (someone) in one's line of sight.

    “I marked my man, standing on the catwalk, and waited to throw [my javelin] till he started to climb inboard before they rammed.”

18. (Canada, UK)To indicate the correctness of and give a score to (a school assignment, exam answers, etc.).

    “The teacher had to spend her weekend marking all the tests.”

    “Under the proposals, an assurance is given that GBR (in the words of the plan) will not be marking its own homework.”

19. To record that (someone) has a particular status.

    “to mark a student absent.”

20. (intransitive, transitive)To keep account of; to enumerate and register; to keep score.

    “to mark the points in a game of billiards or a card game”

    “Dan was to mark while the doctor and I played [billiards].”

21. To follow a player not in possession of the ball when defending, to prevent them receiving a pass easily.
22. To catch the ball directly from a kick of 15 metres or more without having been touched in transit, resulting in a free kick.
23. To put a marker in the place of one's ball.
24. To sing softly, sometimes an octave lower than usual, in order to protect one's voice during a rehearsal.
25. (alt-of, alternative, imperative)Alternative form of march.

    “Mark time, mark!”

    “Forward, mark!”

name

1. (countable, uncountable)A male given name from Latin.

   “"And your name?" she said, "I suppose it's quite unremarkable?" "Very funny." "Mark. It could stand as a symbol of a man, for men as a category," she reflected, "but I don't suppose that's why your mother gave it to you?" "My mother's motives always were impenetrable to me. I was her only child, she wanted a simple life. So she gave me a simple name to go along with it. --- It wasn't a popular name until the nineteenth century. People were put off by King Mark in the Tristram and Iseult."”

   “One Nation, a new 501(c)4 linked to the Karl-Rove-backed American Crossroads super PAC, is spending more than $1.9 million on print, radio and digital ads highlighting the efforts of Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk, North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey to pass the “doc fix” legislation that realigned payments to Medicare providers with inflation.”

2. (countable, uncountable)A surname.
3. (countable, uncountable)Mark the Evangelist, also called John Mark, the first patriarch of Alexandria, credited with the authorship of the Gospel of Mark.

   “And Barnabas was determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark. But Paul thought it not good to take him with them, who departed from them in Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work. And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder from the other; and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed to Cyprus.”

4. (countable, uncountable)The Gospel of St. Mark, a book of the New Testament of the Bible. Traditionally the second of the four gospels.
5. (countable, uncountable)A village and civil parish in Somerset, England, previously in Sedgemoor district (OS grid ref ST3747).