How to use bark in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb, noun, interjection

Bark means to make a short, loud, explosive noise with the vocal organs (said of animals, especially dogs). Example: “The neighbour's dog is always barking.”

Examples of bark by meaning

verbTo make a short, loud, explosive noise with the vocal organs (said of animals, especially dogs).

The neighbour's dog is always barking.
The seal barked as the zookeeper threw fish into its enclosure.

verbTo speak sharply.

The sergeant barked an order.
Plainly he was prepared to bark out an interminable succession of charges against the Wanderer.1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 3
“What I’m looking for,” he barked, “is to be left in peace.” His voice trembled with a rage far bigger than her intrusion merited, the rage which shocked him whenever it coursed through his nervous system, like a flood.2001, Salman Rushdie, Fury: A Novel, London: Jonathan Cape, →ISBN, page 5

nounAn abrupt loud vocal utterance.

Fox’s clumsy figure, negligently dressed in blue and buff, seemed unprepossessing; only his shaggy eyebrows added to the expression of his face; his voice would rise to a bark in excitement.c. 1921, The Cambridge History of English and American Literature, volume 11

nounThe exterior covering of the trunk and branches of a tree or of various other woody plants.

Moving about 70 miles per hour, it crashed through the sturdy old-growth trees, snapping their limbs and shredding bark from their trunks.2012 December 26, John Branch, “Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times...

nounThe crust formed on barbecued meat that has had a rub applied to it.

This softens the meat further, but at some loss of crunch to the bark.2009, Julie Reinhardt, She-Smoke: A Backyard Barbecue Book, page 151

verbTo strip the bark from; to peel.

Along the river freshly felled and barked trees told of the activity of beaver, and in slow current and in eddies the tops of their winter's food supply lay like submerged brush fences projecting above the surface.1922, A. M. Chisholm, A Thousand a Plate

verbTo abrade or rub off any outer covering from.

I barked my shins climbing the fence.
Toes were crushed, shins barked, ankles hacked.2019 May 8, Barney Ronay, “Liverpool’s waves of red fury and recklessness end in joyous bedlam”, in The Guardian

verbTo cover or enclose with bark, or as with bark.

to bark the roof of a hut

More sentences with bark

The neighbor's dog barking throughout the night is a right nuisance - I'm going to complain.From the entry nuisance
The bullet missed its target and lodged in the bark of a tree.From the entry lodge
When the neighbours' dog barked, ours instantly replied with a howl.From the entry instantly
The assistant manager was a self-important fellow who strutted about the office barking instructions.From the entry self-important
Now that the dog has stopped barking, perhaps we can at last get some rest.From the entry at last
He stirred the campfire stew with a peeled stick, so the bark wouldn't get in it.From the entry peeled
The Scolytinae are a subfamily of weevils, called the bark beetles because of their habit of phloeophagy.From the entry phloeophagy
He started recording and - right on schedule - the dogs started barking.From the entry on schedule
A busy shift with no chance to sit down even once. My dogs are barking!From the entry dogs are barking
A busy shift with no chance to sit down even once. Boy are my dogs barking!From the entry dogs are barking
Dogs may bark if they want to be fed.From the entry they
Some dogs howl; more yelp; still more bark.From the entry still
I wish I could chill out about the neighbor's barking dog, but it wakes me up every night.From the entry chill out
He’s going to run the marathon in this hot weather dressed as Donald Duck – he must be barking!From the entry barking
The dog barked at his own reflection in the mirror.From the entry reflection
The dog's incessant barking kept the girl awake all night.From the entry incessant
It's hard to sleep with the neighbors playing the radio so loud and that dog barking at all hours.From the entry at all hours
The feisty puppy barked at everyone.From the entry feisty
The investigator spent days trying to prove the butler committed the murder, but it turns out he was barking up the wrong tree.From the entry bark up the wrong tree
That pesky dog is barking again.From the entry pesky
The dog barked all night long.From the entry dog
That is the fourth time this week my neighbor's barking dog has woken me up. I'm going to go give her a piece of my mind about it.From the entry give someone a piece of one's mind
My sheepadoodle turns and runs again to the woods past the goat pen, barking.2024, Sylvia Liu, chapter 1, in Near and Deer, New York, N.Y.: Scholastic Inc., →ISBN. From the entry sheepadoodle
“It is time again for Staten Island's annual puppy parade.” “Which is always a barking good time.2023 August 3, Sarah Naftalis, “Local News” (21:24 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 5, episode 5, spoken by Nandor…. From the entry promenade
A nervous shepherd mix barked at me as a woman tried to calm it.2022 May 19, James Verini, “Surviving the Siege of Kharkiv”, in The New York Times Magazine. From the entry shepherd
We inscribe words on bark, papyri, codices, human skin (tattoos), books, magazines, bracelets, and automobiles.2020 January 29, Douglas Groothuis, “Texts, Graphics, and Culture: On the Decline of Reading and Civilization”, in Douglas Groothuis…. From the entry inscripturation
A womxn without a grove of birch whose bark may be harvested without fear of negative consequences?2018, Julie A. Gallagher, Barbara Winslow, Reshaping Women's History: Voices of Nontraditional Women Historians, University of Illinois…. From the entry womxn
Just bark an order at your device and Colesworth will deliver.2018 March 3, Richard Glover, “The cold truth about hot ideas”, in The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney: Fairfax Media, page 3. From the entry Colesworth

Meaning of bark

verb To make a short, loud, explosive noise with the vocal organs (said of animals, especially dogs).
verb To make a clamor; to make importunate outcries.
verb To speak sharply.

Full definition of bark

Questions about bark in a sentence

How do you use bark in a sentence?: Bark is used as a verb, noun and interjection. For example: “The neighbour's dog is always barking.”
What is a short sentence with bark?: “The sergeant barked an order.”
What does bark mean?: Bark means to make a short, loud, explosive noise with the vocal organs (said of animals, especially dogs).

Adapted from Wiktionary: bark (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use bark in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/bark. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.