ENGLISH
REFERENCE

walk

n. countable
A1 Beginner Oxford US //ˈwɑk// UK //wˈɔːk// walk Archaic General-service Humorous Informal Slang

n. a journey you make on foot, usually for pleasure or exercise.

n. a journey made on foot, typically for recreation or exercise.


SIMPLE

We go for a walk every evening.

CONTEXTUAL

The doctor recommended a brisk thirty-minute walk each day to improve his circulation.

COMPLEX

Their long walk along the windswept coastal path gave them ample time to discuss the future without the usual distractions of daily life.

Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology 1

From Middle English walken (“to move, walk, roll, turn, revolve, toss”), a conflation of Old English wealcan (“to move round, revolve, roll, turn, toss”) (ġewealcan (“to go, traverse”)) and Old English wealcian (“to curl, roll up”); both from Proto-West Germanic walkan, from Proto-Germanic walkaną, walkōną (“to twist, turn, roll about, full”), from Proto-Indo-European walg- (“to twist, turn, move”). Cognate with Scots walk (“to walk”), Saterland Frisian walkje (“to full; drum; flex; mill”), West Frisian swalkje (“to wander, roam”), Dutch walken (“to full, work hair or felt”), Dutch zwalken (“to wander about”), German walken (“to flex, full, mill, drum”), Danish valke (“to waulk, full”), Latin valgus (“bandy-legged, bow-legged”), Sanskrit वल्गति (válgati, “amble, bound, leap, dance”). More at vagrant and whelk. Doublet of waulk.

Etymology 2

From Middle English walk, walke, walc, from Old English wealc (as in Old English wealcspinl) and ġewealc (“a rolling motion, attack”), from Proto-Germanic walką. Cognate with Icelandic válk (“a rolling around, a tossing to and fro, trouble, distress”).

Usage

Commonly used in the phrases 'go for a walk' or 'take a walk'.

Pitfall

I like to make a walk.I like to take a walk.The standard collocations are 'take a walk' or 'go for a walk', not 'make a walk'.

Idioms37 entries

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