Lurk
verb
To stay hidden, usually waiting to do something wrong.
A thief was lurking in the shadows.
Often appears as...
- lurk in the shadows
- lurk around
verb
To read discussions on the internet without contributing or making yourself known.
He often lurks on the forum but never posts anything.
Often appears as...
- lurk on a forum
- lurk in a chatroom
Usage tips
Modern
verb
To remain unexpressed or unexplained, often with a negative quality or sense of danger.
A sense of threat lurked in the background.
Often appears as...
- danger lurks
- threat lurks
verb
To move or lie in a way that is secret or not open to view.
He lurks in the darker parts of the city.
Often appears as...
- lurk in the dark
- lurk in the depths
verb
To stay hidden, usually waiting to do something wrong.
A thief was lurking in the shadows.
Often appears as...
- lurk in the shadows
- lurk around
verb
To read discussions on the internet without contributing or making yourself known.
He often lurks on the forum but never posts anything.
Often appears as...
- lurk on a forum
- lurk in a chatroom
Usage tips
Modern
verb
To remain unexpressed or unexplained, often with a negative quality or sense of danger.
A sense of threat lurked in the background.
Often appears as...
- danger lurks
- threat lurks
verb
To move or lie in a way that is secret or not open to view.
He lurks in the darker parts of the city.
Often appears as...
- lurk in the dark
- lurk in the depths
Definition 1 of 4
Pro Tip 1/2Negative Connotation
Lurking implies waiting with a potentially harmful intent, often secretly.
Beware of strangers lurking around the park at night.
Pro Tip 2/2Physical Concealment
'Lurk' suggests hiding out of sight, not just staying unnoticed.
He could sense someone lurking behind the curtain.
Pro Tip 1/2Negative Connotation
Lurking implies waiting with a potentially harmful intent, often secretly.
Beware of strangers lurking around the park at night.
Pro Tip 2/2Physical Concealment
'Lurk' suggests hiding out of sight, not just staying unnoticed.
He could sense someone lurking behind the curtain.
Pro Tip 1/2Negative Connotation
Lurking implies waiting with a potentially harmful intent, often secretly.
Beware of strangers lurking around the park at night.
Pro Tip 2/2Physical Concealment
'Lurk' suggests hiding out of sight, not just staying unnoticed.
He could sense someone lurking behind the curtain.
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Video examples
What does my headscarf...
Unconscious bias is not the same as conscious discrimination. I'm not saying that in all of you, there's a secret sexist or racist or ageist lurking within, waiting to get out. That's not what I'm saying. We all have our biases. They're the filters through which we see the world around us.
Video examples
What type of world do we...
heretofore has not been accessible to us but we have the technology what we lack is the will to get down there and see for ourselves what's lurks within the ocean itself and yet every scientist every kid every CEO every president every person every citizen should have
Video examples
How to create cleaner...
the rules that can restrict the amount of carbon dioxide emitted from power plants, and make energy companies around the world wary of what they put into the air. Until then, every time you turn on a screen or flick a light switch, coal is lurking in the background,
Video examples
Why do we itch? - Emma...
The leading theory is that our skin has evolved to be acutely aware of touch so that we're equipped to deal with risks from the outside world. Think about it. Our automatic scratching response would dislodge anything harmful that's potentially lurking on our skin,
Video examples
How statistics can be...
base some of their most important decisions on organized data. But there's a problem with that. Any set of statistics might have something lurking inside it, something that can turn the results completely upside down.
Video examples
What almost dying taught...
"But the threat of death lurks in both of our shadows." In those lonely first weeks and months of my recovery, these strangers and their words became lifelines, dispatches from people of so many different backgrounds,
Video examples
Plesiosaurs 101 PIPE...
- Sea monsters are considered to be mythical creatures at the center of tall tales. But science tells a story of real-life monsters lurking in Earth's prehistoric seas, monsters called plesiosaurs.
Video examples
The Fastest Carnivorous...
on land but killer plants also lurk throughout the wetlands and waterways of our world found on all continents except antarctica waterborne bladderworts are free-floating plants that can grow up to
Video examples
Why should you read...
and is considered a master of magic lurking in the mundane. This is a key feature of magical realism. In contrast to fantasy, magic in this sort of writing rarely offers a way out of a problem.
Video examples
The Deadly Portuguese...
fish or in rare cases a human but among its lethal tentacles lurks a
Video examples
What does my headscarf...
Unconscious bias is not the same as conscious discrimination. I'm not saying that in all of you, there's a secret sexist or racist or ageist lurking within, waiting to get out. That's not what I'm saying. We all have our biases. They're the filters through which we see the world around us.
Video examples
What type of world do we...
heretofore has not been accessible to us but we have the technology what we lack is the will to get down there and see for ourselves what's lurks within the ocean itself and yet every scientist every kid every CEO every president every person every citizen should have
Video examples
How to create cleaner...
the rules that can restrict the amount of carbon dioxide emitted from power plants, and make energy companies around the world wary of what they put into the air. Until then, every time you turn on a screen or flick a light switch, coal is lurking in the background,
Video examples
Why do we itch? - Emma...
The leading theory is that our skin has evolved to be acutely aware of touch so that we're equipped to deal with risks from the outside world. Think about it. Our automatic scratching response would dislodge anything harmful that's potentially lurking on our skin,
Video examples
How statistics can be...
base some of their most important decisions on organized data. But there's a problem with that. Any set of statistics might have something lurking inside it, something that can turn the results completely upside down.
Video examples
What almost dying taught...
"But the threat of death lurks in both of our shadows." In those lonely first weeks and months of my recovery, these strangers and their words became lifelines, dispatches from people of so many different backgrounds,
Video examples
Plesiosaurs 101 PIPE...
- Sea monsters are considered to be mythical creatures at the center of tall tales. But science tells a story of real-life monsters lurking in Earth's prehistoric seas, monsters called plesiosaurs.
Video examples
The Fastest Carnivorous...
on land but killer plants also lurk throughout the wetlands and waterways of our world found on all continents except antarctica waterborne bladderworts are free-floating plants that can grow up to
Video examples
Why should you read...
and is considered a master of magic lurking in the mundane. This is a key feature of magical realism. In contrast to fantasy, magic in this sort of writing rarely offers a way out of a problem.
Video examples
The Deadly Portuguese...
fish or in rare cases a human but among its lethal tentacles lurks a
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
James Marsters
American Actor
When you are a hero you are always running to save someone, sweating, worried and guilty. When you are a villain you are just lurking in the shadows waiting for the hero to pass by. Then you pop them in the head and go home... piece of cake.
Quote examples
Jordan Peele
American Actor
I was a very scared child. Not, you know, not so much of life but of the demons that lurked in the dark. And horror movies terrified me. You know, I'd love watching them but then at night, I would just be up in sweats all night.
Quote examples
James Nesbitt
Irish Actor
Like the character I played in 'Jekyll', we all have different masks we put on for different occasions. As much as we all want to lead decent lives, we're also attracted by the idea that something dark may lurk within us.
Quote examples
Mike Barnicle
American Journalist
Most cops are not looking for understanding. They work in a world filled with a sense - real or imagined - of danger lurking around each corner and every hallway. Most cops are merely looking for respect.
Quote examples
John Millington Synge
Irish Poet
The grief of the keen is no personal complaint for the death of one woman over eighty years, but seems to contain the whole passionate rage that lurks somewhere in every native of the island.
Quote examples
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Finnish Musician
Once you get over the first hill, there is always a new, higher one lurking, of course.
Quote examples
Ethan Canin
American Author
I like writing about the evil lurking in apparently good people.
Quote examples
Robert J. Sawyer
Canadian Writer
Psychopathy might lurk behind the mask of sanity.
Quote examples
Virgil
Roman Poet
There's a snake lurking in the grass.
Quote examples
Aristophanes
Greek Poet
Under every stone lurks a politician.
Quote examples
James Marsters
American Actor
When you are a hero you are always running to save someone, sweating, worried and guilty. When you are a villain you are just lurking in the shadows waiting for the hero to pass by. Then you pop them in the head and go home... piece of cake.
Quote examples
Jordan Peele
American Actor
I was a very scared child. Not, you know, not so much of life but of the demons that lurked in the dark. And horror movies terrified me. You know, I'd love watching them but then at night, I would just be up in sweats all night.
Quote examples
James Nesbitt
Irish Actor
Like the character I played in 'Jekyll', we all have different masks we put on for different occasions. As much as we all want to lead decent lives, we're also attracted by the idea that something dark may lurk within us.
Quote examples
Mike Barnicle
American Journalist
Most cops are not looking for understanding. They work in a world filled with a sense - real or imagined - of danger lurking around each corner and every hallway. Most cops are merely looking for respect.
Quote examples
John Millington Synge
Irish Poet
The grief of the keen is no personal complaint for the death of one woman over eighty years, but seems to contain the whole passionate rage that lurks somewhere in every native of the island.
Quote examples
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Finnish Musician
Once you get over the first hill, there is always a new, higher one lurking, of course.
Quote examples
Ethan Canin
American Author
I like writing about the evil lurking in apparently good people.
Quote examples
Robert J. Sawyer
Canadian Writer
Psychopathy might lurk behind the mask of sanity.
Quote examples
Virgil
Roman Poet
There's a snake lurking in the grass.
Quote examples
Aristophanes
Greek Poet
Under every stone lurks a politician.
Example 1 of 10
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