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yak

nounverbnounnounnounattested in dialogue

  • //jæk//

An ox-like mammal native to the Himalayas, Mongolia, Myanmar, and Tibet with dark, long, and silky hair, a horse-like tail, and a full, bushy mane.

noun

  1. 1

    An ox-like mammal native to the Himalayas, Mongolia, Myanmar, and Tibet with dark, long, and silky hair, a horse-like tail, and a full, bushy mane.

    Utilization efficiency of dietary protein in the yak differs with diet composition and feeding level, age, sex, body condition score, and animal production level (e.g., growth, lactation). Researchers reported no difference between lactating and dry cows in crude protein digestibility, although lactating yak tend to consume more feed than dry yak.

    Attempts are now being made, by selection, to create a new breed of yak (the Datong yak) from such crosses. Hybridization of domestic yak with local cattle, at intermediate elevations, has been practiced for generations. The hybrids inherit some of the good characteristics from each species, but lack the adaptation of the yak to the harsh conditions at higher elevations.

Etymology

Borrowed from Tibetan གཡག (g.yag). See there for more.

verb

  1. 1

    slangTo talk, particularly informally but persistently; to chatter or prattle.

    “You'll like Poppet. Nice dog. Wears his ears inside out. Why do dachshunds wear their ears inside out?” “I could not say, sir.” “Nor me. I've often wondered. But this won't do, Jeeves. Here we are, yakking about Jezebels and dachshunds, when we ought to be concentrating our minds […]

    And in the last few days Clair's boundless capacity to yak about herself while Melissa listened had turned Chip against her, too.

  2. 2

    slangTo vomit, usually as a result of excessive alcohol consumption.

    She'll feel better when she yaks.

Etymology

Apparently an onomatopoeia.

noun

  1. 1

    slangA talk, particular an informal talk; chattering; gossip.

    Sluggsy said indifferently, ‘You’ll be wised up come morning. Meanwhiles, howsabout shuttin’ that dumb little hashtrap of yours? All this yak is bending my ear. I want some action.

    The sudden head-down butt jabbed into someone’s face, is a highly effective way of putting a stop to his yack.

  2. 2

    slangA laugh.

    Would-be gags from would-be gagsters. And, nine chances out of ten, not a yak in the lot.

  3. 3

    slangVomit.

noun

  1. 1

    a traditional Korean flute used in court music

Etymology

Borrowed from Korean 약 (yak).

noun

  1. 1

    slangA kayak.

  2. 2

    slangcognac.

    Quick cash, flip that, now I got big cash. Sit back, sip yak with a next piff yat.

  3. 3

    slangA yakuza member.

    Yakuza, or Yaks as they are popularly known, Japan's large and tightly organized crime and illicit drug corporations.

    These days yaks make most of their money through securities fraud.

    Don't worry about it, Carter. Yaks aren't gonna be a problem around here? Yaks? Yakuza?

Etymology

Shortening of various unrelated words.

Forms

plural
yaks
past tense
yakked
past participle
yakked
present participle
yakking
third person singular
yaks
The neighbouring pagesAlphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.

Lexical content from Wiktionary, under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source entry · Data version 2026-08-23

Rank among the words of the OpenSubtitles 2018 corpus — film and television subtitles, so spoken rather than written usage (CC BY-SA 3.0).