What does "shirk" mean?
Shirk: To avoid; to escape; to neglect; -- implying unfaithfulness or fraud; as, to shirk duty. The usual makeshift by which they try to shirk difficulties. Hare.
Additional senses
- 2.To live by shifts and fraud; to shark.
- 3.To evade an obligation; to avoid the performance of duty, as by running away. One of the cities shirked from the league. Byron.
- 4.One who lives by shifts and tricks; one who avoids the performance of duty or labor.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00