different between awk vs ack

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??k/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??k/
• (US, cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /??k/
• Homophone: auk

Etymology 1

From Middle English [Term?], from Old Norse ?fugr, ?figr, afigr (“turned backwards”) (whence Danish avet (“backwards”), Swedish avig (“turned backwards”)), from Proto-Germanic *abuhaz. Cognate with German äbich, Gothic ???????????????????? (ibuks, “turned back”). Akin to Sanskrit ????? (ap?c, “turned away”) . Compare dialectal Danish ave (“to turn”), Icelandic öfga (“to reverse”).

Adjective

awk (comparative more awk, superlative most awk)

1. (obsolete) Odd; out of order; perverse.
2. (obsolete) Wrong, or not commonly used; clumsy; sinister

   the awk end of a rod (the butt end).

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Golding to this entry?)

3. (obsolete, Britain, dialect) Clumsy in performance or manners; not dexterous; awkward.

   Synonym: unhandy

   • 1815 Sir Egerton Brydges, Archaica: Harvey's Four letters, and sonnets, touching Robert Greene; Pierce's supererogation; [and] New letter of notable contents. Brathwaite's Essays upon the five senses, From the private press of Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, printed by T. Davison, p142

     […] whose wild and madbrain humour nothing fitteth so just, as the stalest dudgen or absurdest balductum, that they or their mates can invent in odd and awk speeches […]

4. (US slang, of a situation) Awkward; uncomfortable.

Derived terms

• awkly
• awkness
• awkward

Adverb

awk (comparative more awk, superlative most awk)

1. (obsolete) Perversely; in the wrong way.

Etymology 2

From the initial letters of the surnames of its authors: Alfred Aho, Peter Weinberger, and Brian Kernighan.

Proper noun

awk

1. (computing) A Unix scripting language or the command line interface itself.

   I used C, Perl, the Bourne shell, and some awk and tcl to implement these projects.

References

• awk in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• Kaw, Kwa, kaw

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æk/

Etymology 1

Clipping of acknowledged.

Noun

ack (plural acks)

1. (military, now historical) The letter A as used in signalling and other types of communications.
   • 1929, Frederic Manning, The Middle Parts of Fortune, Vintage 2014, p. 173:

     They had to begin at the beginning: learning the Morse code, flag-wagging, a succession of acks, and practice on the buzzer.

2. (data communications) acknowledgment signal

Alternative forms

• (data communications): ACK

Antonyms

• (data communications): nack, nak

Derived terms

• ack emma
• ack-ack

Interjection

ack

1. (radio communications) acknowledged

Etymology 2

Imitative.

Interjection

ack

1. Expressing distaste, alarm, or trepidation.

Anagrams

• AKC, cak

Swedish

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Old Swedish akh, from Middle Low German ach (“an unhappy interjection”).

Interjection

ack

1. alas, oh (exclamation of sorrow, etc.)

See also

• eja

Etymology 2

Clipping of ackumulator.

Noun

ack c

1. (electronics, slang) an electric accumulator.

Declension

Synonyms

• ackumulator