different between querk vs queek

English

Etymology

From Middle English querken (also as querkenen), from Old Norse kvirkja (“to strangle”), from Proto-Germanic *kwirkijan?, from Proto-Germanic *kwerk? (“gullet, throat”), from Proto-Indo-European *g?erg?-, *g?erk?-, *g?erw- (“throat, neck”). Cognate with Old Frisian querka ("to strangle"; > North Frisian querke, quirke (“to querk”)), Danish kværke (“to throttle, strangle, suffocate”), Icelandic kyrkja, kvirkja (“to throttle, strangle”), Middle Low German querken (“to strangle”), Middle Low German querke, quarke (“throat, gullet”), Old High German querka, querkela (“throat, gullet”), Latin gurguli? (“throat”). More at gurgle.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kw??k/
• Rhymes: -??(r)k
• Homophone: quirk

Verb

querk (third-person singular simple present querks, present participle querking, simple past and past participle querked)

1. (transitive) To throttle; choke; stifle; suffocate.
2. (intransitive) To grunt; moan.

Related terms

• querken

English

Etymology

Imitative.

Interjection

queek

1. Vocal sound produced by certain birds.
   • 1865, Louisa May Alcott, Nelly's Hospital

     A soft “Queek, queek!” made her look up and listen.

   • 2002?, James Marten, The Boy of Chancellorville and Other Civil War Stories (page 67)

     No nest was to be seen, no parent birds hovered overhead, and little Robin could only tell its troubles in that mournful “Queek, queek, queek!”