What does hawked mean?
Hawked is the simple past tense and past participle of hawk, most often meaning sold or promoted something persistently, aggressively, or directly to customers, as in “she hawked secondhand books at the market.” In contemporary usage it can suggest haggling, constant sales pressure, or old-fashioned street vending. A less common sense refers to hunting game with a hawk, especially in falconry, while a rare archaic sense means to cry like a hawk. Because hawked is an inflected form rather than a separate dictionary headword, its tense and aspect depend on the surrounding sentence: “They hawked the tickets” is simple past, while “They have hawked the tickets” is present perfect. The word is used in both British and American English, although its commercial sense is by far the most familiar. It is useful to recognize that hawked need not mean merely offered for sale; it often implies persistent, energetic selling, sometimes in a way that sounds disparaging or overly forceful.
verbHawked is the past tense and past participle of hawk. In its usual contemporary sense, it means to sell or promote something aggressively or persistently, especially as a vendor.
- To sell or offer something aggressively or persistently, especially as a street trader or vendor.
- To hunt game with a hawk, especially in falconry.
- To cry or complain in a harsh, high-pitched manner likened to a hawk's cry; rare and archaic.
"At the market, she hawked jars of homemade jam to passers-by."
"At the market, she hawked jars of homemade jam to passers-by."
"The falconer hawked rabbits across the moor."
From Old English hafoc to the modern market stall, hawk carries the image of something hunted—and a seller who will not let it go.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does hawked come from?
Hawked is the regular past tense and past participle of hawk. The commercial sense developed in the vocabulary of hawkers and market sellers, while the older hunting sense uses hawk in connection with falconry. The bird name itself comes from Old English hafoc; falcon, which entered English through Old French from Latin falco, is a related cognate often associated with the same prehistoric root meaning “to seize.”
Related word forms
How hawked is actually used
In the dominant commercial sense, hawked often implies energetic, persistent, and sometimes forceful selling, which may carry a mildly disparaging connotation. The hunting sense is uncommon and associated chiefly with falconry, while the sense of crying like a hawk is rare and archaic. As an inflected verb form, hawked is not normally treated as an adjective.