irk

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to annoy, irritate, or weary someone

   The repeated interruption began to irk him.

2. 2
   noun

   informal: an annoyance or irritating feature

   The unreliable search was a persistent irk for users.

From Middle English irken, 'to tire or grow weary,' probably from Old Norse yrkja, 'to work.' The word shifted from weariness caused by labor to the modern sense 'annoy or irritate.'

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