Pa. t. and pa. pple. walked. Forms: Inf. and pres. stem: 1 wealcan, wealcian, 2, 3 walki-en, 4 walc, 2–7 walke, 6 walck(e, Sc. valk, 8–9 Sc. wauk, 4– walk. Pa. t. α. strong 1 wéolc, 3–5 welk(e, 5 walke, wilke; β. weak 1 wealcede, 4 welkide, walkit, 5 walkude, walkyd, 6 walckt(e, (6 Sc. valkit), 4– walked. Pa. pple. α. strong 3 i-walken, walke; β. weak 5 walkude, 3– walked. [OE. had two forms: (1) wealcan redupl. str. vb. (pa. t. wéolc, pa. pple. ʓewealcen), to roll, toss (trans. and intr.); (2) wealcian weak vb., occurring only twice, in the senses ‘to muffle up’ (gl. obvolvere), to curl (hair: gl. calamistrare). One or both of these vbs. may have had also the sense ‘to full (cloth)’: see WALK v.2 The corresponding forms in the other Teut. langs. are: OHG. walchan str. vb., recorded only in pa. pple. giwalchen, firwalchen, felted, matted (said of hair: gl. concretus); MHG. walken (pa. t. wielc, pa. pple. walken; later conjugated weak), to knead, to roll (paste) into balls in the palms of the hands; rarely, to move about (trans. and intr.), to turn into something; usually, to full (cloth), whence to cudgel, drub; mod.G. walken wk. vb., to full, to cudgel; (M)LG., (M)Du. walken wk. vb., to full, to work (felt), to cudgel; ON. valka (Icel. válka, mod. volka) wk. vb., to drag about, to torment, refl. to wallow; MSw. valka wk. vb., to roll (a morsel) about in the mouth, Norw. valka wk. vb. to crumple in the hand, MDa. valke wk. vb. to torment; the mod.Sw. valka, Da. valke (wk.), to full, prob. take their sense from LG.
The strong pa. t. survived into the 15th c.; the weak conjugation, recorded from the 13th c. onwards, may perh. not be a survival of the rare OE. wealcian but an instance of the frequent change of inflexion from strong to weak. The corresponding weak vb. in continental Teut. is prob. to be explained in this way.
It is remarkable that to the end of the OE. period the sense of the str. vb. was ‘to roll,’ and that from the beginning of the ME. period it was ‘to move about, travel.’ The explanation of this apparently sudden change may be that the ME. sense had arisen in OE. as a colloquial (perhaps jocular) use, and that when the literary tradition was interrupted after the Conquest, and people wrote as they spoke, the original meaning of the verb was no longer current.
The OTeut. root *wælk- has no certain affinities in any other branch of the Indogermanic family; phonologically the Skr. valg- to leap, dance, and the L. valgus bow-legged, might be related, but there is no clear similarity of meaning.]
† I. 1. intr. a. In OE. (str. vb.). Of the waves: To roll, toss. b. In early ME. of persons: To toss about restlessly. Obs.
In OE. also trans. (str. vb.) to turn over, roll; also fig. to turn over in one’s mind, consider; (wk. verb) to curl (hair); to press together (cf. WALK v.2). For examples see Bosworth-Toller.
a. 1100. Aldh. Glosses, in Napier, OE. Gl., i. 2474. Feruentis oceani, wealcendre sæ.
a. 1200. Moral Ode, 240. Ho [sc. souls in hell] secheð reste þer nis nan … walkeð weri up and dun, se water deþ mid winde.
a. 1200[?]. Body & Soul (Phillips), 5. He walkeþ & wendeþ & woneþ … þes, he sæiþ on his bedde, wome þæt ic libbe, þæt æffre [etc.].
1398. W. Paris, Cristine (Horstm.), 394. Fyve daies … Sche welkide þerin [an oven] to & froo.
c. 1400. Pety Job, 329, in 26 Pol. Poems, 131. Allas, I walke in a lake Of dedly synne that doth me tene.
II. intr. To journey, move about, esp. on foot.
† 2. To go from place to place; to journey, wander. Also with cogn. obj., to go (one’s way).
In quot. a. 1000 the sense appears to be ‘to pass over’; if so, the gloss is the only example within the OE. period of any anticipation of the ME. development of the meaning of the word; but it may be significant that the reference is to motion on the sea.
a. 1000. Prudentius Glosses, in Germania, XI. 400. Emensus, ʓewcalcon [‘Emensus et multum freti’ Prud. Peristeph. v. 471].
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 51. Þat israelisshe folc was walkende toward ierusalem on swinche and on drede and on wanrede.
c. 1205. Lay., 112. Heuede Eneas þe duc mid his driht folcke widen iwalken.
c. 1250. Meid. Maregrete, xlix. Muchel ic habbe iwalken bi water ant bi londe.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 6359. Queder-sum he welk her or þare, Þis wandes euer he wit him bare. Ibid., 21685. Quen þe nedders … Þe folk stanged of israel, Quen þai welk in þe wildernes. Ibid. (13[?]), 22063 (Gött.). Þe angel … in þe pitt [þe deuil] sperd fast … for to be laised at þe last quen þat thousand ȝere war past, to walk his wai [Edinb. MS. to walc his waiis forthe] fra þat quile.
1340–70. Alex. & Dind., 498. Vs is likful and lef in landus to walke, þere won walleþ of water in þe wellespringus.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. VIII. 14. Þei ben men on þis molde þat moste wyde walken.
c. 1400. Rule St. Benet, 1893. Þai þat sal walk bi way, or wirk, And may not cum to haly kirk,… Þeir seruyse sal þai not for-gete.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, V. x. 29. And for ilk menȝe A capitane walkis rewland all his rowt.
3. Of things.
† a. Of time: To pass, elapse. Obs.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 568. ‘An hundred winter … welken or it was ended wel.
† b. Of reports, fame, also of letters, money: To circulate, pass from one to another; also with about. Also said of the person whose fame is spread abroad. Obs.
13[?]. Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 1521. Your worde & your worchip walkez ay quere.
a. 1352. Minot, Poems, viii. 29. Þe word of him walkes ful wide.
1387. T. Usk, Test. Love, I. vii. (Sk.), 95. Loke now what people hast thou served; which of them al in tyme of thyne exile ever the refresshed, by the value of the leste coyned plate that walketh in mony?
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, III. 252. The worde of him walkit baith fer and ner.
1533. More, Lett. to Cromwell, Wks. 1422/1. An vnknowen heretike which hath sent ouer a worke that walketh in ouer many mens handes named the Souper of the lord.
1549. Latimer, 4th Serm bef. Edw. VI. (Arb.), 111. Ther was brybes walking, money makynge, makynge of handes.
a. 1566. R. Edwards, Damon & Pithias (facs.), B iv. And I vp and downe, Go seekyng to learne what Newes here are walkyng.
1583. Stubbes, Anat. Abus., II. 13. If any man that hath freends and mony … chance to haue committed neuer so … flagicious a deed,… then letters walke, freends bestir them, and mony carrieth all away.
1601. B. Jonson, Poetaster, III. v. 77. For he shall weepe, and walke with euery tongue Throughout the citie, infamously song.
a. 1626. Bacon, War with Spain (1629), 42. A wonderfull erroneous obseruation that walketh about.
1640. trans. Verdere’s Rom. of Rom., II. 120. This Prince … never left praying and importuning; every day she had a Page, letters were continually walking [Fr. les lettres marchoient à toutes heures].
1671. Milton, Samson, 1089. I … now am come to see of whom such noise Hath walk’d about.
1687. R. L’Estrange, Answ. Dissenter, 22. There may be Mony Walking on the One Side as well as on the Other.
† c. Of crime, vice or virtue: To be rife, spread abroad. Obs.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. VII. 79. In hym þat taketh is þe treccherye, if any tresoun wawe [read walke (with 5 MSS.)].
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), II. 169. Þese men … beeþ i-woned to haue the victorie … in euerich fiȝt wher no treson is walkynge [L. ubi fraus abfuerit].
c. 1450. in Kingsford, Chron. Lond. (1905), 140. Ther whas so moch treson walkyng that men wist not what to do.
1567. Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.), 101. Thair violence and wrang walkis full wyde.
1573. L. Lloyd, Pilgr. Princes, 53. Then luste knew no way to the pallace of Cæsars, then abstinence walked in the market place, then all Rome was chast.
1626. Breton, Pasquils Mad-cap (Grosart), 8/2. Wealth is a witch that hath a wicked charme, That in the mindes of wicked men doth walke.
† d. Of drink, etc.: To be handed round, pass, circulate. Obs.
1555. R. Smith, in Foxe, A. & M. (1563), 1254/1. My Lorde mayre being set with the bishop and one of the shriues, wine was walking on euery syde, I standing before them as an outcast.
1567. Harman, Caveat (Shaks. Soc.), 32. How the pottes walke about! their talking tounges talke at large.
1594. Greene & Lodge, Looking Gl., 1858, G.’s Wks. 1905, I. 201. Frolicke, my Lord[s]; let all the standerds walke; Ply it till euery man hath tane his load.
1596. Raleigh, Guiana, 85. Wee found them all as drunke as beggers, and the pottes walking from one to another without rest.
1622. R. Hawkins, Voy. S. Sea (1847), 216. The pott continually walking, infused desperate and foolish hardinesse in many.
1691. Wood, Ath. Oxon., II. 157. This Hicks … was also Author … of other little trivial matters meerly to get bread, and make the pot walk.
† e. Of various material things, e.g., a pen, a weapon, an instrument, a heavenly body: To move, be in motion. Of leaves: To come out. Obs.
a. 1400. Stockh. Med. MS., ii. 753, in Anglia, XVIII. 325. At euery knot ij lewys owt walke.
a. 1530. J. Heywood, Wether (1903), 686. Whan the wynde doth blow the uttermost Our wyndmylles walk a-mayne in every cost.
1549. Latimer, Ploughers (Arb.), 25. And then bothe ploughes not walkyng, nothyng shoulde be in the common weale but honger. Ibid. (1550), Serm. Stamford (1562), 103. I hearde a penne walkynge in the chimney behynde the cloth. They hadde appoynted one there to wryte al myne aunsweres.
1565. J. Hall, Crt. Vertue, 150. The great Beare … Whych wyth the small Beare euermore Doth walke the pole about.
1575. Gascoigne, Making of Verse, § 1. I would … finde some supernaturall cause whereby my penne might walke in the superlatiue degree.
1580. Blundevil, Curing Horses Dis., xi. 6. Of the Feuer which commeth of rawe digestion…. The Horse will blowe at the nose … you shall see his flankes walke and his back to beate.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. vii. 45. From euery coast that heauen walks about, Haue thither come the noble Martiall crew.
1622. Drayton, Poly-olb., xxii. 663. Now English Bowes, and Bills, and Battle-axes walke, Death vp and downe the field in gastly sort doth stalke.
1686. trans. Chardin’s Trav. Persia, 115. They did not like working, so that the Cudgel was forc’d to walk now and then to quick’n their Laziness.
1815. Scott, Guy M., xxiv. [They] got me down, and knevelled me sair aneuch, or I could gar my whip walk about their lugs.
† f. Of a vehicle: To make regular journeys.
c. 1450. Godstow Reg., 671. ij. cartis the which they had every day walkyng to busshyng in his wode of Shottore.
† g. Of the tongue, the jaws: To move briskly.
1550. Crowley, Epigr., 908. No man shal fynde a tyme to speake, so faste theyr tonges shal walke.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., II. iv. 5. And, ever as she went, her toung did walke In foule reproch and termes of vile despight.
1609. Dekker, Guls Horne-bk., v. 24. It will adde much to your fame to let your tongue walke faster then your teeth. Ibid. (1609), Lanth. & Candle-light, x. Wks. (Grosart), III. 277. If then … his chappes begin to walke as if he were chewing downe a Horse-loafe.
1673. Kirkman, Unlucky Citizen, 231. He could make but little defence with his hands; but his tongue walked, he stormed, raged and threatened.
h. Naut. Of a ship: To make progress.
1884. ‘H. Collingwood,’ Under Meteor Flag, 159. Seeing us walking ahead, he hailed us to keep back in line with him.
1891. W. C. Russell, Marriage at Sea, iii. If … it lies in my power to keep this here Spitfire [the ship’s name] awalking.
† i. fig. (a) ? To be successful. (b) To be a substitute, ‘pass,’ ‘go’ for. Obs.
(a) a. 1553. Udall, Royster D., III. iii. (Arb.), 48. I doubt not but this geare shall on my side walke.
(b) 1557. Phaër, Æneid, V. (1558), O iv. One only man shall be, whome lost in depe seas he shall seke, One poll shall walke for all [L. unum pro multis dabitur caput].
1627. W. Sclater, Exp. 2 Thess. (1629), 299. That now, writtes walk for words.
† 4. To go about in public, live, move (in a place or region). Also of animals: To range, be found (in a place). Obs.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 17800. In mi cite of aramathi Þar ar þai [sc. the risen dead] walkand witerli.
13[?]. Propr. Sanct. (Vernon MS.), in Archiv Stud. neu. Spr., LXXXI. 302/310. Þer is a ffisch … Þat in þe see is walkynge; Euere he slumbreþ and eke slepeþ.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 4734. Þys feste day … Were offred … þre þousand hyndes, Wylde walkande by wode lyndes.
a. 1350. S. Lucy, 121, in Horstm., Altengl. Leg. (1881), 18. Whils he welk in þis werld here, He said to his appostels in-fere. Ibid., S. Thomas, 2 (ibid. 19). Saint Thomas, þe apostill trew, Þat welk in werld here with Jhesu.
1456. Sir G. Haye, Law Arms (S.T.S.), 244. Men suld nocht lichtly traist in na sauf conditis, and namely in the warld that walkis now.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, IV. 329. He sawe full feill bestis abide, Off wylde and tayme walkand haboundandlye.
1513. More, Rich. III., Wks. 40/1. Robbers and riuers walking at libertie vncorrected.
1559. Bp. Scot, in Strype, Ann. Ref. (1709), I. App. x. 32. Upon the which Place St. Augustine wryteth thus, Christe tooke Fleshe of the blessed Virgin his Mother, and in the same he did walke.
[1856. Aytoun, Bothwell, I. v. And yet—he bandies texts with Knox, And walks a pious man!]
† b. To be, live in a certain condition. Obs.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 755. Adam ȝode walkand in þat welth þat halden was in micul elth.
1493. Will E. Bonde (Somerset Ho.). I Edward Bonde in hole mynde walking & some what syke.
† c. To busy oneself, be active about something. Obs. (Cf. WAKE v. 4 b.)
a. 1300. Cursor M., 7530. Dauid … toke bot a staf and a sling Þat he was wont to bere in hand Abute his flocke o scep walcand.
c. 1450. Mirk’s Festial, 84. And þi[l]ke folke þat han ben bysy erly and late to walke about worldely good, now schuld be bysy, alsoo, to vyset pore and seke.
d. With complementary adj. or phrase: = GO v. 6. Now rare or obs.
1604. Jas. I., Counterbl. to Tobacco (Arb.), 100. Why doe we not as well imitate them [the Indians] in walking naked as they doe?
a. 1625. Fletcher, Custom Country, II. (1647), 8/1. How long might I have walkt without a cloake, Before I should have met with such a fortune?
5. To travel or move about on foot. Also with advs. about, on, etc.
To walk with (a stick): to use it as a partial support in walking. To walk on crutches: to support oneself by crutches in walking.
a. 1300. K. Horn, 953. Ich habbe walke [other texts walked] wide Bi þe se side; Nis he nowar ifunde.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 17288 + 127. Þese thre maries come þiderward, for drede þai stynted oft For ferd of þe Jews, and sithen welk ful soft.
c. 1403. Lydg., Temple of Glas, 550. I saugh a man, þat welke al solitarie.
a. 1535. Frere & Boy (Ritson), 63. An olde man came hym tyll, Walkynge by the waye.
1557. North, trans. Guevara’s Diall Pr., III. xlii. (1568), 71. Thow walkest by the thornes: and wylt not that thy gown bee torne.
1697. Collier, Ess. Mor. Subj., II. (1703), 99. To walk always upon crutches, is the way to lose the use of our limbs.
1835. Dickens, Sk. Boz, Miss Evans & Eagle. They all walked on together, talking, and laughing. Ibid. (1836), Vauxhall-Gardens. We walked about, and met with a disappointment at every turn.
1902. ‘Violet Jacob,’ Sheep-Stealers, viii. He carried a stick, but he did not use it to walk with.
1907. ‘C. E. Craddock,’ Windfall, iv. 75. Why, I’ll feel so old whenst I’m twenty that I reckon I’ll hev ter walk with a stick by then.
† b. with refl. pron.
c. 1450. Godstow Reg., 16. I wil now me walke from sege to sege, And pray to help me now euery saynt.
1509. Hawes, Past. Pleas., xxvii. (1845), 119. As I went walkyng my selfe to and fro, Full sodaynly Venus wrought me such wo.
† c. conjugated with to be. Also pa. pple. in intr. sense.
1770. C. Jenner, Placid Man, VI. v. II. 202. Mrs. Stapleton inquired after Lady Clayton; Miss Clayton said she was walked out.
1818. Scott, Br. Lamm., xxxii. I shall never forget how frightened I was when I took him for the picture of old Sir Malise walked out of the canvass.
d. with cognate obj.; also, with advb. accusative of distance. Phrase, to walk a turn, to walk once up and once down.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst. xxviii. 261. With lucas and with cleophas he welke a day Iurnee.
1548. [see f].
1610. Shaks., Temp., IV. i. 162. A turne or two Ile walke To still my beating minde.
1653. Holcroft, Procopius, Pers. Wars, I. 6. They prayed the King to walk some turns with Arsaces in their presence, to be witnesses of what passed.
1753. Jane Collier, Art Torment., II. iv. 177. Strange disorders in her head, for which she is advised to walk long walks.
1819. Scott, Ivanhoe, xxxiv. They walked a turn through the hall.
1833. Dickens, Sk. Boz, Mr. Minns. I’ve walked all the way from Stamford-hill this morning. Ibid. (1836), Criminal Courts. They walked a few paces, and paused.
1895. J. Winsor, Mississ. Basin, 239. A scandalous act of Thomas Penn some years back (1737), had asserted inordinate claims by virtue of what was known as the ‘Walking Purchase.’ The extent of the concession was dependent on the distance a man could walk in a day and a half by an honest tramp.
Proverb. 1605. Erondelle, Fr. Gard., M 6 b. After Dinner sit a while: After Supper walke a mile.
e. In express or implied contrast with ride. Also colloq. to walk it.
1668. Pepys, Diary, 16 Sept. Walking it to the Temple; and in my way observe that the Stockes are now pulled quite down.
1712. Steele, Spectator, No. 454, ¶ 6. When I resolved to walk it out of Cheapness.
1766. Goldsm., Vicar W., x. I therefore walked back by the horse-way.
1805. T. Holcroft, Bryan Perdue, III. 185. I was obliged to walk the journey.
1853. Dickens, Bleak Ho., vi. We alighted and walked all the hills.
1883. C. Howard, Roads Eng. & Wales (ed. 3), 84. A dangerous descent, best walked down into Banwell. Ibid., 139. A long stiff ascent … which most tourists will walk up.
1915. W. J. Childs, in Blackw. Mag., April, 466/2. He had ridden and I had walked before him.
f. More explicitly, To walk on foot, also (now rarely) afoot. † Also transf. of a stream: To flow slowly (obs.).
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. VI. 1 (MS. H.). Now riden þis folk & walken on fote to seche þat seint in selcoupe londis.
c. 1375. Cursor M., 18548 (Fairf.). Þa iewes sagh þis ilk man … a-pon þe see wiþ-outen wete dry to walke a-pon his fete [Cott. and Gött. Gangand als apon a strete].
1548. Udall, etc., Erasm. Par. John, xii. 12–6. Where as before he was wunte to walke his iourneyes on foote.
1565. Stapleton, trans. Bede’s Hist. Ch. Eng., 114. The said … bishop Chadde was wonte alwaies to … doo the worke of the ghospell more walking a fote wher he went, than on horsebacke.
1621. H. King, Serm., 37. But Kings haue walkt afoote whilest the Pope hath rode.
1747. W. Horsley, Fool (1748), II. 252. When it [the blood] walks a Foot, in an even, regular Peace, every Faculty coincides.
1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, IX. vi. How comes it … that such a great Gentleman walks about the Country afoot?
a. 1774. Goldsm., Hist. Greece, II. 221. The King walked on foot among the infantry.
1810. S. Green, Reformist, II. 37. When he quitted Ellingford, he resolved always to walk on foot.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., v. I. 561. The prisoner … walked on foot, barehended, up the whole length of that stately street which … leads from Holyrood House to the Castle.
g. With advs. in, up, † forth, and const. into, the use of this vb. instead of the indefinite come or go sometimes implies an additional notion of absence of pausing or hesitation. So, ‘in the ceremonious language of invitation’ (J.). Walk in = ‘come in’ (now chiefly in rustic use). Similarly in the showman’s ‘Walk up! walk up!’ when the show is on a raised platform.
In general, the tendency to substitute ‘come’ or ‘go’ for this verb has become much more prevalent since the 16–17th c.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 19737. Paulus þan welk forth her and þar, And spelled fast wit-vten spar.
1450. Paston Lett., I. 111. Than we welk forthe, and desyryd an answer of hem.
1598. Shaks., Merry W., I. i. 291. I pray you Sir walke in.
1614. J. Cooke, Greene’s Tu Quoque, B 2. Pre thee, walke in, what you bargaine for, Ile discharge.
1696. Vanbrugh, Relapse, IV. v. If your Lordship please to walk in, we’ll help you to some Brown Sugar-Candy.
1797. Jane Austen, Sense & Sensib., xxx. Mrs. Jennings … opened the door and walked in with a look of real concern.
1804. J. Tobin, Honey Moon, I. i. (1805), 12. Of as tried a courage As ever walk’d up to the roaring throats Of a deep-rang’d artillery.
1834. Mary Howitt, Spider & Fly, 1. ‘Will you walk into my parlour?’ said the Spider to the Fly.
1836. Dickens, Sk. Boz, Tuggs’s at Ramsgate. ‘Won’t you walk in, sir?’ said the servant. Ibid. (1838), Nickleby, iii. The voice replied that the gentleman was to walk up. Ibid. (1840), Old C. Shop, xlviii. Close here, sir, if you please to walk this way.
1847. Helps, Friends in C., I. viii. 149. Men walk up composedly to the most perilous enterprises.
1867. H. Latham, Black & White, Pref. p. vi. Every American’s house cannot be walked into, like the President’s; but [etc.].
1907. J. H. Patterson, Man-Eaters of Tsavo, ix. 101. Rather foolishly, I at once scrambled down from the tree and walked up towards him [the lion].
1909. in I. G. Sieveking, Francis W. Newman, vi. 126. The door opened and the Professor walked in.
h. To move about or go from place to place on foot for the sake of exercise, pleasure or pastime; to take a walk or walks. † Also with abroad.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 4778. Jacob yode walcand be þe nile.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. IX. 54. And as I wente bi a wode walkyng myn one, Blisse of þe Briddes made me to Abyde.
c. 1381. Chaucer, Parl. Foules, 297. Forth welk I tho mi seluyn to solace.
c. 1400. Parce Mihi, 1, in 26 Pol. Poems, 143. By a forest syde, walkyng as I went, Disporte to take.
1569. Spenser, Vis. Petrarch, 73. On hearbs and flowres she walked pensiuely.
1573–80. Tusser, Husb. (1878), 42. Saue sawe dust, and brick dust, and ashes as fine, for alley to walke in, with neighbour of thine.
1617. S. H., Engl. Mans Doctor, II. (1624), 41. When you arise in the morning … remember to powre foorth your prayers vnto God … Then walke ye gently.
a. 1626. Bacon, Med. Rem., Baconiana (1679), 161. Stir up the Pouder when you drink, and walk upon it.
1640. trans. Verdere’s Rom. of Rom., II. 120. Carinda said he, being gone out to walk in the garden.
1653. W. Ramesey, Astrol. Restored, 192. And as touching walking abroad, some of the Ancients have been large.
1685. Caldwell Papers (Maitl. Club), I. 153. [At Spa] There is a pleasant garden of the Capuciners, where drinkers of the waters generallie walk.
1718. Lady M. W. Montagu, Lett. to C’tess Mar, 10 March. She asked me to walk in her garden.
1745. Eliza Haywood, Female Spect., XII. (1748), II. 309. That monarch being walking in the Mall one day, was infinitely charmed with the beauty of a young lady who happened to be there.
1830. Portugal; or Yng. Travellers, 239. As he spoke, Mr. Grey rose from table and invited them to walk.
1867. Augusta Wilson, Vashti, xxi. ‘Stay, Salome! Where are you going?’ ‘To walk.’
† i. transf. To take air and exercise (on horseback). Obs.
1541. Wyatt, Def., in H. Walpole, Misc. Antiq., II. (1772), 49. There be maynie men in the towne and most of them gentlemen, wch walke upon there horses, and here and there tawlke with those ladies.
j. To walk (out) with, to walk together: in rustic use said of a young man and young woman ‘keeping company’ with a view to marriage.
1876. Miss Yonge, Womankind, xxiii. 195. There is a semi-engaged state of ‘walking’ with a man on trial.
1886. Hardy, Mayor Casterbr., xx. She … no longer said of young men and women that they ‘walked together’ but that they were ‘engaged.’
1896. Housman, Shropsh. Lad, xxv. Rose Harland on her Sundays out Walked with the better man. Ibid. When Rose and I walk out together.
1902. W. W. Jacobs, Lady of Barge, 5. There’s a certain young woman I’m walking out with I——.
1905. Jerome, Idle Ideas, xx. ‘You are not engaged, I ’ope?’ ‘Walking out, ma’am, do you mean?’ says Emma.
1906. Times, 26 Nov., 3/6. Her sister knew him in the way of business, but had never walked out with him.
† k. Followed by a (= on) and vbl. sb.: = GO v. 32 e. Obs.
1533. More, Answ. Poysoned Bk., Wks. 1076/2. Like as if a ryght great man woulde wantonly walke a mumming, and disguise hymself.
l. In various phrases. † To walk at rovers: to have no settled abode (cf. ROVER1 2). To walk Spanish: see SPANISH C. To walk upon air: to be in an exultant state of mind. † To walk will of one’s way (Sc.): to go astray, lose oneself.
c. 1475. Rauf Coilȝear, 73. Or ony vther gude fallow that I heir fand Walkand will of his way. Ibid., 106. In wickit wedderis and weit walkand full will.
1528. More, Dial. Heresyes, III. Wks. 228/1. The order is rebuked by priestes begging and lewde liuing, which either is fayne to walke at rouers and liue upon trentalles or worse or els [etc.].
1887. Stevenson, Mem. & Portr., iv. 72. I went home that morning walking upon air.
m. Racing. Or a jockey: To weigh (so much) when going on foot.
1856. ‘Druid,’ Post & Paddock, v. 83. He was about 5 ft. 5 in. in height, walked about 9 st. 5 lbs. in the winter months, and could ride, if required for a great race, 7 st. 12 lbs. to the last.
n. quasi-trans. with complementary adj., adv. or phrase. To walk off, to get rid of the effects of liquor, an ailment) by walking exercise. Also in nonce-uses: To walk down, to counteract (poison) by walking; to exhaust (a companion) by walking; to walk out a sermon, to continue walking till it has ended.
1669. Pepys, Diary, 2 May. Thence with them to White Hall, and there walked out the sermon with one or other.
1823. Scott, Quentin D., iii. I have walked my clothes dry, or nearly so.
1860. Sala, Baddington Peerage, I. vii. 131. Perhaps he wished to walk off the fumes of the punch and tobacco.
1872. Black, Adv. Phaeton, xix. He would have liked … to have … walked himself dead with fatigue.
1884. Harper’s Mag., Jan., 302/2. A walker who gives promise of great things if he doesn’t walk his short legs off within the next two or three years.
1884. Tennyson, Cup, II. 260. I pray you lift me And make me walk awhile. I have heard these poisons May be walk’d down.
1894. Frances P. Cobbe, Life, I. 341. I do believe I could walk down anybody and perhaps talk down anybody too!
o. Naut. To turn (the capstan) by walking round it; to haul by walking round the capstan or by walking away with a rope.
1836. Marryat, Pirate, viii. The men … walked the anchor up to the bows.
1882. Nares, Seamanship (ed. 6), 118. Walk the yard up to the derrick head with the hawser. Ibid., 203. Walk the anchor up the bow. Ibid., 172. Walk back the capstan.
6. fig. a. Chiefly in religious use, after Bible examples: To conduct oneself, behave (ill or well, wisely or unwisely). Sometimes with reference to a metaphorical ‘path’ or ‘way.’ To walk with God (Gen. v. 22), interpreted to mean ‘to lead a godly life’ (so rendered by Coverdale, after Luther; later versions retain the Heb. phrase), or to have intimate communion with God.
Cf. Heb. hālak, Gr. περιπατεῖν, Vulg. ambulare.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 213. O man (sayth scripture) walke in ye wayes of thy herte as moche as thou wylte, but [etc.].
1526. Tindale, 2 Thess. iii. 6. We requyre you … that ye withdrawe youre selves from every brother that walketh inordinatly [Vulg. ambulante inordinate].
1550. Crowley, Last Trump., 516. And then, lyke a good Christian, Thou doste walke forth in thy callynge.
1581. J. Hamilton, Cath. Traict., Epist. 8 b. To … trauell to reduce yame to ye treu vay quhairin all yair forbearis valkit yir mony hundreth zeris bygane.
a. 1593. Marlowe, Ovid’s Elegies, III. xiii. [xiv.] 13. Be more aduisde, walke as a puritan, And I shall thinke you chaste, do what you can.
a. 1629. Hinde, J. Bruen, xliv. (1641), 140. It was the desire and delight of his soule to walke with God.
1669. Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., Penalties & Forfeit., c. 2. If all … had but the knowledge of what they should know, they might prevent this loss and damage, and walk safely.
1681. Flavel, Meth. Grace, xxx. 323. When a man walks suitably to his place and calling in the world, we say he acts like himself.
1853. Maurice, Proph. & Kings, vi. 93. If he walked in God’s ways he would establish a sure house.
1872. Morley, Voltaire (1886), 11. Those do best who walk most warily.
b. To direct one’s conduct by, after a rule, etc.
1581. Lambarde, Eiren., II. ii. (1588), 113. Many other wayes there bee, after which the Iustice of Peace may walke in taking of this kind of Recognusance.
1706. E. Ward, Wooden World Diss. (1708), 39. He is the great Exempler they walk by.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 25, ¶ 4. Give me more certain Rules to walk by than those I have already observed.
1821. Scott, Kenilw., xxv. I give thee way, good imp, and will walk by thy counsel.
1884. W. C. Smith, Kildrostan, 46. We judge a stranger by our home-bred ways, Who, may be, walks by other rule of right.
† c. To be associated, act harmoniously with. Also to walk together. Obs.
1620. J. Taylor (Water P.), Jack a Lent, Ep. A 3 b. And though it be written in a mery stile, yet I dare presume that mirth and truth walke together in it.
1650. H. Ellis, Pseudo-christus, 7. After this, he walked sometime in fellowship with that Congregation.
1657. Docum. S. Paul’s (Camden), 155. The congregation yt wallke wth Mr John Symson.
a. 1709. J. Lister, Autobiog. (1842), 50. My wife and myself, were admitted into the church at Kipping, with which we walked satisfyingly many years. Ibid., 51. Some of his hearers left him [the pastor], and others walked with him till new matters of dissatisfaction broke out. Ibid. After he was gone, the church at Kipping was again united, and walked sweetly together, but could not get a pastor.
† d. To walk wide in words: to argue at cross purposes. Obs.
1529. More, Dyaloge, I. xviii. 23. Wythout whych we were lyke to walke wyde in wordys.
† e. To proceed, ‘go’ upon (grounds). Obs.
1828. Life Planter Jamaica, 252. What grounds of probability have we to walk upon that the present negroes … would act otherwise.
7. To go on foot at a walk: see WALK sb.1 5.
a. Of human beings or other bipeds: To progress by alternate movements of the legs, so that one of the feet is always on the ground: contrasted with run, hop, etc. To walk through (a dance) = 7 e; similarly of an actor, to walk through his part (cf. quot. 1824).
1762. Foote, Orator, I. Wks. 1799, I. 193. Soft and fair; we must walk before we can run.
1815. Stephens, in Shaw’s Gen. Zool., IX. I. 65. The progressive motion of this bird is not by walking but hopping.
1824. Scott, Redgauntlet, ch. xix. That caprice which so often tempts painters and musicians and great actors, in the phrase of the latter, to walk through their part, instead of exerting themselves with the energy which acquired their fame.
1859. Habits of Gd. Society, v. 206. ‘Steps,’ as the chasser of the quadrille is called, belong to a past age, and even ladies are now content to walk through a quadrille.
1861. Whyte-Melville, Mkt. Harb., v. It must have been a fine run; but slow…. It’s labour and sorrow, walking after hounds, to my mind.
1868. J. Burroughs, Wake-robin, viii. (1884), 295. Among the land-birds, the grouse, pigeon, quails, larks, and various blackbirds, walk.
1894. Daily News, 10 Aug., 5/3. A bluejacket never walks, when an order is given, but does everything at the double.
b. Of a horse, dog or other quadruped: To advance by a gait in which there are always two feet on the ground, and during a part of the step three or (in slow walking) four feet: opposed to amble, trot, gallop, etc. Also said of a rider.
1681. Lond. Gaz., No. 1639/4. Lost…, a bright Bay Gelding, 14 hands high,… Walks, Trots, and Gallops, something dull in going, but will leap very well.
1818. Scott, Br. Lamm., xxxiii. Ravenswood walked on with equal deliberation until he reached the head of the avenue…. When he had passed the upper gate, he turned his horse.
1863. W. C. Baldwin, Afr. Hunting, vii. 252. It was only the dogs walking among the dead leaves.
c. To walk over (the course): of a horse, literally, to go over the course at a walking pace, so as to be accounted the winner of a race in which there is no opposition; transf. and fig. to win a race or other contest with little or no effort. To walk away from, to outdistance easily in a race (in quot. fig.). Also (U.S. colloq.) to walk round (an opponent): to beat easily.
1779. Warner, in Jesse, Selwyn & Contemp. (1844), IV. 245. A little on this side the park is Sir John Thorold’s, who, you see by the papers, is walking over the course for the county.
1823. ‘Jon Bee,’ Dict. Turf, s.v., ‘To walk over’ another, is … to set him at naught, as a racer which is so vastly superior to other cattle that none dare start, and he walks over the course.
1832. P. Egan’s Bk. Sports, 117/2. At Knutsford … he won the Gold Cup…; and walked over for the Pengwern Stakes at Holywell.
1862. Cornh. Mag., V. 26. I was promptly assured that … I should be elected without opposition…; in short I should walk over the course.
1883. Miss Broughton, Belinda, IV. iii. ‘Beaten by a banjo!’ says she tragically; ‘if it had not been for the banjo I should have walked away from her.’
1890. Rules of Racing, § 142, in Encycl. Sport (1898), II. 227. When one horse pays forfeit for a match the other need not walk over.
1901. Westm. Gaz., 29 June, 9/3. To use a colloquial expression, they ‘walked round’ Gamble and Davies.
¶ d. transf. Of a vehicle, a ship, a stream: To go very slowly. nonce-uses.
1827. Pollok, Course T., I. 346. Round his sacred hill, a streamlet walked, Warbling the holy melodies of heaven.
1852. Mundy, Antipodes (1857), 200. Our steamer ran, or rather walked—for she could make no running—plump upon a rock off Bradley’s Head.
1865. Emerson, Lett., in Harper’s Mag. (1884), Feb., 464/1. The train walked all the way.
e. trans. To go through (a dance, esp. a minuet) at a walk.
1810. [see MINUET 1].
1827. Lytton, Pelham, xl. They just walk a quadrille or spin a waltz,… hang dancing, ’tis so vulgar.
1859. Habits of Gd. Society, v. 207. I do not attempt to deny that the quadrille, as now walked, is ridiculous.
1863. Cowden Clarke, Shaks. Char., xiv. 362. He walked his minuet in life, and he danced out of it with a caper.
8. To go away. a. simply or † with away, forth. Formerly often in imperative = ‘begone,’ with a vocative of some term of opprobrium (sometimes retained in indirect narration). Now only colloq., to go away perforce, be turned out; also slang, to die.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., ii. 106. Leif brother, let vs be walkand.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 140 b. Yf than the porter wold come forth sodeynly & all to beet vs, & bydde vs walke forth vnthryftes with sorowe.
a. 1529. Skelton, Agst. Garnesche, iv. 60. Sche praiid yow walke, on Goddes halfe!
1529. More, Dyaloge, I. xiv. 18 b. He bad hym walk faytoure. And made hym be sett openly in ye stokkys.
1530. Palsgr., 770/2. Walke, pyke you hence: tire auant.
1530. Tindale, Pract. Prelates, G v b. The Cardinall bad him walcke a vilayne.
1546. J. Heywood, Prov., II. iv. (1867), 52. Walke drab walke. Nay (quoth she) walke knaue walke.
1605. Chapman, All Fooles, I. B 4 b. I like his learning well, make him your heire, And let your other walke.
1607. Middleton, Mich. Term, II. iii. 169. It stands upon the loss of my credit to-night, if I walk without money.
1712. Swift, Jrnl. to Stella, 26 Dec. Lord Bolingbroke told me I must walk away to-day after dinner, because lord treasurer and he and another were to enter upon business.
1858. Trollope, Dr. Thorne, iv. If the governor were to walk, I think Porlock would content himself with the thirty thousand a-year.
1902. S. E. White, Blazed Trail, xxviii. If I want to discharge a man, he walks without any question.
† b. transf. Of animals: To be stolen. Of a thing: To be got rid of; to be carried off. To let (something) walk: to dismiss from attention. Obs.
c. 1440. Capgrave, Life St. Kath., 672. Lete argumentys walk, þei ar not to our be-houe.
1573–80. Tusser, Husb. (1878), 141. There horse being tide on a balke, is readie with theefe for to walke.
1596. Spenser, State Irel., Wks. (Globe), 619/2. When he comes foorth, he will make theyr cowes and garrans to walke, yf he doe noe other mischeif to theyr persons.
1611. Chapman, May-Day, I. ii. Nay, they [sc. houses] shall walke, thats certaine, Ile turne ’em into money.
c. With off: To depart suddenly or abruptly. To walk off with: to carry away as a prize or plunder.
1604. Marston, Malcontent, III. v. E 4 b. I am heauie, walke of, I shall talke in my sleepe, walke of. Exeunt Pages.
1705. Vanbrugh, Mistake, IV. i. Jacin. Have a care he don’t rally, and beat you yet tho’; pray walk off.
1836. Col. Hawker, Diary (1893), II. 107. A green sub. … had walked off with my portmanteau.
1840. Thackeray, Barber Cox, April. I gave Master Baron that day a precious good beating, and walked off with no less than fifteen shillings of his money.
1848. Dickens, Dombey, ii. Mr. Chick … said no more, and walked off.
c. 1850. Arab. Nts. (Rtldg.), 147. Why dost thou not depart with the rest? Walk off.
1888. ‘J. S. Winter,’ Bootle’s Childr., ix. And then she gave another sniff and walked off to the drawing-room again.
1889. Conan Doyle, Sign of Four, ix. Wait a bit, my friend,… You have important information, and you must not walk off. We shall keep you, whether you like or not, until our friend returns.
9. Of a ghost, spectre, fiend: To be seen walking, to appear. Of a dead person: To ‘come back’ as a ghost. Also † to walk out.
For the ghost walks (Theat. Slang), see GHOST sb. 8 b.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 22611. Quen sal scine [= chine] þe heuennes open, þaa warlaus all sal walk þan vte.
c. 1440. Gesta Rom., 408 (Add. MS.). All the chambres were take vp, safe oon, in the which was a sperite walkyng.
a. 1513. Fabyan’s Chron., clxxix. (1533), 105. He also for that the munkes of wynchester says that his father Alurede walkyd, caused hym to be remoued vnto the new abbay.
1542. Udall, Erasm. Apoph., 111 b. Sore subiecte to the terrours of buggues, and spyrytes, or goblyns, that walken by night and in places solitarie.
1573. L. Lloyd, Pilgr. Princes, 101. We reade in Lucan how that the soules of Silla and Marius … were alwayes walking and appearing vnto men before they were purged by sacrifice.
1602. Shaks., Ham., I. v. 10. I am thy Father’s Spirit Doom’d for a certaine terme to walke the night.
1611. Tourneur, Ath. Trag., IV. iii. There’s a talke, thou know’st, that the Ghoast of olde Montfarers walks.
a. 1625. Fletcher, Hum. Lieut., III. v. I make your Grace my Executor, and I beseech ye See my poor Will fulfill’d: sure I shall walk else.
1727. De Foe, Hist. Appar., x. 201. Such a courage … would … lay all the devils that ever walked.
1801. Scott, Glenfinlas, xlvi. Alone, I dare not venture there, Where walks, they say, the shrieking ghost.
1882. A. Jessopp in 19th Cent., Nov., 737. Everybody knows that it’s an awful thing for a dead man to walk.
1888. Stevenson, Black Arrow, Prol. 12. Would ye rob the man before his body? Nay, he would walk!
10. ‘To act in sleep’ (J.); to walk about or perform other actions as a somnambulist. Rare exc. in the full phrase to walk in one’s sleep.
1605. Shaks., Macb., V. i. 3. When was it shee [Lady Macbeth] last walk’d? Ibid., 66. Yet I haue knowne those which haue walkt in their sleep, who haue dyed holily in their beds.
1607. Dekker & Webster, Northw. Hoe, III. E 1 b. My mistris makes her husband belieue that shee walkes in her sleepe.
1728. Chambers’ Cycl., Somnambuli, an Appellation given to People, who walk in their Sleep.
1848. Dickens, Dombey, xxxix. Some uneasy ideas that he must be walking in his sleep, or that he had been troubled with phantoms,… beset the Captain at first.
11. To go on foot in procession; also, to go in a regular circuit or to and fro over a prescribed track in the course of official duty. Also with cognate accus., as in to walk one’s round(s, the round, a round, said esp. of a sentinel.
1594–1600. Min. Archdeaconry Colchester (MS.), 99 b, 19 April 1596. Our perambulacion was not walked through the defalte of our vicar.
1596. Spenser, State Irel., Wks. (Globe), 679/1. The sheriff of the shire, whose peculiar office it is to walke continuallye up and downe his baly-wick,… to snatch up all those runnagates [etc.]. Ibid. The sherriff may doe therin what he can, and yet the marshall may walke his course besides.
1639. Du Verger, trans. Camus’ Admir. Events, 102. Octavian coms accompanyed with his friend Leobell to walke his accustomed round.
a. 1700. Evelyn, Diary, 12 Sept. 1641. I was permitted to walk the round and view the workes.
1831. Scott, Ct. Robt., xviii. If the lovers have agreed, Agelastes, it is probable, walks his round, to prevent intrusion.
1863. Geo. Eliot, Romola, xxii. He … was to walk in procession as Latin secretary.
transf. and fig. 1629. Massinger, Picture, II. i. Dreames and phantasticke visions walke the round About my widdowed bed.
1834. H. Miller, Scenes & Leg., xxiv. (1857), 351. He continued to walk the round of his duties.
† b. Oxford University. (a) Of a proctor or proproctor: To perambulate the streets at night, in the exercise of his function. (b) of the proctors: To march to and fro in the Convocation House, as part of the ceremony of conferring degrees.
1530. in W. H. Turner, Select. Rec. Oxford (1880), 77. It was proved that the ij Proctors servaunts walkyd wt other persons as plesyd them, and theyr maisters walkyd not nor noe other for them.
1677. Wood, Life (O.H.S.), II. 384. I [a Proproctor] walk by the authoritie of the vice-chancellour. Ibid., 391. Dr. Nicholas … verie active in walking and hauling taverns.
1906. J. Wells, Oxf. Degree Cerem., 8. Within living memory it was necessary for each ‘grace’ to be taken separately, and the Proctors ‘walked’ for each candidate. Ibid., 9. It is currently believed that the Proctors walk in order to give any Oxford tradesman the opportunity of ‘plucking’ their gown and protesting against the degree of a defaulting candidate.
12. Walk into —. (Colloquial or slang.) a. In phrase to walk into (a person’s) affections, to win the love of (a person) at once and without effort. Sometimes used jocularly for b or c.
1858. in K. Young, Delhi 1857, App. 328. Major Erskine was fearful that the jolly 50th would have walked into the affections of the Madrassees, and then all would have gone a regular smash.
b. To make a vigorous attack upon.
1794. Ld. Hood, 14 July, in Nicolas, Disp. & Lett. Nelson (1845), I. 438, note. From your rapid firing last night I flattered myself it was intended to walk into the Mozelle as this night.
1852. C. B. Mansfield, Paraguay, etc. (1856), 20. Some small spermaceti whales, which came in for a lark (luckily for them, after the American and French vessels had left, who would assuredly have walked into them).
1853. ‘C. Bede,’ Verdant Green, I. xi. His claret had been repeatedly tapped, his bread-basket walked into, his day-lights darkened.
transf. 1840. Cockton, Val. Vox, xiii. The carver walked into the pie and bounteously helped each man, woman, and child, to a share.
1846. De Quincey, Syst. Heavens (1862), III. 185. A call was heard for Lord Rosse! and immediately his telescope walked into Orion; destroyed the supposed matter of stars; but, in return, created immeasurable worlds.
c. To assail with invective or reproof.
1859. Lang, Wand. India, 399. His Excellency ‘walked into’ the President, and recommended him to study some catechism of the Law of Courts Martial.
1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxf., ix. He walks into us all as if it were our faults.
d. To eat or drink heartily of, to ‘make a hole in.’
1837. Dickens, Pickw., xxii. I wish you could ha’ seen the shepherd walkin’ into the ham and muffins.
1849. Alb. Smith, Pottleton Legacy, xxvi. 280. Look at that little fellow—how he is walking into the raised pie, and how ill he will be to-morrow!
1850. Smedley, F. Fairlegh, xiv. I must walk into old Coleman’s champagne before I make a fresh start.
1871. M. Collins, Marq. & Merch., III. iii. 78. He … with most voracious swallow Walks into my mutton chops.
e. To make large inroads on (one’s stock of money).
1859. H. Kingsley, G. Hamlyn, xv. ‘And you’ve got her money?’ ‘Yes,’ he said; ‘but I’ve been walking into it.’
III. trans. To perambulate, traverse: = walk over, upon, etc.
† 13. To travel over (a country, etc.). Cf. 2. Obs.
a. 1400–50. Wars Alex., 519. Sire, þer sall borne be a barne of þi blithe lady, þat driȝtyn eiter þi day has destaned to regne, þe quilke sall walke all þe werd & wyn it him selfe.
14. Of fame, etc.: To pervade (a country). Cf. 3 b. Obs. exc. as transferred use of 17.
c. 1350. St. John, 43, in Horstm., Altengl. Leg. (1881), 35. Þe word of him welk al þe land.
1806. Wordsw., Char. Happy Warrior, 77. Whether praise of him must walk the earth For ever, and to noble deeds give birth, Or he must fall, to sleep without his fame.
15. To go over or traverse on foot.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 3155. He welk þat fell ner dais thre To sek þe sted quar he wald be.
1576. Gascoigne, Kenelworth Castle, Wks. 1910, II. 108. Beware (I say) least whiles we walke these woods,… Some harmfull hart entrap your harmlesse moodes.
1748. Johnson, Van. Hum. Wishes, 38. The needy traveller … Walks the wild heath.
1763. P. Collinson, in Darlington, Memorials (1849), 257. They [Indians] were notoriously … cheated out of their land in your province [Penn.], by a man’s walking a tract of ground in one day, that was to be purchased of them.
1871. Simpson, Recit., 9. Hundreds of diggers daily then were walking Melbourne town with their pockets filled with gold.
1868. Browning, Ring & Bk., X. 360. When man walks the garden of this world For his own solace.
b. in contrast with ride.
1864. Good Words, 516/2. Devonshire, to be properly seen, should be walked.
c. Of a stallion: To travel over (a tract of country) serving mares.
1898. Daily News, 9 March, 4/4. The judging yesterday began with stallions that are to walk the Eastern and Midland counties.
16. To walk on or along (a road). To walk the street(s: see STREET sb. 2 f.
1530. Palsgr., 770/2. In dede you walke the stretes.
1577. Grange, Golden Aphrod., etc., P j. They onely walke the streates, to see and to be seene.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. x. 10. All … take delight With many rather for to go astray … Than with a few to walke the narrow way.
b. in contrast with ride.
1883. C. Howard, Roads Eng. & Wales (ed. 3), 3. The very steep ascent of Chatham Hill, which most riders will walk. Ibid., 134. A very bad hill leading down into Rickmansworth, which is best walked.
17. To walk about upon (a surface, the ground, the sea, etc.). So Naut., of an officer, to walk the deck, the quarter-deck.
To walk the plank: see PLANK sb. 6.
1634. Milton, Lycidas, 173. Through the dear might of him, that walk’d the waves. Ibid. (1667), P. L., V. 200. Yee that in Waters glide, and yee that walk The Earth, and stately tread, or lowly creep. Ibid., VII. 503. Aire, Water, Earth, By Fowl, Fish, Beast, was flown, was swum, was walkt.
1706. E. Ward, Wooden World Diss. (1708), 7. It must be a great Change of Weather indeed, when he deigns to walk the Quarter-Deck.
1814. Scott, Lord of Isles, IV. xvi. Edward, who walk’d the deck apart.
1840. Marryat, Poor Jack, vi. He was … walking the deck.
1849. Aytoun, Poems, Heart of Bruce, v. The good Lord Douglas walk’d the deck.
1872. M. Collins, Two Plunges for Pearl, III. 71. He walked the moorland as if it were his native earth.
1885. R. L. & F. Stevenson, Dynamiter, xiii. 197. He continued to walk the pavements.
transf. 1813. Byron, Corsair, I. iii. She [the ship] walks the waters like a thing of life.
a. 1861. T. Winthrop, Life in Open Air (1863), 3. At five P.M. we found ourselves … on board the Isaac Newton, a great, ugly, three-tiered box that walks the North River.
18. To walk along (a line); to perambulate (a boundary). Cf. 11.
To walk the chalk (slang): to walk along a chalked line (as a proof of being sober). To walk one’s chalks (slang): see CHALK sb. 6 b.
1602–5. Min. Archdeaconry Colchester (MS.), 104, 1604. They did not walke the bounds of ther parishe.
1823. ‘Jon Bee,’ Dict. Turf, s.v., ‘To walk the chalk’—a military manœuvre to discover which is drunkest.
1835. York Gaz., 4 Aug., 1/4. Walk a crack, or you must walk your chalk before the Mayor.
1842. Punch, II. 20. Ere death her charms should fix, Gladly I’d walk my chalks or cut my sticks.
1876. Farrar, Marlb. Serm., xxiii. 226. You cannot walk the dim borderland between vice and virtue without knowing it.
† 19. To attend, frequent (the exchange, a market). Obs.
1634. Peacham, Compl. Gentl., i. (1906), 15. In Venice likewise, every Mechanique is a Magnifico, though his magnificence walketh the Market but with a Chequin.
1649. W. Bullock, Virginia, 43. Let him then enquire of the principallest straights and Spanish Merchants, walking the Exchange.
1750. Johnson, Rambler, No. 182, ¶ 6. To walk the exchange with a face of importance.
b. To walk the hospitals or a hospital: to receive regular clinical instruction and assist in surgical work.
1781. G. White, Lett. to S. Barker, 26 Nov. I have not yet heard—whether he will walk the hospitals in town.
1807. Picture of Lond. (ed. 8), 235. The combined method of walking the hospitals and attending lectures. Ibid. (1823), (ed. 22), 211. A number of young men, who walk the hospital, as it is termed.
1887. Ruskin, Præterita, II. 333. He became … a … medical student, came up to London to walk the hospitals.
20. Shooting. To start (game-birds) by beating walk up the ground with pointers or setters. Usually to walk up.
1873. G. S. Baden-Powell, New Homes, 255. A good dog for putting them [sc. quail] up would be very valuable, but [etc.]…. Walking up quail, even with the help of a chain, is equally unsatisfactory.
1900. G. C. Brodrick, Mem. & Impressions, 8. Year in and year out they lived at home,… walking up their own game with the aid of pointers.
1913. Times, 12 Sept., 12/6. Now voices are raised in favour of a return … to the use of pointers and setters, in conjunction with the system of walking-up the birds. Ibid. Walked or driven, moreover, the partridge gives more enjoyment to many keen shots than all the pheasants in a beat.
IV. Causative uses.
21. To lead, drive or ride (a horse) at a walk; to exercise (a horse, a dog) by causing it to walk. Also with out.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, V. ix. 176. A man armed walkynge his hors easyly by a wodes syde.
1562. Child-Marriages (1897), 82. This deponent scarslie rested walkinge the horses at the doore, half or quarter of an howre, when one callid hym in to his Mistris.
1601. W. Percy, Cuckqueanes & Cuckolds Errants, IV. ii. (Roxb.), 48. Sirrha Rooke, take my Nagge, and see you walk him faire and soft to Colchester.
1615. G. Markham, Country Contentm., I. vii. 103. Touching ayring or walking of grey-hounds … it must dewlie be done euerie morning before sunne-rise, [etc.].
1681. T. Flatman, Heraclitus Ridens, No. 32 (1713), I. 206. Let’s walk them a little; for they have run Heats, and must be rubb’d down well.
1833. T. Hook, Parson’s Dau., I. vii. As he walked his cob [he was riding] back from the fields.
1835. H. Harewood, Dict. Sports, s.v. Training, Taking care that he [the horse] is walked for some time afterward, that he may become rather cool before he returns to the stable.
1866. Kingsley, Herew., xvii. You may walk your bloodhound over his grave to-morrow without finding him.
1872. Black, Adv. Phaeton, vi. We had walked the horses nearly to the end of the pleasant stretch of beechwood.
1903. A. E. T. Watson, Hunting, in Encycl. Brit., XXIX. 365/2. The kennel huntsman is generally called the ‘feeder.’ It is his business to look after the pack which is not hunting, to walk them out, to prepare the food for the hunting pack.
transf. 1583. Melbancke, Philotimus, S j. If you be chafed you shal be walked, if you be hot you may be cooled.
22. To cause or induce (a person to walk); to conduct on a walk. Also with advs., off, out, etc. † Walk your body (Sc.) = take yourself off, begone (obs.).
1630. J. Taylor (Water P.), Gt. Eater of Kent, Wks. I. 144. Now Gentlemen, as I haue walked you amongst the Trees, and thorow the Wood, I pray set downe, and take a taste or two more of this Banquet.
1667. Pepys, Diary, 14 July. Then I carried them to see my cozen Pepys’s house…; and then I walked them to the wood hard by.
1717. Berkeley, in Fraser, Life (1871), 547. He walked us round the town.
c. 1730. Ramsay, To Æolus, 11. Pray wauk your body, if you please, Gae gowl and tooly on the seas.
1818. T. Jefferson, Writ. (1830), IV. 448. He walked me backwards and forwards before the President’s door for half an hour.
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, lvii. She slaved, toiled … for old Sedley, walked him out sedulously into Kensington Gardens.
1883. Miss Yonge, Armourer’s Prent., ii. Stephen and Ambrose found themselves walked out of the cloister of St. Grimbald, and the gates shut behind them.
1912. J. S. Fletcher, in Throne, 7 Aug., 224/2. He soon drew me out of the office to walk me off in the direction of Gray’s Inn Road.
b. To force to walk (by holding the arms or pushing before one). Also, to help to walk.
To walk (a person) Spanish: see SPANISH C.
1809. R. K. Porter, Russ. & Swed. (1813), II. 21. The poor wretch, attended by the police, had been walked through the streets; in order to shew him to the populace.
1848. Dickens, Dombey, xii. Mr. Feeder himself held a glass of water to his [the boy’s] lips, and the butler walked him up and down several times between his own chair and the sideboard. Ibid. (1853), Bleak Ho., xxii. Thirdly, Mr. Bucket has to take Jo by the arm a little above the elbow, and walk him on before him.
1918. F. Hackett, Ireland, viii. 230. Good bewildered people who never knew they were deemed blameworthy until they were walked out to the guillotine.
23. a. To take charge of (a puppy) ‘at walk’ (see WALK sb. 13). b. To keep (a game-cock) in a ‘walk.’
a. 1845. Youatt, Dog, iii. 75. Whelps walked, or taken care of, at butchers’ houses … are apt to be heavy-shouldered and throaty.
1887. Field, 19 Feb., 229/1. The practice of walking puppies is not quite so prevalent as it used to be.
1907. Times, 3 Oct., 4/4. Defendant … said he had walked puppies for the Southwold Hunt for 25 years.
b. 1854. Poultry Chron., I. 474. Formerly when cock-fighting was more practised, every farm-yard walked a game cock or two.
1889. Archæol. Æliana, N.S. XIII. 314. ‘Walking a cock’ was the feeding and tending of a game cock.
24. With a thing as obj.
† a. To send round (drink). Cf. 3 d. Obs.
1581. A. Hall, Iliad, I. 14. A seemely sight it was to see the seamen plye their teeth, Wherewith the Cups apace they walke.
b. Cribbage. (See quots.)
1803. Sporting Mag., XXI. 326. Walking the pegs—at cribbage, means either your adversary putting his own pegs forward, or those of your’s back.
1865. Hotten’s Slang Dict., ‘Walking the pegs,’ a method of cheating at the game of cribbage by a species of legerdemain, the sharper either moving his own pegs forward, or those of his antagonist backward, according to the state of the game.
c. Bell-ringing. (See quot.)
1671. [Stedman], Tintinalogia, 53. All changes are to be Rang either by walking them (as the term is) or else Whole-pulls, or Half-pulls. By walking them, is meant, that the bells go round, four, six, eight times or more, in one change, which is commonly used by young Practisers.
V. 25. The verb-stem in combination: walk-around (a) Colonial, a kind of rotary mill turned by oxen; (b) U.S., among negroes, a dance in which the performers go round in a large circle; a song or piece of music to accompany such a dance; walk-away, a race in which the winner ‘walks away’ from his competitors, i.e., leaves them far behind; walk-on Theat., a part in which the performer merely comes on and goes off the stage with little or no speaking; walk-out, a strike of workmen; † walk-street, one who walks the streets. Also WALK-OVER.
1886. Official Catal. Colonial & Ind. Exhib. (ed. 2), 462. Their sugar plots are confined to one or two small green pieces in Tortola, worked by a *‘walk-around’ or cattle-mill.
1888. B. Matthews, Pen & Ink, 153. ‘Dixie’ was composed in 1859, by Mr. Dan D. Emmett, as a ‘walk-around’ for Bryant’s minstrels.
1883. Daily News, 16 July, 3/6. The final heat was of course a *walk away for Thames, who won by three lengths.
1902. Daily Chron., 1 Sept., 3/7. The actress, too, frequently is glad to accept 12s. a week for a *walk-on with half a dozen words.
1907. H. Wyndham, Flare of Footlights, v. The part just now is a walk-on, with an understudy of one of the principals.
1919. New Solidarity (Chicago) 18 Jan., 1/1. The date … contemplated as the day for a general strike, or *walk-out.
1611. Cotgr., Bateur de pavez, an idle or continuall *walke-street … a lasciuious, or vnthrifty, night-walker.
