Meanings
adjective
- dialectalobsoletepossiblyStiff, rigid, hard to work (e.g. with a needle or plough).
His Hands would be as hard, dry and starky, as if he had wrought for his Living, at Cleaving of Wood.
1697, R. Pierce, Bath Mem., II, V, page 312, quoted in the OED1 more example
if the ground be so dry and starky, that eight oxen and an horse must be put to the plough, so much the better; […]
1757, Edward Lisle, Observations in Husbandry, page 50
Origin
Cite this entry
APA
starky. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/starky
MLA
“starky.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/starky. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “starky,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/starky.
Source: starky on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.