Bark up

Posted by Baceseras on September 17, 2007

In Reply to: Bark up posted by Veronica Castillo on September 17, 2007

: Can you say "to bark up" meaning "to peel the bark of a tree"?

Not really. "To bark up a tree" is the action of a hunting hound in pursuit of prey: the dog's barking locates the creature for the benefit of the hunter with gun, who follows after, coming in for the kill. From this we also get the common phrase, "barking up the wrong tree", the meaning of which should be obvious.

• Bark up RRC 17/September/07