It's Merriam-Webster's word of the day for January 4th.

Today's word is

today's word is skulk, spelled SK-U-L-K-K-K-S-K is a verb. To skulk is to move around or hide in a stealthy or secretive way.

A person or animal that is said to be skulking is often assumed

or considered to be up to some form of wrongdoing or mischief. Here's the word

used in a sentence from the New York Times by Natalie Angier.

To the general public, vultures may seem vaguely repulsive Edward Gory type characters that skulk

in bare trees waiting for something to die. But to researchers who study any of the

23 species in today's Vulture Consortium, the birds brim with intelligence born of

their exceptional vocation.

Here's one for the word puzzle lovers.

Name three qualities that the word skulk shares with each of the following words,

Booth, Brink, Cog, Flit, Kid, Meek, Scab, Seam, and Skull.

If you notice that all of the terms on this list have just one syllable, then you've got the first and easiest similarity.

The next two require some special knowledge.

All of these words are of Scandinavian origin,

and were first recorded in English in the 13th century.

As for Skulk specifically, its closest known Scandinavian relative is the Norwegian dialect word Skulka, which means to lie in weight or to lurk.

Skulk is also used, though less often, as a noun, referring either to one that Skulks or to a group of foxes, animals often

held to be furtively lurking around.

With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolovsky. Visit Marion Webster.com today for definitions, word play, and trending word lookups.