lurk

Meanings

1. To remain concealed in order to ambush.
2. To remain unobserved.
3. To hang out or wait around a location, preferably without drawing attention to oneself.
4. To read an Internet forum without posting comments or making one's presence apparent.
5. To saddle (a person) with an undesirable task or duty.

1. The act of lurking.
2. A swindle.

Etymology

From Middle English lurken, from Old Norse *lúrka, possibly from Proto-Germanic *lūrukōną (“to be lying in wait, lurk”), equivalent to lour + -k (frequentative suffix). Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk lurka (“to sneak away, go slowly”), dialectal Swedish lurka (“to dawdle, be slow in one's work”), Saterland Frisian lüürkje (“to look secretly, spy”), West Frisian luorkje (“to lurk”), Middle Low German lûrken (“to deceitfully stalk”).