: a sailing ship of three or more masts with the aftmost mast fore-and-aft rigged and the others square-rigged
2
: a craft propelled by sails or oars
Phrases
bark up the wrong tree
: to promote or follow a mistaken course (as in doing research)
someone's bark is worse than his/her bite
—used to say that someone known for harsh or angry speech does not actually treat others in an unfairly harsh or harmful way
Chairman Paul Millership was larger than life and shouted his orders loud and clear. But his bark was worse than his bite and he was scrupulously fair to employees who put in the effort. The Nottingham Evening Post