1. to dig or root out; to excavate or hollow out
Usage: chiefly Scottish and Northern English dialect
2. to poke or prod; to search or rummage through something
Usage: chiefly Scottish and Northern English dialect

Examples

• The dog began to howk at the ground, searching for buried bones.
• She howked through the drawer looking for her keys.
• The miners howked deep into the hillside for coal.
• He howked around in the old chest to find the photograph.
• The badger howks its burrow beneath the oak tree.
• Don't howk at that wound or it won't heal properly.