From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishlurklurk /lɜːk $ lɜːrk/ ●○○ verb [intransitive] 1 HIDE/MAKE IT HARD TO FIND OR SEEto wait somewhere quietly and secretly, usually because you are going to do something wronglurk in/behind/beneath/around etc She didn’t see the figure lurking behind the bushes.2 EXISTif something such as danger, a feeling etc lurks somewhere, it exists, but you may not see it or know about it a dark formless danger, lurking in the shadows3 if you lurk in a chat room on the Internet, you read what other people are writing to each other, but you do not write any messages yourselflurk in I think it’s sort of creepy how people lurk in chat rooms. —lurker noun [countable]→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
lurk• Few people realised it, but beneath Simon's confident and charming exterior lurked a mass of insecurities.• Were they truly new or had they been lurking around before?• Tied around his neck was a solid black scarf that hinted at a beatnik spirit lurking beneath the formality.• It was late afternoon, with the darkness already lurking in the comers, when he went in.• We can not, we will not succumb to the dark impulses that lurk in the far regions of the soul everywhere.• Racism continues to lurk in the heart of American society.• Arthur said, without explaining what he meant: could Godzilla be lurking in there?• But below the mirror images of arts and architecture lurks the threat of extinction - Venice is in Peril.• She couldn't see his expression but it didn't take a fool to realise that distaste and contempt must lurk there.lurk in/behind/beneath/around etc• We hazard a guess that they're lurking in a shoebox or, worse still, the ubiquitous carrier bag!• Were they truly new or had they been lurking around before?• This summer, I decided to consult the experts about what might be lurking in my back yard.• But potentially devastating revelations about big-money transfer deals in soccer are apparently lurking in Sugar's evidence.• Then he ran, plunging into a tunnel of darkness less fearful than the imagined horrors lurking behind that heavy dark-brown door.• Veblen thus precipitated the doubts and pessimism which lurked in the central tradition.• This will kill the green blob lurking in the watery depths and help you avoid the workman.• But danger lurks behind this trend.Origin lurk (1200-1300) Probably from Low German or a Scandinavian language 