Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. fellatio, cunnilingus [Grose included the term in his first edn. (1785) as ‘a lascivious practice that will not bear explanation’; he omitted it from subsequent edns. It reappears in F&H, who label it ‘venery’ and define it as ‘irrumation’. Partridge, in his edition of Grose’s 3rd edn (1796), notes its absence and glosses it as ‘irrumation, cunnilingism’].

1744		Machine 11: Selfish Letcher that does Jesuit box, / Or Huffling, Gigging, Semigigging, Larking, / Or that queer Practice, by the Cull call’d Barking.
1785		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Larking, a lascivious practice that will not bear explanation.
1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.

2. fun, enjoyment; thus down to larking, the excuse offered by one who claims that they were convicted unfairly.

1812		Egan Boxiana I 6: [note] His Lordship was fond of larking, and whenever he could not come through the piece in style, Hooper appeared as his bully.
1821–6		‘Bill Truck’ Man o’ War’s Man (1843) 107: The dinners and larkings were completely knocked off.
1828		N.Y. Enquirer 27 May 2/3: ‘Larking’ Renewed, or Gentlemen, of course!
1845		‘A Week in Oxford’ in Bell’s Life in Sydney 25 Oct. 4/5: It was to be ‘a larking week,’ and what must be, says the Oxford logician, necessarily is.
1848		Paul Pry 20 Nov. n.p.: When Joe H—i—s, of Upper Norwood, means to leave off his very peculiar style of ‘larking’ with the dark-eyed gipsy.
1854		Bell’s Life in Sydney 3 June 3/2: The ‘larking’ generally consists in passing practical jokes and other annoyances upon those of the weaker sex .
1861		(con. 1840s–50s) H. Mayhew London Labour and London Poor II 325/2: There never had been seen more street ‘larking’ or street gambling among the poor lads.
1873		J. Greenwood In Strange Company 176: ‘Do you have any trouble with them?’ I asked of the foreman. ‘Nothing worse than larking,’ he replied.
1879		H. Hartigan Stray Leaves (2nd ser.) 303: [H]e might have told a fellow he didn’t like larking.
1881		Aberdeen Jrnl 20 June 3/1: Fatal larking [...] Allsop accidentally stabbed the other, and he died.
1885		Bulletin (Sydney) 24 Jan. 9/2: (Which we cannot help remarking / Of these ancient fairy tales, / That the Princes then liked larkings, / Much the same as modern ‘Wales.’).
1888–94		‘Walter’ My Secret Life (1966) IV 726: Either the larking pleased her, or the money (a half-crown each feel).
1894		Truth (Sydney) 1 Apr. 2/7: Thomas Milton [...] and Lizzie Wilson [...] for ‘larking’ in Elizabeth-street after midnight, were fined 10s.
1906		Dundee Courier 27 Sept. 6/2: Fatal ‘Larking’ Two young men were yesterday larking on the banks of the Rivert Cart, near Glasgow, when one of them [...] ran into the water and was drowned.
1916		Manchester Eve. News 5 Oct. 3/3: Larking With the Points [...] a thirteen-year-old boy was fined 40s for doing wilful damage on the railway line.
1933		Dover Exp. 1 Sept. 10/4: ‘Larking’ with a Car. Miss Marjorie Harris [was] summoned at Rochester on Saturday for driving a motor car recklessly.
1941		Aberdeen Jrnl 24 Jan. 5/5: ‘Larking’ with a rifle [...] He was larking and the gun went off.

3. (UK gay) experimenting with homosexuality.

1972

B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 123: larking (Brit gay sl) dabbling in homosexuality under the guise of experimentation.