lurk

Etymology

From Middle English lurken, perhaps of North Germanic origin, related to Norwegian Nynorsk lurka (“to sneak away, go slowly”) and Swedish lurka (“to dawdle, be slow in one's work”); probably ultimately allied to Middle English luren, louren (“to frown, lower, lurk”), equivalent to lower + -k (frequentative suffix).

verb

1. To remain concealed in order to ambush.
   Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee. 2013-06-29, “Travels and travails”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 55
2. To remain unobserved.
3. To hang out or wait around a location, preferably without drawing attention to oneself.
   if we find the sophist lurking, we must round him up by royal command of the argument 2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 235c
4. (Internet slang) To read an Internet forum without posting comments or making one's presence apparent.
5. (UK, naval slang, transitive) To saddle (a person) with an undesirable task or duty.
   As junior dogsbody, he was lurked with this mission. 2015, Andrew Gordon, The Rules of the Game: Jutland and British Naval Command

noun

1. The act of lurking.
   There were enemies on the lurk and time was against him. 1921, George Colby Borley, The Lost Horizon
   […] barked furiously and made at him as at a wolf, and before he could wholly rise from the lurk because of the sudden consternation, […] 1955, John Maxwell Edmonds Longus, Daphnis et Chloe
2. (obsolete) A swindle.