Word Study
cork
CIDE DICTIONARY
cork, n. [Cf. G., Dan., & Sw. kork, D. kurk; all fr. Sp. corcho, fr. L. cortex, corticis, bark, rind. Cf. Cortex.].
- The outer layer of the bark of the cork tree (
Quercus Suber ), of which stoppers for bottles and casks are made. See Cutose. [1913 Webster] - A stopper for a bottle or cask, cut out of cork. [1913 Webster]
- A mass of tabular cells formed in any kind of bark, in greater or less abundance. [1913 Webster]"
Cork is sometimes used wrongly for calk, calker; calkin, a sharp piece of iron on the shoe of a horse or ox." [1913 Webster]
cork, v. t.
- To stop with a cork, as a bottle. [1913 Webster]
- To furnish or fit with cork; to raise on cork. [1913 Webster]" To
cork is sometimes used erroneously for to calk, to furnish the shoe of a horse or ox with sharp points, and also in the meaning of cutting with a calk." [1913 Webster]"Tread on corked stilts a prisoner's pace." [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
cork, n. & v.
--n.
1 the buoyant light-brown bark of the cork-oak.
2 a bottle-stopper of cork or other material.
3 a float of cork used in fishing etc.
4 Bot. a protective layer of dead cells immediately below the bark of woody plants.
5 (attrib.) made of cork.
--v.tr. (often foll. by up)
1 stop or confine.
2 restrain (feelings etc.).
3 blacken with burnt cork.
--n.
1 the buoyant light-brown bark of the cork-oak.
2 a bottle-stopper of cork or other material.
3 a float of cork used in fishing etc.
4 Bot. a protective layer of dead cells immediately below the bark of woody plants.
5 (attrib.) made of cork.
--v.tr. (often foll. by up)
1 stop or confine.
2 restrain (feelings etc.).
3 blacken with burnt cork.
Idiom
cork-oak a S. European oak, Quercus suber. cork-tipped Brit. (of a cigarette) having a filter of corklike material.
Derivative
corklike adj.
Etymology
ME f. Du. & LG kork f. Sp. alcorque cork sole, perh. f. Arab.
THESAURUS
cork
Carling float, air, asphyxiate, balsa, balsa raft, bar, bark, bedarken, besmirch, bind, black, blacken, blackwash, block, block up, blockade, blot, blotch, bob, bonnet, boom, bottle up, box up, bubble, bung, buoy, cage, cap, caulk, ceil, censor, chaff, charcoal, check, check valve, chink, chip, choke, choke off, choke up, clamp down on, clog, clog up, cloister, cobweb, cock, coif, confine, congest, constipate, constrain, coop, coop in, coop up, cork up, cortex, cover, crack down on, crib, crown, crush, dam, dam up, damp down, darken, denigrate, detain, dinge, dome, down, drown, dust, ebonize, encage, enclose, epicarp, ether, extinguish, fairy, faucet, feather, fence in, fill, fill up, float, flue, fluff, foam, foul, froth, fuzz, gag, gossamer, hat, hem in, hold, hold down, hold in, hold in custody, hold in restraint, hood, immure, impound, inhibit, ink, jam, jump on, keep, keep down, keep in, keep in custody, keep in detention, keep under, kill, lid, life buoy, life preserver, life raft, lock in, maintain, melanize, mew, mew up, mote, murk, muzzle, nigrify, obstipate, obstruct, oversmoke, pack, peel, peeling, peg, pen, pen up, phellum, pin, plug, plug up, pontoon, pound, pour water on, preserve, put down, quash, quell, quench, raft, rail in, repress, restrain, restrict, retain, rind, roof, roof in, save, save up, sea cock, seal up, shackle, shade, shadow, shut down on, shut in, shut up, silence, sit down on, sit on, skin, smash, smirch, smoke, smother, smudge, smut, smutch, soot, spigot, spike, spile, spill, sponge, spume, squash, squelch, stanch, stay, stench, stifle, stop, stop up, stopgap, stopper, stopple, strangle, straw, stuff, stuff up, stultify, subdue, suffocate, suppress, surfboard, tap, thistledown, throttle, tip, top, valve, wall inROGET THESAURUS
cork
Stopper
N stopper, stopple, plug, cork, bung, spike, spill, stopcock, tap, rammer, ram, ramrod, piston, stop-gap, wadding, stuffing, padding, stopping, dossil, pledget, tompion, tourniquet, cover, valve, vent peg, spigot, slide valve, janitor, doorkeeper, porter, warder, beadle, cerberus, ostiary.Levity
N levity, lightness, imponderability, buoyancy, volatility, feather, dust, mote, down, thistle, down, flue, cobweb, gossamer, straw, cork, bubble, balloon, float, buoy, ether, air, leaven, ferment, barm, yeast, lighter-than-air balloon, helium balloon, hydrogen balloon, hot air balloon, convection, thermal draft, thermal, light, subtile, airy, imponderous, imponderable, astatic, weightless, ethereal, sublimated, gossamery, suberose, suberous, uncompressed, volatile, buoyant, floating, portable, light as a feather, light as a thistle, light as air, lighter than air, rise like a balloon, float like a balloon.For further exploring for "cork" in Webster Dictionary Online