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(kôrk)

noun

the light, thick, elastic outer bark of an oak tree, the (Quercus suber) of the beech family, that grows in the Mediterranean area: used for floats, stoppers, linoleum, insulation, etc.
1. a piece of cork or something made of cork; esp., a stopper for a bottle, cask, etc.
2. a similar stopper made of rubber, glass, etc.
Bot. the dead, waterproof outer bark of the stems of woody plants

Origin: ME < Sp corcho, cork, ult. (via ? Ar al-qurq) < L quercus, oak: see fir

adjective

made of cork

transitive verb

to stop or seal with a cork
to hold back; check
to blacken with burnt cork

county on the S coast of Ireland, in Munster province: 2,880 sq mi (7,459 sq km); pop. 283,000
its county seat, a seaport: pop. 174,000

See cork in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

The lightweight elastic outer bark of the cork oak, used especially for bottle closures, insulation, floats, and crafts.
a. Something made of cork, especially a bottle stopper.
b. A bottle stopper made of other material, such as plastic.
A small float used on a fishing line or net to buoy up the line or net or to indicate when a fish bites.
Botany A nonliving, water-resistant protective tissue that is formed on the outside of the cork cambium in the woody stems and roots of many seed plants. Also called phellem.

transitive verb corked, cork·ing, corks

To stop or seal with or as if with a cork.
To restrain or check; hold back: tried to cork my anger.
To blacken with burnt cork.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English

Origin: , from Dutch kurk

Origin: or Low German korck

Origin: , both from Spanish alcorque, cork-soled shoe

Origin: , probably from Arabic dialectal al-qūrq

Origin: : al-, the

Origin: + qūrq (from Latin quercus, oak; see perk^wu- in Indo-European roots)

A city of southern Ireland near the head of Cork Harbor, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. Cork was occupied by the Danes in the ninth century and by Oliver Cromwell in 1649. Population: 119,000.

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