n.
- a buoyant, light brown substance obtained from the outer layer of the bark of the cork oak.
- a bottle stopper made of cork.
- a piece of cork used as a float for a fishing line or net.
- Botany a protective layer of dead cells immediately below the bark of woody plants.
v.
- close or seal (a bottle) with a cork.
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[as adj. corked]
(of wine) spoilt by tannin from the cork.
- Baseball illicitly hollow out (a bat) and fill it with cork to make it lighter.
Derivative
Etymology
ME: from Du. and Low Ger. kork, from Sp. alcorque ‘cork-soled sandal’, from Arab. al- ‘the’ and (prob.) Sp. Arab. ḳurḳ, ḳorḳ, based on L. quercus ‘oak, cork oak’.