the solid product resulting from the destructive distillation of coal in an oven or closed chamber or by imperfect combustion, consisting principally of carbon: used chiefly as a fuel in metallurgy to reduce metallic oxides to metals.
verb (used with or without object),coked,cok·ing.
to convert into or become coke.
Origin of coke
1
1375–1425;late Middle Englishcolke, coke, equivalent to Old Englishcolcoal + -(o)ca-ock
a solid-fuel product containing about 80 per cent of carbon produced by distillation of coal to drive off its volatile constituents: used as a fuel and in metallurgy as a reducing agent for converting metal oxides into metals
any similar material, such as the layer formed in the cylinders of a car engine by incomplete combustion of the fuel
verb
to become or convert into coke
Word Origin for coke
C17: probably a variant of C14 northern English dialect colk core, of obscure origin
Sir Edward. 1552–1634, English jurist, noted for his defence of the common law against encroachment from the Crown: the Petition of Right (1628) was largely his work
(kʊk) Thomas William, 1st Earl of Leicester, known as Coke of Holkham. 1752–1842, English agriculturist: pioneered agricultural improvement and considerably improved productivity at his Holkham estate in Norfolk
"residue of fuel," 1690s, northern English dialect, perhaps a variant of Middle English colke "core, charcoal" (c.1400), itself possibly related to -colc, an Old English word for "pit," which perhaps would give it a sense of "what is left in the pit after a fire."
Coke
soft drink, 1909, shortening of brand name Coca-Cola.
n.2
shortened form of cocaine, 1908, American English.
