a county of SW Republic of Ireland, in Munster province: crossed by ridges of low mountains; scenic coastline. County town: Cork. Pop: 447 829 (2002). Area: 7459 sq km (2880 sq miles)
a city and port in S Republic of Ireland, county town of Co Cork, at the mouth of the River Lee: seat of the University College of Cork (1849). Pop: 186 239 (2002)
Gaelic name: Corcaigh
cork
noun
the thick light porous outer bark of the cork oak, used widely as an insulator and for stoppers for bottles, casks, etc
a piece of cork or other material used as a stopper
an angling float
Also called: phellembotanya protective layer of dead impermeable cells on the outside of the stems and roots of woody plants, produced by the outer layer of the cork cambium
adjective
made of corkRelated adjective: suberose
verb(tr)
to stop up (a bottle, cask, etc) with or as if with a cork; fit with a cork
(often foll by up)to restrainto cork up the emotions
to black (the face, hands, etc) with burnt cork
Derived Formscorklike, adjective
Word Origin for cork
C14: probably from Arabic qurq, from Latin cortex bark, especially of the cork oak
c.1300, from Spanish alcorque "cork sole," probably via Arabic and ultimately from Latin quercus "oak" (see Quercus) or cortex (genitive corticis) "bark" (see corium).
Cork
place in Ireland, anglicized from Irish Corcaigh, from corcach "marsh."
cork
v.
1570s, "to put a cork sole on a shoe," from cork (n.)). Meaning "to stop with a cork" is from 1640s. Related: Corked; corking.
The outermost layer of tissue in woody plants that is resistant to the passage of water vapor and gases and that becomes the bark. Cork is secondary tissue, formed on the outside of the tissue layer known as cork cambium. The cell walls of cork cells contain suberin. Once they mature, cork cells die. Also called phellem
The lightweight, elastic outer bark of the cork oak, which grows near the Mediterranean Sea. Cork is used for bottle stoppers, insulation, and other products.
