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corked

[kawrkt]
See more synonyms for corked on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. stopped or closed with a cork.
  2. corky(def 2).
  3. blackened with burnt cork.
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Origin of corked

First recorded in 1510–20; cork + -ed3
Related formswell-corked, adjective

cork

[kawrk]
noun
  1. the outer bark of an oak, Quercus suber, of Mediterranean countries, used for making stoppers for bottles, floats, etc.
  2. Also called cork oak. the tree itself.
  3. something made of cork.
  4. a piece of cork, rubber, or the like used as a stopper, as for a bottle.
  5. Angling. a small float to buoy up a fishing line or to indicate that a fish is biting.
  6. Also called phellem, suber. Botany. an outer tissue of bark produced by and exterior to the phellogen.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to provide or fit with cork or a cork.
  2. to stop with or as if with a cork (often followed by up).
  3. to blacken with burnt cork.
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Idioms
  1. blow/pop one's cork, Informal. to lose one's temper; release one's emotional or physical tension.
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Origin of cork

1275–1325; Middle English cork(e) < Arabic qurq < Latin quercus oak
Related formsre·cork, verb (used with object)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

hinderinhibitsetbarlessenreducecurbnarrowspecifydefinestiflesuppresscensorchokerepressrestrainmufflesquelchclogfill

Examples from the Web for corked

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • He looked like a huge, overgrown schoolboy with a corked moustache.

    It Happened in Egypt

    C. N. Williamson

  • The neck of the bottle was not corked up: a way to the interior was now open.

    Victorian Worthies

    George Henry Blore

  • I can't do a highwayman in nothing but a pair of corked moustaches!

  • They were corked and in wooden cases, which protected them perfectly.

    The Silent Bullet

    Arthur B. Reeve

  • The Banshee corked the bottle and held it up proudly to the light.

    David and the Phoenix

    Edward Ormondroyd

British Dictionary definitions for corked

corked

adjective
  1. Also: corky (of a wine) tainted through having a cork containing excess tannin
  2. (postpositive) British a slang word for drunk
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Cork

noun
  1. 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)
  2. 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)
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Gaelic name: Corcaigh

cork

noun
  1. the thick light porous outer bark of the cork oak, used widely as an insulator and for stoppers for bottles, casks, etc
  2. a piece of cork or other material used as a stopper
  3. an angling float
  4. Also called: phellem botany a 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
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adjective
  1. made of corkRelated adjective: suberose
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verb (tr)
  1. to stop up (a bottle, cask, etc) with or as if with a cork; fit with a cork
  2. (often foll by up) to restrainto cork up the emotions
  3. to black (the face, hands, etc) with burnt cork
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Derived Formscorklike, adjective

Word Origin

C14: probably from Arabic qurq, from Latin cortex bark, especially of the cork oak
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for corked

cork

n.

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).

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Cork

place in Ireland, anglicized from Irish Corcaigh, from corcach "marsh."

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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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
corked in Science

cork

[kôrk]
  1. 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
  2. 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.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.