oak

American  

[ohk] / oʊk /

noun

1. any tree or shrub belonging to the genus Quercus, of the beech family, bearing the acorn as fruit.

2. the hard, durable wood of an oak tree, used in making furniture and in construction.

3. Archaic. the leaves of an oak tree, especially as worn in a chaplet.

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adjective

1. pertaining to or made of oak.

   an antique oak desk;

   heavy oak doors with double locks.

idioms

1. sport one's oak, (of a university student) to indicate that one is not at home to visitors by closing the outer door of one's lodgings.

oak British  

/ əʊk /

noun

1. any deciduous or evergreen tree or shrub of the fagaceous genus Quercus, having acorns as fruits and lobed leaves See also holm oak cork oak red oak Turkey oak durmast

2. 1. the wood of any of these trees, used esp as building timber and for making furniture

   2. ( as modifier )

      an oak table

3. any of various trees that resemble the oak, such as the poison oak, silky oak, and Jerusalem oak

4. 1. anything made of oak, esp a heavy outer door to a set of rooms in an Oxford or Cambridge college

   2. to shut this door as a sign one does not want visitors

5. the leaves of an oak tree, worn as a garland

6. the dark brownish colour of oak wood

7. any of various species of casuarina, such as desert oak, swamp oak, or she-oak

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Other Word Forms

• oaklike
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of oak

First recorded before 900; Middle English ok(e), oc, Old English āc; cognate with Dutch eik, German Eiche, Old Icelandic eik; further origin uncertain

Explanation

An oak is a tree that typically sheds its leaves in the winter and grows acorns as fruit. If you get hit on the head with an acorn, you are probably standing under an oak. There are many species of oaks, a few of which are evergreen, keeping their leaves all year, but most have bright leaves in the fall and are bare for the winter months. An oak table or oak desk is made from the sturdy wood of an oak tree. The strength of oaks has inspired several countries to adopt them as symbols on money and flags, and in 2004 the oak was voted the national tree by the US Congress.

Example Sentences

Also, the dog stained the oak floors by regularly urinating in the living room.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 25, 2026

He also filmed on a Dorset clifftop, on a chalk stream in Wiltshire, and beneath his favourite tree - a 700-year-old oak in Richmond Park, London.

From BBC • May 8, 2026

But oak trees have a surprising response when caterpillars become too abundant.

From Science Daily • May 5, 2026

Residents have also found the crews digging under the town’s oak and pine trees that survived last year’s fire.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026

She can’t even nudge it enough to let light in, and with dawning horror, she realizes their giant oak tree must have fallen on top of the cellar.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

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