oak

[ohk]

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.

adjective

1. pertaining to or made of oak.

   an antique oak desk;

   heavy oak doors with double locks.

oak

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• oaklike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of oak¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of oak¹

Old English āc; related to Old Norse eik, Old High German eih, Latin aesculus

Idioms and Phrases

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.

Example Sentences

People move to places like Topanga, in part, because they love the chaparral-dotted vistas, the backyard oak woodlands and the privacy of life in the canyon.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The voice that sang it was profound and strong, but quavering and not quite in tune: an old oak tree with a strong trunk but with branches starting to kink and leaves to wither.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The treed “Woodland Garden” to the west, with black tupelo and swamp white oaks, gives way to a “Perennial Meadow,” whose asters, purple beebalms and orange butterfly weed were chosen for their chromatic effect.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The architect used the land as a resource in multiple ways, Rodamaker tells me, from inspiration to construction, harnessing materials like sand, limestone and oak.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The five members and the secretary meet in the Committee room of Oslo's Nobel institute, adorned with the same chandelier and oak furniture since the first prize.

Read more on BBC

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