oak

[ ohk ]
See synonyms for oak on Thesaurus.com
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.

  1. 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.

Idioms about oak

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

Origin of oak

1
First recorded before 900; Middle English ok(e), oc, Old English āc; cognate with Dutch eik, German Eiche, Old Icelandic eik; further origin uncertain

Other words from oak

  • oak·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for oak

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 Related adjective: quercine

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

    • (as modifier): an oak table

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

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

    • sport one's oak to shut this door as a sign one does not want visitors

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

  3. the dark brownish colour of oak wood

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

Origin of oak

1
Old English āc; related to Old Norse eik, Old High German eih, Latin aesculus

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