cork up

cork (kɔːk)

—n
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.	botany Also called: phellem 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

—*adj*
5.	made of corkRelated: suberose

—vb
6.	to stop up (a bottle, cask, etc) with or as if with a cork; fit with a cork
7.	(often foll by up) to restrain: to cork up the emotions
8.	to black (the face, hands, etc) with burnt cork

Related: suberose

[C14: probably from Arabic qurq, from Latin cortex bark, especially of the cork oak]

'corklike

—*adj*

Cork (kɔːk)

—n
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)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

cork

c.1300, from Sp. alcorque "cork sole," prob. from Arabic al-qurq, ult. from L. quercus "oak" or cortex (gen. corticis) "bark." The place in Ireland is Anglicized from Ir. Corcaigh, from corcach "marsh," and is unrelated. The verb "to stop with a cork" is from 1650.

American Heritage

Science Dictionary

cork

(kôrk) Pronunciation Key

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.

Matching Quote

"One night, under cover of darkness, and further concealed in a most cunning disguisement, a desperate burglar slid into his happy home, and robbed them all of everything. And darker yet to tell, the blacksmith himself did ignorantly conduct this burglar into his family's heart. It was the Bottle Conjurer! Upon the opening of that fatal cork, forth flew the fiend, and shrivelled up his home."

-Herman Melville

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