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oakum

noun
/ˈəʊkəm/UK/ˈoʊk(ə)m/US

Etymology

From Late Middle English okom, okome (“oakum”) [and other forms], from Old English ācumba (“oakum”, literally “that which has been combed out, off-combings”) [and other forms], from ācemban (“to comb out”), from Proto-Germanic *uz- (from Proto-Indo-European *ud-s-, *ūd- (“out; up”), or *h₂ew- (“away from, off”)) + *kambijaną (“to comb”) (ultimately from *ǵómbʰos (“row of teeth; tooth; peg”), *ǵembʰ- (“nail; tooth; to gnaw through; to pierce”)). See also out and comb.

  1. inherited from *ud-s-✻
  2. inherited from *uz-✻
  3. inherited from ācumba — “oakum”
  4. inherited from okom

Definitions

  1. Coarse fibres separated by hackling from flax or hemp when preparing the latter for…

    Coarse fibres separated by hackling from flax or hemp when preparing the latter for spinning.

  2. Fibres chiefly obtained by untwisting old rope, which are used to caulk or pack gaps…

    Fibres chiefly obtained by untwisting old rope, which are used to caulk or pack gaps between boards of wooden ships and joints in masonry and plumbing, and sometimes for dressing wounds.

The neighborhood

Derived

pick oakum, since Adam was an oakum boy, since Adam was an oakum boy in Chatham Dockyard, when Adam was an oakum boy, when Adam was an oakum boy in Chatham Dockyard, white oakum

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for oakum. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA