cork

Etymology 1

From Middle English cork (“oak bark, cork”), from Middle Dutch curc (“cork (material or object)”), either from Spanish corcho (“cork (material or object)”) (also corcha or corche) or from Old Spanish alcorque (“cork sole”). Doublet of cortex.

noun

1. (uncountable) The bark of the cork oak, which is very light and porous and used for making bottle stoppers, flotation devices, and insulation material.
   I confess my confidence was shaken by these actions, though I knew well enough that his leg was no more cork than my own 1908, Edwin George Pinkham, Fate's a fiddler, page 108
   Because cork is porous, it expands and contracts with changes in humidity. 1980, Robert M. Jones, editor, Walls and Ceilings, Time-Life Books, page 48
2. A bottle stopper made from this or any other material.
   Snobs feel it's hard to call it wine with a straight face when the cork is made of plastic.
3. An angling float, also traditionally made of oak cork.
4. The cork oak, Quercus suber.
5. (botany) The dead protective tissue between the bark and cambium in woody plants, with suberin deposits making it impervious to gasses and water.

verb

1. (transitive) To seal or stop up, especially with a cork stopper.
   2014, Paul Salopek, Blessed. Cursed. Claimed., National Geographic (December 2014)https://web.archive.org/web/20150212214621/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/12/pilgrim-roads/salopek-text Arms draped on shoulders, kick-stepping in circles, they swing bottles of wine. Purpled thumbs cork the bottles. The wine leaps and jumps behind green glass.
2. (transitive) To blacken (as) with a burnt cork.
3. To leave the cork in a bottle after attempting to uncork it.
4. To fill with cork.
   1. (transitive, baseball) To tamper with (a bat) by drilling out part of the head and filling the cavity with cork or similar light, compressible material.
      He corked his bat, which was discovered when it broke, causing a controversy.
      Apparently I used to have some good power even though I was little, but the team we were playing against thought I had corked the bat. I kid you not! They paid $200 to have the bat popped off to prove they were right. 2012, Kevin Neary, Leigh A. Tobin, Major League Dads
5. (transitive, Australia) To injure through a blow; to induce a haematoma.
   The vicious tackle corked his leg.
   Injuries, which seemed to be of an inconsequential nature, were often sustained, such as a sprained ankle, a dislocated phalanx, a twisted foot, a corked leg and so on. 2006, Joseph N. Santamaria, The Education of Dr Joe, page 60
   As he moved away again, William winced at an ache in his thigh. ‘Must have corked my leg when I got up,’ he thought. 2007, Shaun A. Saunders, Navigating in the New World, page 202
   I′m okay. I must have corked my thigh when Bruce fell onto me. I′ll be fine. 2008, Christopher J. Holcroft, Canyon, page 93
   2010, Andrew Stojanovski, Dog Ear Cafe, large print 16pt, page 191, Much to my relief he had only corked his leg when he had jumped.
   I corked my thigh late in the game, which we won, and came off. 2010, Ben Cousins, Ben Cousins: My Life Story, page 108
6. (fishing) To position one's drift net just outside of another person's net, thereby intercepting and catching all the fish that would have gone into that person's net.
   Kate remembered then, the family fish camp a mile or so up Amartuq Creek, the very creek across the mouth of which Yuri Andreev had tried to cork Joe Anahonak not half an hour before. 1998, Dana Stabenow, Killing Grounds, page 8
   But its soon apparent that there are more boats than fish—at least for the moment. We all drift quietly, keeping an eye out for other boats and other nets. Corking another guy's net is a screaming—bastard offense. 2003, George Lowe, Fisherman: The Strife and Times of Ronald K. Peterson of Ballard
   You're pissed if someone sets too close to you and especially if he sets his net right along yours, "corking" you and intercepting the fish that seem headed to your own net. I was close to this guy's outside net, but definitely not corking him. 2008, Bert Bender, Catching the Ebb: Drift-fishing for a Life in Cook Inlet, page 249

Etymology 2

From the traversal path resembling that of a corkscrew.

noun

1. (snowboarding, skiing, skateboarding) An aerialist maneuver involving a rotation where the rider goes heels over head, with the board overhead.

verb

1. (snowboarding, skiing, skateboarding) To perform such a maneuver.

adj

1. (snowboarding, skiing, skateboarding) Having the property of a head over heels rotation.