oak

Pluraloaks

Formsoaks, oaking, oaked

1. 1
   acorn treenouncountable

   Any tree of the genus Quercus, which bears acorns and has notably strong wood; the familiar kinds of England and northeastern North America shed their deeply lobed leaves each fall.

   A massive oak shaded the far end of the churchyard.

   Higher up the slope, pale birches gave way to dense stands of oaks.

   Note

   The name has meant this tree as far back as it can be traced: Old English āc comes through Proto-Germanic *aiks from an Indo-European root that already meant "oak", and Middle English spelled it ook, oke, aik or ake. Much of what else the word names, from the timber to a taste in wine, is this tree put to use.

2. 2
   woodnoununcountable

   The strong wood of the oak tree.

   The staircase was carved from oak that had seasoned for years in the barn.

   Oak darkens slowly as it ages and takes a high polish.

3. 3
   woodenadjective

   Made of the wood or timber of the oak tree.

   Heavy oak beams run across the ceiling of the farmhouse kitchen.

   She found an oak chest at the flea market and refinished it herself.

4. 4
   nouncountable

   Any tree that resembles the typical oaks of the genus Quercus in some ways but belongs to another genus.

   Much as a jellyfish is no fish, these trees carry the name for a resemblance, not for kinship.

   A botanist pointed out that the oak shading the courtyard belongs to a different genus and merely resembles the acorn-bearing kind.

   Cabinetmakers value several tropical oaks for their striking grain, though none of them belongs to the genus Quercus.

   Note

   This catch-all sense gathers the oaks in name only, and most carry a qualifier that gives them away: she-oak, silky oak, poison oak, tanbark oak, stone oak. Their kinship to Quercus varies widely. Tanbark and stone oaks share its family, Fagaceae; she-oaks belong to Casuarinaceae, silky oaks to Proteaceae, poison oak to Anacardiaceae. Where precision matters, keep the qualifier or give the Latin name, because the bare word also covers every true Quercus.

5. 5
   poison plantnouncountable or uncountable

   Poison oak: any of the plants of the genus Toxicodendron, in the family Anacardiaceae, that resemble true oaks in some ways.

   After the hike, she found an itchy rash where poison oak had brushed her ankles.

   The county brings in goats every spring to clear poison oak from the hillsides.

6. 6
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A rich brown color resembling that of oak wood.

   The designer paired soft cream with a deep oak on the bedroom walls.

   Her leather boots come in black or oak.

7. 7
   adjective

   Of a deep, warm brown, the color of oak wood.

   The car's seats are covered in soft oak leather.

   He wore an oak suede jacket over a plain white shirt.

8. 8
   woody tastenouncountable or uncountable

   In wine, the flavor imparted by contact with oak.

   This chardonnay has too much oak for my taste.

   The winemaker wanted just a hint of oak behind the dark fruit.

   Note

   In tasting talk oak is measured out like seasoning: too much oak, a hint of oak. The flavor comes from aging in oak barrels or contact with oak chips, and new barrels give more of it than old ones, which is why winemakers speak of new oak and neutral oak. Tasters often describe it as vanilla, toast or spice.

9. 9
   age in barrelsverbtransitive

   To expose wine or another drink to oak so that the wood imparts its flavors.

   Some producers oak their white wines only lightly, so the fruit still comes through.

   The winery oaked half the vintage and left the rest in steel tanks.

   Note

   The verb is most often met as a participle: lightly oaked, heavily oaked, and its opposite, unoaked, for wine kept in steel or other neutral containers. Those forms belong to labels and tasting notes; the active verb, oaking a wine, is mainly the winemaker's own word for cellar work.

Showing meanings only. Show all 14