oak

Noun

oak (countable and uncountable, plural oaks)

1. (countable) A deciduous tree with distinctive deeply lobed leaves, acorns, and notably strong wood, typically of England and northeastern North America, included in genus Quercus.
   • It was not far from the house; but the ground sank into a depression there, and the ridge of it behind shut out everything except just the roof of the tallest hayrick. As one sat on the sward behind the elm, with the back turned on the rick and nothing in front but the tall elms and the oaks in the...1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC
   • Instead there were the white of aspens, streaks of branch and slender trunk glistening from the green of leaves, and the darker green of oaks, and through the middle of this forest, from wall to wall, ran a winding line of brilliant green which marked the course of cottonwoods and willows.1912 January, Zane Grey, chapter 8, in Riders of the Purple Sage […], New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   oak tree

   1. (uncountable) The wood of the oak.
   2. A rich brown color, like that of oak wood.
   3. The flavor of oak.
2. Any member of species of the genus Quercus, in family Fagaceae.
3. she-oaks in Allocasuarina and Casuarina, of family Casuarinaceae
4. white oaks Lagunaria, in family Malvaceae
5. silky oaks, in family Proteaceae
6. poison oak Toxicodendron, in family Anacardiaceae
7. tanbark oaks or stone oaks, of species of genera Lithocarpus and Notholithocarpus in family Fagaceae.
8. The outer (lockable) door of a set of rooms in a college or similar institution. (Often in the phrase sport one's oak.)
   • [E]very set of rooms has two doors, and I soon learned that the outer door, which is thick and solid, is called the oak, and to shut it is termed, to sport.1833, Thomas Jefferson Hogg, chapter 2, in Shelley at Oxford, London: Methuen
   • It was hardly the thing for a master to sport his oak where another member of the staff was concerned.1930, Frank Richards, The Magnet: Prout's Lovely Black Eye

   Synonyms:

   sporting door

Adjective

oak (not comparable)

1. Having a rich brown color, like that of oak wood.
2. Made of oak wood or timber.
   • an oak table, oak beam, etc.

   Synonyms:

   oaken

Verb

oak (third-person singular simple present oaks, present participle oaking, simple past and past participle oaked)

1. (transitive) To expose to oak in order for the oak to impart its flavors.

Prepositional phrase capitalized: OAK

1. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of of a kind.
   • In poker, 3 OAK beats two pair.