sporting one's oak

Verb

sport one's oak (third-person singular simple present sports one's oak, present participle sporting one's oak, simple past and past participle sported one's oak)

1. (dated, intransitive, university slang) To close one's door (originally the outer door of one's set of rooms in a college) as an indication that visitors are not welcome.
   • For arguing that a man will be plucked take the Topics following: for among men likely to be plucked [i.e., rejected after failing an examination for a degree] are these for the most part. […] He that sporteth not his oak.1835, Scriblerus Redivivus [pseudonym; Edward Caswall], “Topics Concerning Pluck”, in A New Art Teaching How to be Plucked, […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: J. Vincent, →OCLC, pages 34–35

   Synonyms:

   sport timber