core

¹

[ kawr ]

noun

1. the central part of a fleshy fruit, containing the seeds.
2. the central, innermost, or most essential part of anything.

   Synonyms: center, nub, kernel, gist, heart, essence

3. Also called magnetic core. Electricity. the piece of iron, bundle of iron wires, or other ferrous material forming the central or inner portion in an electromagnet, induction coil, transformer, or the like.
4. (in mining, geology, etc.) a cylindrical sample of earth, mineral, or rock extracted from the ground by means of a corer so that the strata are undisturbed in the sample.
5. the inside wood of a tree.
6. Anthropology. a lump of stone, as flint, from which prehistoric humans struck flakes in order to make tools. Compare flake tool.
7. Carpentry.
   1. a thickness of wood forming a base for a veneer.
   2. a wooden construction, as in a door, forming a backing for veneers.
8. Engineering. kern ².
9. Metallurgy.
   1. a thickness of base metal beneath a cladding.
   2. the softer interior of a piece of casehardened metal.
   3. a specially formed refractory object inserted into a mold to produce cavities or depressions in the casting that cannot be readily formed on the pattern.
10. Geology. the central portion of the earth, having a radius of about 2,100 miles (3,379 km) and believed to be composed mainly of iron and nickel in a molten state. Compare crust ( def 6 ), mantle ( def 3 ).
11. Also called re·ac·tor core [ree-, ak, -ter kawr]. Physics. the region in a reactor that contains its fissionable material.
12. Computers.
    1. Also called magnetic core. a small ring or loop of ferromagnetic material with two states of polarization that can be changed by changing the direction of the current applied in wires wound around the ring, used to store one bit of information or to perform switching or logical functions.
    2. Also called main mem·o·ry [meyn, , mem, -, uh, -ree],. a term used to refer to main memory, though no longer made from from coils of ferromagnetic material.
13. Ropemaking. heart ( def 16 ).
14. Phonetics. the final segment of a syllable beginning with the vowel and including any following consonants; the nucleus plus the coda. Compare onset ( def 3 ).
15. the muscles of the torso, which provide support for the spine and pelvis:

    Building a strong core can help with posture and flexibility and can prevent back injury.

verb (used with object)

, cored, cor·ing.

1. to remove the core of (fruit).
2. to cut from the central part.
3. to remove (a cylindrical sample) from the interior, as of the earth or a tree trunk:

   to core the ocean bottom.

4. to form a cavity in (a molded object) by placing a core, as of sand, in the mold before pouring.

adjective

1. of central importance; basic; fundamental:

   the core values of our organization.

2. noting or relating to the muscles of the torso:

   core exercises for back pain.

core

²

[ kawr, kohr ]

noun

, Chiefly Scot.

1. a small company or group of people, especially a gang of miners or a small corps of workers.

Core

³

[ kawr-ee, kohr-ee ]

noun

1. Korah.
2. Classical Mythology. Kore.

CORE

⁴

or C.O.R.E.

[ kawr, kohr ]

noun

1. Congress of Racial Equality.

-core

⁵

1. a combining form extracted from hard-core, used to form words that name a rebellious or nonmainstream lifestyle, social movement, type of music, etc.: normcore queercore emocore
2. the compounding form of core, used to form words describing an aesthetic or imagery that evokes nostalgia for vintage styles, traditional skills, past trends, etc.: grandmacore cottagecore

CORE

¹

/ kɔː /

acronym for

1. Congress of Racial Equality

-core

²

combining form

1. indicating a type of popular music

   dancecore

combining form

1. indicating the number of processing units working in parallel in a computer

   dual-core

core

³

/ kɔː /

noun

1. the central part of certain fleshy fruits, such as the apple or pear, consisting of the seeds and supporting parts
2. 1. the central, innermost, or most essential part of something

      the core of the argument

   2. ( as modifier )

      the core meaning

3. a piece of magnetic material, such as soft iron, placed inside the windings of an electromagnet or transformer to intensify and direct the magnetic field
4. geology the central part of the earth, beneath the mantle, consisting mainly of iron and nickel, which has an inner solid part surrounded by an outer liquid part
5. a cylindrical sample of rock, soil, etc, obtained by the use of a hollow drill
6. shaped body of material (in metal casting usually of sand) supported inside a mould to form a cavity of predetermined shape in the finished casting
7. physics the region of a nuclear reactor in which the reaction takes place
8. a layer of wood serving as a backing for a veneer
9. computing
   1. one of several processing units working in parallel in a computer
   2. a ferrite ring formerly used in a computer memory to store one bit of information
   3. short for core store
   4. ( as modifier )

      core memory

10. archaeol a lump of stone or flint from which flakes or blades have been removed
11. physics the nucleus together with all complete electron shells of an atom

verb

1. tr to remove the core from (fruit)

core

/ kôr /

1. The central or innermost portion of the Earth, lying below the mantle and probably consisting of iron and nickel. It is divided into a liquid outer core, which begins at a depth of 2,898 km (1,800 mi), and a solid inner core, which begins at a depth of 4,983 km (3,090 mi).
2. A piece of magnetizable material, such as a rod of soft iron, that is placed inside an electrical coil or transformer to intensify and provide a path for the magnetic field produced by the current running through the wire windings.
3. The central part of a nuclear reactor where atomic fission occurs. The core contains the fuel, the coolant, and the moderator.
4. A long, cylindrical sample of soil, rock, or ice collected with a drill to study the strata of material that are not visible from the surface.
5. A stone from which one or more flakes have been removed, serving as a tool in itself or as a source of flakes from which other tools could be fashioned. Stones used as cores include flint, chert, and obsidian.
6. See more at core tool

core

1. In geology , the central region of the Earth ; it extends fourteen hundred to eighteen hundred miles from the Earth's center.

Notes

The core is made primarily of iron and nickel and has two parts — an inner solid core and an outer liquid core.

The mantle is the layer of the Earth that overlies the core.

Derived Forms

• ˈcoreless, adjective

Other Words From

• core·less adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of core¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; 1945–50 core ¹fordef 11; Middle English; origin uncertain; perhaps from Old French cors “body,” from Latin corpus

Origin of core²

First recorded in 1620–30; alteration of Middle English chor(e) “group, company; choir”; chorus

Word History and Origins

Origin of core¹

C14: of uncertain origin

Idioms and Phrases

see rotten to the core .

Example Sentences

The new news today is that other underlying measures of inflation, for example services, and “core” inflation, both of which are watched closely by the Bank of England as an indication of domestic price pressures, both rose slightly and by more than expected.

From BBC

“At one point, the doors of the control room busted open and the German police came in, armed with machine guns, and told us to turn the camera off,” Mason, now 84 and the only surviving member of the core ABC team, recalled on a recent afternoon over Zoom from his home in Naples, Fla. “That was a seminal moment because we realized what we were doing was having real impact.”

From Los Angeles Times

“I am an immigrant in America, and there’s an adaptation that I have had to undergo in order to gain my stride as a member of this society. Roz is an alien in this environment and in many ways she’s misunderstood, but she has to learn how to adapt while still remaining true to her core setting, which is kindness.”

From Los Angeles Times

He said the current core funding amounted to £112.50 per patient annually and did not cover costs.

From BBC

He said that "the core values of Apple Daily are actually the core values of the people of Hong Kong".

From BBC

Related Words

• basis
• body
• bottom line
• crux
• essence
• focus
• foundation
• heart
• importance
• nucleus
• origin
• root
• substance
• thrust

Words That Use -core

What does -core mean?

The combining form –core is used like a suffix to denote “a rebellious, anti-mainstream lifestyle, social movement, type of music, etc.”

The form –core comes from the expression hardcore, “a form of punk rock or other nonmainstream popular music.” Hardcore can denote not just a kind of a music but an entire lifestyle culture. From this, –core came to denote other music scenes, lifestyle cultures, or aesthetics.

Examples of -core

One example of a term that features the form –core is emocore, “a type of guitar-based rock music derived from punk rock but characterized by highly emotive, melodramatic, personal lyrics.”

The element emo– here is short for “emotional.” As we have already seen, –core denotes a rebellious type of music. Emocore literally means “a rebellious and emotional type of music.”

What are some words that use the combining form –core?

• cottagecore
• punkcore
• queercore
• lovecore

What are some other forms that –core may be commonly confused with?

• -chore
• -corn

Not every word that ends with the exact letters –core, e.g., soft-core or fourscore, is necessarily using the combining form –core to denote “a rebellious lifestyle.” Learn why fourscore means “eighty” at our entry for the word.

Break it down!

Given the meaning of –core, what is queercore?