cork oak

[ kawrk ohk ]

noun

1. an evergreen oak tree, Quercus suber, found especially in the western Mediterranean region: commercially significant as the source of cork.

cork oak

noun

1. an evergreen Mediterranean oak tree, Quercus suber, with a porous outer bark from which cork is obtained Also calledcork tree

Word History and Origins

Origin of cork oak¹

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

Cork comes from the bark of cork oak trees, which can live for hundreds of years.

From Science Daily

However, I must share what fourth-generation woodworker Lou Sarg told me about cork oak, the bark of which is what cork — as in wine and whiskey bottle corks — is made of.

From Los Angeles Times

Planting has begun of more than 200 trees, including cathedral and cork oaks, jacarandas and pink trumpet trees.

From Los Angeles Times

It was a forest of cork oaks, and the sun came through the trees in patches, and there were cattle grazing back in the trees.

From Literature

My friends preferred playing basketball in Granada to watching cork oaks breaking no sweat.

From The New Yorker