/kɔːk/, /kɔk/, /kɑk/
OriginFrom Old Northern French cauquer, from Late Latin calicāre (“to fill in with limestone, caulk”), derived from calx (“limestone, chalk”). Related to calx, cauk, chalk, and calculus.
- countable, uncountableCaulking.
- countable, uncountableA composition of vehicle and pigment used at ambient temperatures for filling/sealing joints or junctures, that remains elastic for an extended period of time after application.
- countable, slang, uncountableA short sleep; a nap.
“[…] & we went for a long walk & fatigued ourselves so that I, for one, took a caulk in the afternoon.”
- To drive oakum into the seams of a ship's wooden deck or hull to make it watertight.
“[W]e might be disturbed during the night by an order being given to "go about," and by hearing in the quiet hours of the morning the familiar inquiry of "How's her head?" Mine often ached with the din”
- To apply caulking to joints, cracks, or a juncture of different materials.
- slangTo copulate.
- slangTo take a short sleep; to nap.
“There was the goggle-eyed daughter a blowing the Grampus [throwing a bucket of water upon a person] with the platter-faced planter, whenever he caulked upon deck; […]”
“[…] and as sleep is about the only thing there is for a sailor at sea to get in the way of recreation, he prizes it accordingly and gets all he can. It is technically called "caulking," and a man will”
Formscaulks(plural) · calk(alternative) · caulks(present, singular, third-person) · caulking(participle, present) · caulked(participle, past) · caulked(past) · Caulks(plural)