<p><strong>Noun:</strong></p><ul><li>the spongy layer of bark of the cork oak, used for making a wide range of products, including bottle stoppers, beverage coasters, fishing rod handles, bulletin boards, sound and heat insulation, and flooring materials.</li><li>something made of cork, as produced from the spongy bark of the cork oak: Bring that cork in here—we’re using it as a dartboard.</li><li>a piece of cork, rubber, or the like used as a stopper, as for a bottle: The cork you gave me is too large for this jug.</li><li>Angling: a small float to buoy up a fishing line or to indicate that a fish is biting: When the cork starts bobbing, you’ve got a fish!</li><li>Also called phellem, suber.</li><li>Botany: an outer tissue of bark produced by and exterior to the phellogen.</li></ul><p><strong>Verb:</strong></p><ul><li>(used with object) to stop with or as if with a cork (often followed by up): The bottles are mechanically corked, two dozen at a time.</li><li>Cork these up and put them back in the cooler.</li><li>to provide or fit with cork or a cork: They’re tiling floors and corking walls in her new studio.</li><li>to blacken with burnt cork: During war games, they learned to cork their faces when operating under moonlight.</li></ul>