oakum

Meaning

Noun

• A material, consisting of tarred fibres, used to caulk or pack joints in plumbing, masonry, and wooden shipbuilding.
• The coarse portion separated from flax or hemp in hackling.

Related

Similar words

• tow, hards

Origin

• From Middle English okome, from Old English ācumba ("oakum"), a derivative of ācemban, from Proto-Germanic *uz- + *kambijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *uds-, *ūd- + *ǵombʰ-, *ǵembʰ-. More at out, comb.