oakum

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   loose hemp or jute fiber, traditionally made by untwisting old rope and used with pitch to seal seams

   Shipwrights hammered oakum and pitch into the gaps between the hull planks.

From late Middle English okom and Old English acumba, literally 'off-combings,' from acemban, 'to comb out.' The name refers to fibers combed or picked from hemp and old rope. Despite its modern spelling, oakum has no etymological connection with oak.

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