Dictionary

oakbark en · NOUN

Etymology

From oak + bark.

Meanings

1. (uncountable) The bark of the oak tree, often specifically as a source of tannic acid; tan.
   • From 1 to 2 kg. (2-4 pounds) of oakbark are boiled in a few liters (quarts) of water and allowed to digest for about an hour, after which the mixture is filtered and the filtrate added to the bath. 1906, Ferdinand Frühwald, Reference Handbook of the Diseases of Children for Students and Physicians, page 424:
   • Some kinds of fish oils are similarly improved by vigorous agitation with oakbark infusion or other liquors containing tannin, conveniently effected by blowing a rapid current of steam through the whole: […] 1894, Charles Romley Alder Wright, chapter XI, in Animal and Vegetable Fixed Oils, Fats, Butters, and Waxes, page 263:
   • Rook […] went, to the fireplace, where once huge logs would have been burned. Felix […] unfastened one of the leather pouches attached to his belt and was setting out its contents on the hearth. There was a piece of flint, a short length of iron, oakbark dust and a ball of tinderwool. 2005, Paul Stewart, Chris Riddell, The Edge Chronicles: Vox, page 53:
   • One resident recalled that Norwood had "a musky, vinegary, railroady smell. It was a mixture of the smells of raw sheepskins and oakbark acid […] and coal smoke, and it was a characteristic of the town." 2008, Patricia J. Fanning, Through an uncommon lens: the life and photography of F. Holland Day, →ISBN, pages 18–19:

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