oakbark

English

Alternative forms

• oak bark, oak-bark

Etymology

From oak +‎ bark.

Noun

oakbark (uncountable)

1. The bark of the oak tree, often specifically as a source of tannic acid; tan.
   • 1894, Charles Romley Alder Wright, chapter XI, in Animal and Vegetable Fixed Oils, Fats, Butters, and Waxes, page 263:

     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: […]

   • 1906, Ferdinand Frühwald, Reference Handbook of the Diseases of Children for Students and Physicians, page 424:

     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.

   • 2005, Paul Stewart, Chris Riddell, The Edge Chronicles: Vox, page 53:

     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.

   • 2008, Patricia J. Fanning, Through an uncommon lens: the life and photography of F. Holland Day, →ISBN, pages 18–19:

     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."