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coke.

Solid residue from roasting coal in a coke oven; used principally as a fuel and in the production of steel and formerly as a domestic fuel.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/kəʊk/UK/koʊk/US/koʉk/Australia
  1. Solid residue from roasting coal in a coke oven; used principally as a fuel and in the production of steel and formerly as a domestic fuel.

    uncountable
    The plant should produce approximately 550,000 tons of screened blast furnace coke per year.
Where this word comes from

The origin is not certain. The OED says it is first attested in 1669. The MED has an earlier attestation in the related sense of "charcoal" in 1430: Middle English coke. This may be the same word as colk (“core”) (perhaps from the notion that coke is the core of the material left after it burning), from Old English *colc (“hole, well”), from Proto-West Germanic *kolk, from Proto-Germanic *kulukaz (“a hollow, depression”), from Proto-Indo-European *g(ʷ)el- (“to swallow, devour; gullet”). If so, cognate with Saterland Frisian Kolk (“maelstrom, depression, whirlpool”), West Frisian kolk (“maelstrom, whirlpool”), Dutch kolk (“maelstrom, vortex, whirlpool”), German Kolk (“pothole”).

verb/kəʊk/UK/koʊk/US/koʉk/Australia
  1. To produce coke from coal.

    transitive
  2. To turn into coke.

    intransitive
  3. To add deleterious carbon deposits as a byproduct of combustion.

    especially
    In kerolox engines, some of the fuel flow cokes in the engine's cooling passages over time, requiring thorough cleaning prior to reuse.
Where this word comes from

The origin is not certain. The OED says it is first attested in 1669. The MED has an earlier attestation in the related sense of "charcoal" in 1430: Middle English coke. This may be the same word as colk (“core”) (perhaps from the notion that coke is the core of the material left after it burning), from Old English *colc (“hole, well”), from Proto-West Germanic *kolk, from Proto-Germanic *kulukaz (“a hollow, depression”), from Proto-Indo-European *g(ʷ)el- (“to swallow, devour; gullet”). If so, cognate with Saterland Frisian Kolk (“maelstrom, depression, whirlpool”), West Frisian kolk (“maelstrom, whirlpool”), Dutch kolk (“maelstrom, vortex, whirlpool”), German Kolk (“pothole”).

noun/kəʊk/UK/koʊk/US/koʉk/Australia
  1. Cocaine.

    informal · slang · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Aymarader. Quechua kukabor. Aymara kukabor. Spanish cocabor. English coca English -ine English cocaineclip. English coke Originated circa 1908 in American English as a clipping of cocaine.

noun/kəʊk/UK/koʊk/US/koʉk/Australia
  1. Alternative letter-case form of Coke (cola-based soft drink, especially Coca-Cola).

    alt-of · informal · uncountable
  2. Alternative letter-case form of Coke (a serving of cola-based soft drink, especially Coca-Cola).

    alt-of · countable · informal
  3. Alternative letter-case form of Coke (any soft drink, regardless of type).

    Southern-US · US · alt-of · informal
Where this word comes from

Since 1909, by genericization from the name of the American company Coca-Cola and the beverage it produced; the drink was named for two of its original ingredients, coca leaves and cola nut.

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Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.