oakum
- n loose hemp or jute fiber obtained by unravelling old ropes; when impregnated with tar it was used to caulk seams and pack joints in wooden ships
- Even then the ship would have sunk to the bottom if Cook had not been cannyand humble enough to accept a timid midshipman's suggestion that he draw a dung-and-oakum-smeared .
- Of late the Allies have equaled or exceeded German purchases of Yugoslav horses, lead, copper and timber, Rumanian wheat, Hungarian beans, flax and oakum.