Oakum

/ˈə‍ʊkəm/

/ˈoʊkəm/

Oakum

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

Examples

1. At Daventry it’s the volume of oakum to be picked.

2. Unfortunately during this last sentence he successfully hangs himself in Leicester Prison after fashioning a noose from his oakum pickings.

3. Naval accounts of the construction and repair of the king's ships record a number of women selling something called towe-- T-O-W-E-- or oakum.

4. He pays, and this is where I’ve picked him up, a series of repeat visits to Melton Mowbray and true to form, refuses his oakum picking duties on every occasion and ultimately he dies there in its workhouse infirmary, 10th May 1913 aged 60.