Core

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /kɔː/
• GenAm IPA: /koəɹ/, /kɔːɹ/
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)
• Homophones: corps
• Homophones: caw (most non-rhotic accents)

From Middle English core, kore, coor ("apple-core, pith"), of uncertain origin. Either from Old French cuer ("heart"), from Latin cor ("heart"); or from Old French cors ("body"), from Latin corpus ("body"). See also heart, corpse.

Full definition of core

Noun

1. The central part of fruit, containing the kernels or seeds.
   the core of an apple or quince
2. The heart or inner part of a thing, as of a column, wall, rope, of a boil, etc.
• 2013-03, Nancy Langston, Mining the Boreal North, Reindeer are well suited to the taiga’s frigid winters. They can maintain a thermogradient between body core and the environment of up to 100 degrees, in part because of insulation provided by their fur, and in part because of counter-current vascular heat exchange systems in their legs and nasal passages.
3. The center or inner part, as of an open space.
   the core of a square
4. The most important part of a thing; the essence.
• 2012, May 24, Nathan Rabin, Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3, Jones’ sad eyes betray a pervasive pain his purposefully spare dialogue only hints at, while the perfectly cast Brolin conveys hints of playfulness and warmth while staying true to the craggy stoicism at the character’s core.
• 2013-06-22, Engineers of a different kind, Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.
5. the core of a subject
6. (engineering) The portion of a mold that creates an internal cavity within a casting or that makes a hole in or through a casting.
7. The bony process which forms the central axis of the horns in many animals.
8. (computing) Magnetic data storage.
9. (computing) An individual computer processor, in the sense when several processors are plugged together in one single integrated circuit to work as one.
   I wanted to play a particular computer game, which required I buy a new computer, so while the game said it needed at least a dual-core processor, I wanted my computer to be a bit ahead of the curve, so I bought a quad-core.
10. (engineering) The material between surface materials in a structured composite sandwich material.
    a floor panel with a Nomex honeycomb core
11. The inner part of a nuclear reactor in which the nuclear reaction takes place.
12. A piece of soft iron, inside the windings of an electromagnet, that channels the magnetic field.
13. A disorder of sheep caused by worms in the liver.
14. A cylindrical sample of rock or other materials obtained by core drilling.

Derived terms

Verb

1. To remove the core of an apple or other fruit.
2. To extract a sample with a drill.

Derived terms

• corer
• uncore
• uncored

See corps

Noun

1. (obsolete) A body of individuals; an assemblage.
• Francis BaconHe was in a core of people.

See chore

Noun

1. A miner's underground working time or shift.

Noun

1. A Hebrew dry measure; a cor or homer.

Possibly an acronym for cash on return

Noun

1. (automotive, machinery, aviation, marine) A deposit paid by the purchaser of a rebuilt part, to be refunded on return of a used, rebuildable part, or the returned rebuildable part itself.----