sport one's oak
/ˌspoɹt wʌnz ˈoʊk/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.90 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
1
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "For arguing that a man will be plucked take the Topics following: for among men likely to be plucked [i.e., rejected after failing an examination for a degree] are these for the most part. […] He that sporteth not his oak."
- "One day that he had been writing a letter in Mr. Smalls' rooms, which were on the ground-floor, Verdant congratulated himself that his own rooms were on the third floor, and were thus removed from the possibility of his friends, when he had sported his oak, being able to get through his window to "chaff" him; but he soon discovered that rooms upstairs had also objectionable points in their private character, and were not altogether such eligible apartments as he had at first anticipated."
- "My rooms are pleasant enough,[…], and separated from all mankind by a great, iron-clamped, outer door, my oak, which I sport when I go out, or want to be quiet; […]"
- "The custom of sporting one's oak, which is so popular an institution in the English Universities, is destined apparently to become an exotic in Cambridge. […] In England, to sport the oak is considered an act eminently proper and commendable; but we seem to think it is a habit destructive of our college freedom. If a visitor obtains no response to his tenth kick, cannot he take the hint that his company is not desirable at present and move off quietly, without informing the occupant of the said room that he knows he is there, and that he cannot see the reason why he is refused admittance."
- ""Goodness gracious," I exclaimed, "why didn't we sport the oak? Perhaps it is your father. But surely he would hardly come at this time of day! Go at once into my bedroom.""
- "Blankets were served out to hang in the front of the cubicle [in Shackleton's Hut at Cape Royds, Antarctica], in case the inhabitants wanted at any time to "sport their oak.""
Etymology
From sport (“(archaic) to close or shut (a door)”) and oak (“outer (lockable) door of a set of rooms in a college (especially of the University of Cambridge or University of Oxford) or similar institution, especially one made of oak wood”). Compare French trouver visage de bois (“to find no one at home”, literally “to find a wooden face (that is, the door)”).
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌspoɹt wʌnz ˈoʊk/
- British English: /ˌspɔːt wʌnz ˈəʊk/