OAK 
OAF, f. [a corruption of otipk, a demon or fairy; in 
German and Dutch a If, from which elf. ] A changeling; 
a foolifli child left by the fairies : 
Thefe, when a child haps to be got 
Which after proves an idiot, 
When folk perceives it thriveth not, 
The fault therein to fmother; 
Some filly doating brainlefs calf. 
That underftands things by the half, 
Says that the fairy left this oaf, 
And took away the other. Drayton's Nympkid. 
A dolt ; a blockhead ; an idiot. Ufed in the north of 
England ; and corrupted fometimes into goaf, goff, and 
gaff. —The fear of breeding fools and ophs. Beaumont and 
Fletcher's Night Walker. —He, who when cool is a mere 
oaf, may be quite humourous in his cups. Pkilof. Lett, on 
Phyfiognomy. 
OAFISH, adj. Stupid ; dull; doltrfh. 
. OAFISHNESS,./! Stupidity ; dullnefs. 
OAHA'BA, a river of Louifiana, which runs into the 
Miffiffipp: in lat. 39. 21. N. Ion. 91.40. W. 
OAHOO'. See Woahoo. 
OAHOO'NA, the northernmoft of theclufter ofillands 
called Ingraham Ifles; about two leagues north-eaft of 
Nooheeva; called Wafliington by Capt. Ingraham, and 
Malfachulefts by Capt. Roberts. 
OAITIPE'HA, or O Aitepeba, a bay of the ifland of 
Otaheite. Lat. 17.46. S. Ion. 149. 14. W." 
OAK , f. [ac, sec. Sax,] The general name of a well- 
known hard-wooded foreft-tree, much cultivated for the 
purpole of timber; particularly in Ihip-building, and in 
other cafes where much expofure to the weather is re¬ 
quired. For the various fpecies, cultivation, Sec. See the 
article Quercus. —No tree beareth fo many baftard fruits 
as the oak; for, belides the acorns, it beareth galls, oak- 
apples, oak-nuts, which are inflammable, and oak-berries, 
flicking dole to the body of the tree without flalk. 
Bacon's Nat. Hijl. 
The monarch oak, the patriarch of the trees, 
Shoots rifing up, and fpreads by flow degrees: 
Three centuries he grows, and three lie flays 
Supreme in ftate, and in three more decays. Dryden. 
Let India boaft her plants, nor envy we 
The weeping amber and the balmy tree, 
While by our oaks the precious loads are born, 
And realms commanded which thofe trees adorn. Pope. 
OAK (Dwarf). See Teucrium. 
OAK (Indian). SeeTECTONA. 
OAK (Poifon). See Rhus. 
O'AK- APPLE, f. A kind of fpongy excrefcence on 
the oak.—Another kind of excrefcence is an exudation 
of plants joined with putrefaction, as in oak-apples, 
which are found chiefly upon the leaves of oak. Bacon's 
Nat. Hijl. 
OAK-BA'Y, or the Devil’s Heel, lies in the Bay of 
Fundy, nine leagues louth-fouth-eafl of Moofe Ifland. 
OAK-BERRY, /. A kind of fmall excrelcence flick¬ 
ing clofe to the body of the oak.—No tree beareth fo many 
baftard fruits as the oak; for, befides the acorns, it 
beareth galls oak-apples, oak-nuts, which are inflam¬ 
mable, and oali-berries, flicking clofe to the body of the 
tree without flalk. Bacon's Nat. IliJ't. 
OAK of CAPPADO'CIA. See Ambrosia. 
O'AK-CLEAVING, adj. That cleaves oaks: 
You fulph’rous and thought-executing fires, 
Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts, 
Singe my white head. Shakefpeare's K. Lear. 
OAK CO'VE, a cove on the weft coaft of North Ame¬ 
rica, in the Gull’of New Georgia, where fome of captain 
Cook’s crew faw oak-trees. 
OAK I'SLAND, a fmall ifland on the coaft of North 
VOL. XVII. No. Ii8i. 
OAR 353 
Carolina, at the mouth of Cape Fear River. Lat. 33. 52. N. 
Ion. 78. 20. W. 
OAK-LEATH'ER. See Xylostroma giganteum. 
O'AK-NUT, /. A kind of inflammable excrefcence 
growing on the oak.—No tree beareth fo many baftard 
fruits as the oak ; for, befides the acorns, it beareth galls, 
oak-apples, oak-nuts, which are inflammable, and oak- 
berries, flicking clofe to the body of the tree without 
flalk. Bacon's Nat. lift. 
OAK of JERUSALEM. See Chenopodium. 
OAK-TREE. See Oak. 
OAKEN, adj. Made of oak ; gathered from oak.—No 
nation doth equal England for oaken timber wherewith to 
build fliips. Bacon's Ado. to Villiers. —An oaken garland to 
be worn on feftivals, was the recompenfe of one who had 
covered a citizen in battle. Addijon.-— He /hatched a good 
tough oaken cudgel, and began to brandifh it. Arbuthnot's 
J. Bull. 
I am the Power 
Of this fair wood, and live in oaken bower. Milton. 
Clad in white velvet all their troop they led, 
With each an oaken chaplet on his head. Dryden. 
O'AKENPIN, f. A kind of apple.— Oakenpin, fo called 
from its hardnefs, is a lading fruit, yields excellent liquor, 
and is near the nature of the Weftbury apple, though not 
in form. Mortimer. 
OAKFUSKEE', a town of the ftate of Georgia: 195 
miles weft of Augufta. Lat. 33. N. Ion. 85, 55. W. 
OAKFUSKEE', or Tallapoosee, a river of America, 
which runs into Mobile Bay near Fort Conde, in the ftate 
of Georgia. The Indians in this part of Georgia are 
called Oakfujldes. 
OAKHAM. See Okeha.m. 
OAKHAM'PTON. See Okehampton. 
OAKHAMSTON HEAD', a cape of Scotland, on the 
fouth-eaft coart of the county of Caithnefs : eleven miles 
fouth of Wick. Lat. 58. 15.N. Ion. 3. 8. W. 
OAKINGHAM. See Wokingham. 
OAKLING, f. A young oak.—There was lately an 
avenue of four leagues in length, and fifty paces in breadth 
planted with young oaklings. Evelyn. 
OAKMULGEE', a river of Georgia, which joins the 
Occonee to form theAltamaha in lat, 32.24. N. 1011.83. W. 
OAKUM, J'. [a word probably formed by fome cor¬ 
ruption.] Cords untwifted and reduced to hemp; with 
wdiich, mingled with pitch, leaks are flopped.—They 
make their oakum, wherewith they calk the teams of the 
thips, of old feer, and weather-beaten ropes, when they 
are over-fpent and grown fo rotten as they ferve for no 
other ufe but to make rotten oakum, which moulders and 
waffles away with every fea as the fliips labour and are 
tofl’ed. Raleigh. 
Some drive old oakum through each feam and rift; 
Their left hand does the calking-iron guide; 
The rattling mallet with the right they lift. Dryden. 
OALAL'DA, a town of Africa, in the country of the 
Foulis : thirty miles eaft-fouth-eaft of Sibbe. 
OA'MI, a town of Japan, in the ifland of Niphon : 
tw'enty-five miles fouth-wert of Morifa. 
OAN'DA, a town of Africa, in the country of the 
Foulis,on theSenegal: feventy miles fouth-eaftof Goumel. 
OAN'NES, a being in Chaldean mythology, reprefented 
as half a man and half a fifli. According to Berofus and 
other fabulous writers, this monfter was the civilizer of 
the Chaldeans; to whom he taught a fyftem of juril’pru- 
dence, fo perfeft as to be incapable of improvement. In 
difcharging the duties of his office, he fpent the day on 
dry land, but retired every night into the ocean or the 
river. 
OA'NUS, in ancient geography, a town of Afia, in 
Lydia. 
OAR, J'. [ajie, Sax. perhaps: by allufion to the common 
4 X expreffion 
