cauk.

To drive oakum or old ropes untwised, into the seams of a ship or other vessel, to prevent their leaking, or admitting water. After the seams are filled, they are covered with hot melted pitch or rosin, to keep the oakum from rotting.

In some parts of America, to set upon a horse or ox shoes armed with sharp points of iron, to prevent their slipping on ice; that is, to stop from slipping.

Cauk. In New-England, a sharp pointed piece of iron on a shoe for a horse or an ox, called in Great Britain calking; used to prevent the animal from slipping.