core1
/kɔː
/noun
1The tough central part of various fruits, containing the seeds: a pineapple core...
- It were as if thoughts shared whilst freewheeling down a country lane existed for just those few shameless moments, then could be thrown away, to decay in the hedgerows like the discarded cores of forbidden fruit.
- Cut four ‘sides’ from each pepper and discard the central core and seeds.
- The absence of a core in the picked fruit makes raspberries softer and juicier to eat than blackberries.
2The part of something that is central to its existence or character: the plan has the interests of children at its core [as modifier]: managers can concentrate on their core activities...
- PPL's decision, as Scotland on Sunday reported last week, is prompted by £14.2m losses and the need to concentrate on its core activities.
- This management trend is the latest in a line of effective ways of reducing costs and allowing organisations to concentrate on their core activities.
- Like its competitors, Nestlé Rowntree is now concentrating on its core activity: making confectionery.
Synonyms
heart, nucleus, nub, hub, kernel, marrow, meat;
essence, quintessence, crux, gist, pith, substance, sum and substance, body, basis;
bedrock, cornerstone, linchpin, mainspring, foundation, root, base, underpinning;
fundamentals, essentials, basic principles, main ingredients;
heart of the matter
informal nitty-gritty, brass tacks, nuts and bolts, ABC, basics
central, key, basic, fundamental, elemental, principal, primary, main, chief, crucial, vital, essential
informal number-one
2.1An important or unchanging group of people forming the central part of a larger body: a flexible core of permanent employees...
- Assessing the performance of employees who form the core of any organisation, through a well-defined system, is probably the easiest way to achieve this goal.
- The core of the steering committee is around 35 - the same group of people since just after the coup d'état and we form a very strong block.
- But McGurk's expertise has helped keep the central core of the team strong although he is keen to scratch out a few more clean sheets.
3The dense central region of a planet, especially the nickel-iron inner part of the earth.The Earth has an iron core surrounded by a dense layer called the mantle, which is capped with a thin rind of rocky crust....
- In time, seismograph recordings enabled geologists to determine that Earth has a dense core surrounded by a slowly flowing mantle and a thin outer crust.
- Scientists believe the magnetic field is generated deep inside the Earth where the heat of the planet's solid inner core churns a liquid outer core of iron and nickel.
Synonyms
centre, interior, middle, nucleus, bosom;
recesses, bowels, depths
informal innards
literary midst
3.1The central part of a nuclear reactor, which contains the fissile material.Within the core of nuclear reactors, a transmutation-process goes through the sequence of the outer planet-names....
- The heart of any nuclear reactor is the core, which contains the fuel, a moderator, and control rods.
- The whining pitch of the nuclear cores heightened to a point where the team of soldiers out there dropped their weapons and held their hands over their ears in intense agony.
3.2A tiny ring of magnetic material used in a computer memory to store one bit of data, now superseded by semiconductor memories.It was a gigantic application of the first generation of high-speed computers with magnetic core memories....
- Naturally both cards had some reserves left in terms of performance by increasing the clockspeed of both the core and the memory.
- In some circumstances the system will prompt you to reboot at that point so it can detect the default core and memory speeds of your card.
3.3The inner strand of an electric cable or rope.Sharks have been known to decide to bite them, there were worms called Teredo worms, which used to like to eat the gutta percha, which was used to insulate the copper wire at the core of the cable....
- Inner core was jointed to the outer mesh with non-conductive fishing line, and everything was held together with old-fashioned duct tape.
- The smaller the core and the poorer electrical conductor its material was, the faster the field would decay.
3.4The muscles of the torso, especially the lower back and abdominal area, which assist in the maintenance of good posture, balance, etc. nothing will strengthen your core like balancing a heavy barbell on your back or lifting one off the floor [as modifier]: the core muscles of the abdomen...
- The best way to strengthen the core is with a series of exercises using an oversized ball.
- It was just a matter of working with his body, strengthening his core and his legs to build up his endurance and improve his balance.
- Push your abs out and wear a weightlifting belt (this will strengthen your core).
3.5A piece of soft iron forming the centre of an electromagnet or an induction coil.The stator assembly consists of independently controlled electromagnet cores that are both identical and isolated from each other, and made of soft, magnetic composites.
3.6An internal mould filling a space to be left hollow in a casting: bronzes that have been cast using a clay core...
- A casting would require a pattern, a core, a mold, and finally casting the part from aluminum.
3.7A cylindrical sample of rock, ice, or other material obtained by boring with a hollow drill.Ships may also carry huge deep-sea drills that pull cores of sediment and rock from the beneath the ocean....
- The block samples were obtained following ongoing excavation of the quarry floor, and the core samples by diamond drilling below the quarry floor.
- And there's an instrument on board Beagle 2 called the mole and the mole will burrow under the soil and the drill will take a drill core from a rock.
3.8 Archaeology A piece of flint from which flakes or blades have been removed.Hopewellian chert tool industries consist of three discrete manufacturing trajectories, resulting in tools made on cores, flakes, and blades....
- The vast majority of chert tools found at Hopewell sites are not made from blades, but from reduction flakes derived from multidirectional cores.
- A piece of flint struck from a core which characteristically shows traces of the processes of removal: concentric fracture ripples and a bulb of percussion.
4 [as modifier] Economics Denoting or relating to a figure for inflation that excludes certain items, chiefly food and energy, that are subject to sudden and temporary price fluctuations: core inflation was up 2.3 percent over the 12 month period...Compare with headline (sense 2 of the noun).
- The latest data matches the December 2001 low for core inflation.
- Despite significant increases in the headline inflation, core inflation remains low.
- We took the economy from the double-digit inflation of the late 1970s to a core inflation rate in the two-to-three percent range.
verb [with object]
Remove the tough central part and seeds from (a fruit): peel and core the pears...
- In a blender, mix one tbsp of honey with one peeled and cored apple.
- For apple pie flavor without the fat-filled crust, stuff cored apples with brown sugar, cinnamon and granola (a sneaky bit of fiber), then cover and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
- Glancing up and setting the fourth cored apple aside, Lydia said, ‘Stuffed apples.’
Phrases
to the core
Derivatives
corer
/ noun ...- But perhaps even an apple corer is better than nothing?
- Stand the peeled pear on a board and, using an apple corer, gently push down through the pear to remove the core to create a whole, hollow pear, ready for poaching in the syrup.
- Using a narrow apple corer, make a hole at the stem end and scoop out the pulp by twisting it round, being careful not to break the skin.
Origin
Middle English: of unknown origin.
Rhymes
CORE2
/kɔː/abbreviation
(In the US) Congress of Racial Equality.