What does corking mean?
'Corking' is an informal adjective meaning excellent or first-rate, used most often in British English to express enthusiastic approval of an event, performance, meal, or achievement: 'a corking day out', 'a corking innings'. Its connotation is warm and genial rather than cool or cutting-edge, and it carries a distinctly retro flavour — the kind of praise found in mid-twentieth-century fiction and still used affectionately today, often with a wink to its old-fashioned charm. The word derives from 'cork', the buoyant bark of the cork oak used to stopper bottles; something so good it made you want to pop a cork was said to be 'corking', and a person or thing of striking quality could be called 'a corker'. A related sense exists as the ordinary present participle of the verb 'to cork', meaning to seal a bottle with a cork. For anyone writing dialogue or prose with a period voice, 'corking' remains a handy, characterful synonym for 'excellent'.
Excellent; outstandingly good.
"It was a corking match, decided only in the final minute."
Informal and somewhat dated; chiefly British.
Present participle of 'to cork': to seal a bottle or container with a cork.
"They spent the evening corking bottles of elderflower champagne."
This cheerfully old-fashioned word for 'excellent' comes from 'cork' — because something so good it makes you pop like a champagne cork is, naturally, a corker.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of corking
'Corking' derives from 'cork', which entered English in the late Middle Ages, probably via Dutch 'kurk' or Low German, with ultimate origins traced to Latin 'quercus' (oak), the genus of the cork oak. In nineteenth-century English, 'cork' gave rise to figurative senses: a 'corker' was something astonishing or outstanding, and 'corking' came to mean first-rate or splendid, especially in colloquial British usage. The adjective flourished through the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries and survives today largely as a nostalgic, informal term of approval.
How corking is actually used
As an adjective, 'corking' is informal and distinctly old-fashioned, now heard mostly in Britain; it carries a warm, affectionate, slightly retro connotation rather than modern hype. It is used attributively ('a corking match'), never as a predicate ('the match was corking' is possible but less idiomatic).
Easily confused with corking
Caulking is the sealing of joints and gaps with waterproof material, while corking (informal) means excellent — despite the similar spelling and sound.