Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CALK, v.t. [cauk; Qu. the connection of this word with the Sp. calafetear; It. calafatare; Port. calafetar; Arm. calefeti; Fr. calfeter, to smear with cement or mortar; Ar. قَلَفَ kalafa, to stop the seams of ships with fine moss, &c., and pay them over with pitch; Sam. id. It may be corrupted from this word; if not, it may be from the Dan. kalk, calx, lime or mortar; but this seems not probable. The Germans and Danes have borrowed the Spanish and French word to express the idea. Skinner deduces the word from Fr. calage, tow.]

1. To drive oakum or old ropes untwisted, 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 resin, to keep the oakum from rotting.
2. 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.