Sealed the gaps or seams of a boat or wooden structure with waterproof material like putty or tar.
From Middle English 'caulken,' borrowed from Old French 'calfater,' which came from Late Latin 'calefactare.' The word originally referred to heating and driving material into seams, evolving to mean sealing cracks.
Before modern waterproofing, caulking was literally the only thing keeping wooden ships from sinking—sailors would chew tar and oakum fibers into gaps, making it one of history's most important and gross jobs!
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