Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Core \Core\, n. [OF. cor, coer, cuer, F. c[oe]ur, fr. L. cor
   heart. See {Heart}.]
   1. The heart or inner part of a thing, as of a column, wall,
      rope, of a boil, etc.; especially, the central part of
      fruit, containing the kernels or seeds; as, the core of an
      apple or quince.

            A fever at the core, Fatal to him who bears, to all
            who ever bore.                        --Byron.

   2. The center or inner part, as of an open space; as, the
      core of a square. [Obs.] --Sir W. Raleigh.

   3. The most important part of a thing; the essence; as, the
      core of a subject.

   4. (Founding) The prtion of a mold which shapes the interior
      of a cylinder, tube, or other hollow casting, or which
      makes a hole in or through a casting; a part of the mold,
      made separate from and inserted in it, for shaping some
      part of the casting, the form of which is not determined
      by that of the pattern.

   5. A disorder of sheep occasioned by worms in the liver.
      [Prov. Eng.] --Halliwell.

   6. (Anat.) The bony process which forms the central axis of
      the horns in many animals.

   {Core box} (Founding), a box or mold, usually divisible, in
      which cores are molded.

   {Core print} (Founding), a projecting piece on a pattern
      which forms, in the mold, an impression for holding in
      place or steadying a core.