thin fibres covered in a sticky substance and used for filling gaps. Oakum was traditionally made from old ropes and used to fill the gaps between the long, flat pieces of wood on a ship's deck (= floor).

We packed the cracks with oakum. 我们用填絮把缝隙堵住。

Then she saw a group of prisoners sitting in a dark cellar picking oakum (= separating the fibres from old ropes). 然后她看到一群囚犯坐在昏暗的地窖里在制作填絮。