Dictionaries › English

chalk

Pronunciation: /t͡ʃɔːk/

The English word “chalk” has 13 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A soft, white, powdery limestone (calcium carbonate, CaCO₃).
  2. A piece of chalk, or nowadays processed compressed gypsum (calcium sulfate, CaSO₄), that is used for drawing and for writing on a blackboard (chalkboard).
  3. Tailor's chalk.
  4. A white powdery substance used to prevent hands slipping from holds when climbing, or losing grip in weight-lifting or gymnastics, sometimes but not always limestone-chalk, often magnesium carbonate (MgCO₃).
  5. A platoon-sized group of airborne soldiers.
  6. The favorite in a sporting event.
  7. The prediction that there will be no upsets, and the favored competitor will win.

verb

  1. To apply chalk to anything, such as the tip of a billiard cue.
  2. To record something, as on a blackboard, using chalk.
  3. To use powdered chalk to mark the lines on a playing field.
  4. To record a score or event, as if on a chalkboard.
  5. To manure (land) with chalk.
  6. To make white, as if with chalk; to make pale; to bleach.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English chalk, chalke, from Old English ċealc, from Proto-West Germanic *kalk, borrowed from Latin calx (“limestone”), again borrowed from Ancient Greek χάλιξ (khálix, “pebble”). Doublet of calx and cauk.

Keep exploring: in the interactive dictionary every word of a definition is a link. Open “chalk” there

More English words

About this dictionary

The English dictionary on Glottosphere has 650,529 entries with a page. Browse the English dictionary.

Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.