CHALK
What does "CHALK" mean?
A soft white limestone, or a stick of it used for writing and drawing.
Meanings
- A soft, white, porous sedimentary rock made of calcium carbonate. The cliffs were a brilliant wall of white chalk against the sea.
- A stick of chalk or similar substance used for writing or marking. The teacher reached for a fresh piece of chalk.
- To write, draw, or mark with chalk. They chalked the day's specials on the board outside.
Did you know?
- Natural chalk is made of the fossils of plankton: its bulk is countless coccoliths, the microscopic armour plates of single-celled algae that sank to the seafloor tens of millions of years ago.
Word origin
From Old English 'cealc', a borrowing from Latin 'calx' ('limestone, lime'); the same Latin root underlies 'calcium' and 'calculate', which once meant counting with small stones.
Remember it
CHALK shares its Latin root 'calx' with calcium - both are built from the same white, crumbly stuff.
A little poem
White cliff at the coast-
a billion small dead creatures
stacked into a wall.
haiku
Wordplay
- The teacher tried to draw a straight line but it didn't add up. Classic chalk-ulation error.
What it teaches
Whole cliffs are built from things too small to see - never dismiss what looks insignificant.
Quick facts
What does CHALK mean?
A soft white limestone, or a stick of it used for writing and drawing.
Is CHALK a valid word?
Yes — CHALK is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is CHALK?
CHALK has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does CHALK come from?
From Old English 'cealc', a borrowing from Latin 'calx' ('limestone, lime'); the same Latin root underlies 'calcium' and 'calculate', which once meant counting with small stones.
What can CHALK teach us?
Whole cliffs are built from things too small to see - never dismiss what looks insignificant.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.