stalactite
Americannoun
noun
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A cylindrical or conical mineral deposit projecting downward from the roof of a cave or cavern, formed by the dripping of water saturated with minerals. Stalactites form gradually as the minerals precipitate out of the saturated water. They usually consist of calcite but can also consist of other minerals.
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Compare stalagmite
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of stalactite
1670–80; < New Latin stalactites < Greek stalakt ( ós ) dripping ( stalag-, stem of stalássein to drip + -tos verbid suffix) + New Latin -ites -ite 1
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How does stalactite compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Bats and stalactites like to hang out in caves. Those pointed pieces of rock that dangle from the roof of a cave are called stalactites. Most stalactites are primarily made of limestone or lava. Bats? Flesh and blood. Stalactites are the mineral formations that hang down like rock icicles, while stalagmites rise up from the floor. The word stalactite comes from the Greek word for "dripping," stalaktos, which in turn comes from the verb stalassein, "to trickle," which is how stalactites are formed. Water comes down through the top of the cave, bringing rock minerals with it that eventually form those pointy stalactites.
Vocabulary lists containing stalactite
Physical Geography - Introductory
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Physical Geography - Middle School
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Physical Geography - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The crowd drowns in the second-long tension as they sit below teardrop-shaped papier-mâché stalactite hanging from handmade alien geodes on the ceiling.
From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026
"At the bottom water oozed through the iron sides of the great tube, which has never been totally watertight. At one place a single stalactite a foot long hung from the roof."
From BBC • Feb. 24, 2024
In photos, stalactite wedges jut from its 38-foot ceiling.
From New York Times • Nov. 23, 2022
He wanted one track to sound tentative, so we imagined we were drops of water that had waited thousands of years until, at last, we were to fall from a stalactite.
From The Guardian • Feb. 26, 2019
A few stalactite spears lost their grip on the ceiling and plummeted, shattering on the rock-strewn floor like falling icicles in a thaw.
From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
