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• culm
  culm

  noun

  coal dust; slack.
• Culm
  Culm

  noun

  a formation consisting mainly of shales and sandstone deposited during the Carboniferous period in parts of Europe

culm

¹ American  

[kuhlm] / kʌlm /

noun

1. coal dust; slack.

2. anthracite, especially of inferior grade.

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culm ² American  

[kuhlm] / kʌlm /

noun

1. a stem or stalk, especially the jointed and usually hollow stem of grasses.

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verb (used without object)

1. to grow or develop into a culm.

culm ¹ British  

/ kʌlm /

noun

1. the hollow jointed stem of a grass or sedge

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culm ² British  

/ kʌlm /

noun

1. coal-mine waste

2. inferior anthracite

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Culm ³ British  

noun

1. a formation consisting mainly of shales and sandstone deposited during the Carboniferous period in parts of Europe

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culm Scientific  

/ kŭlm /

1. The stem of a grass or similar plant.

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Etymology

Origin of culm¹

1300–50; Middle English colme, probably equivalent to col coal + -m suffix of uncertain meaning (compare -m in Old English fæthm fathom, wæstm growth)

Origin of culm²

1650–60; < Latin culmus stalk; akin to calamus, haulm

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

culm Culm

“It could also be a culm bank where they put all the refuse of the coal industry. It does look like there are trees growing on it.”

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 25, 2017

As far as DEP is concerned, reprocessing coal from culm banks is a benefit: It mitigates a hazard, as well as the environmental issues, Stefanko said.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 6, 2015

Long have there been rumors that PRC would go into the power business, using its own small grade anthracite and reclaiming culm banks for fuel.

From Time Magazine Archive

The task of dredging out millions of tons of accumulated silt and culm is ready to begin.

From Time Magazine Archive

They are made from the low-grade coals, culm, slack and lignites, blended with coal-tar pitch.

From Checking the Waste A Study in Conservation by Gregory, Mary Huston

For the third year running, the Environment Agency said it had restocked the River Culm in Devon following pollution in 2019.

From BBC ● Dec. 21, 2021

Torrents ran down from the hills and flooded the valley of the Culm to a depth of over five feet.

From The Life of Roger Langdon Told by himself. With additions by his daughter Ellen. [With a preface by H. Clifton Lambert.] by Lambert, Henry Clifton

Culm, kulm, n. the stalk or stem of corn or of grasses.—v.i. to form a culm.—adj.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various

Culm herbaceous, annual; leaf-blade sessile, and not jointed to the sheath. α Spikelets upon distinct pedicels and arranged in panicles or racemes.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 3 "Gordon, Lord George" to "Grasses" by Various

A Culm, or straw-stem, such as that of Grasses and Sedges.

From The Elements of Botany For Beginners and For Schools by Gray, Asa