calcareous
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of calcareous
1670–80; variant of calcarious < Latin calcārius of lime; see calx, -ary ( def. )
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.
Many calcareous plankton species that normally sink to the ocean floor disappeared during the extinction event.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 15, 2026
Among other things, the researchers determined the isotopic and elemental composition of the calcareous shells of plankton.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2023
The permit, which Science has seen, authorized Frey to transport “two boxes containing calcareous samples with fossils, without any commercial value, with the main objective to proceed with paleontological studies” at SMNK.
From Science Magazine ● Sep. 29, 2021
Though I had to swallow some disappointment to see it, Abbé’s fumaroles, built up over millennia by the accretion of calcareous mineral deposits, still presented an astonishing panorama.
From New York Times ● Apr. 8, 2019
“He had to move back,” Yossarian argued in a vain effort to cheer up the glum, barrel-chested Indian, whose well-knit sorrel-red face had degenerated rapidly into a dilapidated, calcareous gray.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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.
