Calcutta

American  

[kal-kuht-uh] / kælˈkʌt ə /

noun

1. former name of Kolkata (but sometimes still used).

2. Also called Calcutta pool.  (sometimes lowercase) a form of betting pool for a competition or tournament, as golf or auto racing, in which gamblers bid for participating contestants in an auction, the proceeds from which are put into a pool for distribution, according to a prearranged scale of percentages, to those who selected winners.

---

Calcutta British  

/ kælˈkʌtə /

noun

1. the former official name (still widely used) of Kolkata

---

Calcutta Cultural  

1. Largest city in India, located in the eastern part of the country on the Hooghly River.

---

Discover More

Calcutta is one of the largest cities in the world and suffers from poverty, overcrowding, and unemployment.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Calcutta

In response, Indian elites established institutions of their own, including the Calcutta Club in 1907, which admitted both Indians and Europeans and became a rare experiment in shared membership before independence.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

Their route to deliver the plane in Wales included stops in Calcutta, Muscat and Cairo.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 2026

There had been an expectation that England would be smarting after the Calcutta Cup defeat, and would put it right against Ireland.

From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2026

A bigger crowd is expected for the third-round visit of a Scotland side fresh from an impressive 31-20 Calcutta Cup win over England at Murrayfield.

From Barron's ● Feb. 20, 2026

In Calcutta, I knew, every accent is a surgical probe.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee