Calcutta
Americannoun
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former name of Kolkata (but sometimes still used).
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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.
noun
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Calcutta is one of the largest cities in the world and suffers from poverty, overcrowding, and unemployment.
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.
Their route to deliver the plane in Wales included stops in Calcutta, Muscat and Cairo.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 11, 2026
At one point, Russell, who has had plenty of Calcutta Cup run-ins with Farrell, aimed a gesture at the visitors suggesting they continue 'crying' over a penalty decision.
From BBC • Mar. 23, 2026
After the Calcutta Cup victory at Murrayfield, Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu spoke to the BBC with searing honesty.
From BBC • Feb. 27, 2026
Australia-born centre Tuipulotu believes it might have been someone else lifting the Calcutta Cup in Edinburgh had not Tandy brought him encouraged him to open up.
From Barron's • Feb. 20, 2026
My father has visited the institution in Calcutta twice—once without warning, hoping to see a transformed Moni, living a secretly normal life behind the barred gates.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
