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.

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Calcutta British  

/ kælˈkʌtə /

noun

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

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Calcutta Cultural  

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

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

Example Sentences

On the road to this point, he has lost a few warriors - Jamie Ritchie and Jamie Dobie after the Calcutta Cup and now Scott Cummings and Gregor Brown, too.

From BBC • Mar. 10, 2026

Lacklustre and outgunned in Rome in week one, Scotland are now France's biggest challengers after following up the Calcutta Cup demolition of England with a nailbiting, nerve-wrenching win in Wales.

From BBC • Feb. 23, 2026

"It is always tough backing up an emotional performance like a Calcutta Cup game," said Tuipulotu, with Scotland yet to finish higher than third in the Six Nations era.

From Barron's • Feb. 20, 2026

To pinpoint the protective trait, researchers crossed Calcutta 4 with susceptible bananas from another diploid subspecies.

From Science Daily • Feb. 19, 2026

For the rest of the afternoon she is furious with herself, humiliated at the prospect of arriving in Calcutta empty-handed apart from the sweaters and the paintbrushes.

From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri