chalice
Americannoun
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chalices
plural
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Ecclesiastical.
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a cup for the wine of the Eucharist or Mass.
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the wine contained in it.
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a drinking cup or goblet.
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a cuplike blossom.
noun
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poetic a drinking cup; goblet
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Christianity a gold or silver cup containing the wine at Mass
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the calyx of a flower, esp a cup-shaped calyx
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of chalice
before 900; Middle English < Middle French < Latin calici- (stem of calix ) cup; replacing Middle English caliz, calc, Old English calic < Latin calici-, as above
Explanation
A chalice is a bowl-shaped drinking vessel. Chalices were all the rage back in King Arthur's day. You won't come across the word chalice very often today (outside of books, anyway) unless you hang out at those Renaissance fairs where everyone dresses up as knights. The term "poisoned chalice" is good for describing something that looks beneficial, but is actually harmful.
Vocabulary lists containing chalice
"Macbeth": Act 1 Scene 7
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The Poet X
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Novel Study: Macbeth, Acts 1–2
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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.
See Examples For:
The Dundon family comprises the entire first two rows of names on the iconic chalice, even though Papa Dundon is the only one who holds a position within the organization.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
“Unlike in 1988, there is no one to drink the chalice of poison,” Zimmt said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 25, 2026
“You need fire and you need a chalice. To me, that fire is my creativity. It’s my birthright to create. And that chalice is the community that holds me.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2026
She described the move as a "poisoned chalice" that had left her vulnerable to redundancy, the court heard.
From BBC ● Jan. 10, 2026
He was in the holy chalice awaiting us.
From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya
It’s a constant conundrum of global athletic events, pursued as chalices by complicated hosts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025
Marzia Di Mento, the site’s chief archaeologist, noted that previously only seven glass chalices of the era had been found, and that the excavations of this one site turned up seven more.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 26, 2023
Since then, the church has guarded the “Precious Blood” relic — until a group of unidentified thieves snatched it along with metallic liturgical dishes, artwork and chalices on June 2.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 21, 2022
Ending the nation's more than two-decade wait for a major finals had become the most poisoned of chalices.
From BBC ● Nov. 13, 2020
The tulips along the border are redder than ever, opening, no longer wine cups but chalices; thrusting themselves up, to what end?
From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
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.
