chalice

American  

[chal-is] / ˈtʃæl ɪs /

noun

1. Ecclesiastical.

   1. a cup for the wine of the Eucharist or Mass.

   2. the wine contained in it.

2. a drinking cup or goblet.

3. a cuplike blossom.

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chalice British  

/ ˈtʃælɪs /

noun

1. poetic a drinking cup; goblet

2. Christianity a gold or silver cup containing the wine at Mass

3. the calyx of a flower, esp a cup-shaped calyx

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Other Word Forms

• chaliced adjective

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

Example Sentences

“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

He once described the prospect of a humiliating cease-fire with Iraq as drinking from a poisoned chalice.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 17, 2026

He said some people had warned him that the job would be a "poisoned chalice".

From Barron's • Nov. 17, 2025

“Big no-no,” Kraken alternate captain Yanni Gourde, who has lifted the famous chalice twice, said.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 8, 2024

“It’s blood now,” Abel whispered when the priest raised the chalice with the wine, and his thin voice mixed mysteriously into the ringing altar bell.

From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya