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  • culm
    culm
    noun
    coal dust; slack.
  • Culm
    Culm
    noun
    a formation consisting mainly of shales and sandstone deposited during the Carboniferous period in parts of Europe
Synonyms

culm

1 American  
[kuhlm] / kʌlm /

noun

  1. coal dust; slack.

  2. anthracite, especially of inferior grade.


culm 2 American  
[kuhlm] / kʌlm /

noun

  1. a stem or stalk, especially the jointed and usually hollow stem of grasses.


verb (used without object)

  1. to grow or develop into a culm.

culm 1 British  
/ kʌlm /

noun

  1. the hollow jointed stem of a grass or sedge

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

culm 2 British  
/ kʌlm /

noun

  1. coal-mine waste

  2. inferior anthracite

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Culm 3 British  

noun

  1. a formation consisting mainly of shales and sandstone deposited during the Carboniferous period in parts of Europe

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

culm Scientific  
/ kŭlm /
  1. The stem of a grass or similar plant.


Etymology

Origin of culm1

1300–50; Middle English colme, probably equivalent to col coal + -m suffix of uncertain meaning (compare -m in Old English fæthm fathom, wæstm growth)

Origin of culm2

1650–60; < Latin culmus stalk; akin to calamus, haulm

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:

“It could also be a culm bank where they put all the refuse of the coal industry. It does look like there are trees growing on it.”

From Seattle Times Dec. 25, 2017

As far as DEP is concerned, reprocessing coal from culm banks is a benefit: It mitigates a hazard, as well as the environmental issues, Stefanko said.

From Washington Times Jun. 6, 2015

Thence the roadbed becomes a chute between cliffs, trees, coal tupples and culm banks into Wilkes-Barre,† on the Susquehanna River.

From Time Magazine Archive

Long have there been rumors that PRC would go into the power business, using its own small grade anthracite and reclaiming culm banks for fuel.

From Time Magazine Archive

Sediments approaching to the culm type, with similar flora and fauna, were deposited in synclinal hollows in parts of France and Spain.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 3 "Capefigue" to "Carneades" by Various

For the third year running, the Environment Agency said it had restocked the River Culm in Devon following pollution in 2019.

From BBC Dec. 21, 2021

Torrents ran down from the hills and flooded the valley of the Culm to a depth of over five feet.

From The Life of Roger Langdon Told by himself. With additions by his daughter Ellen. [With a preface by H. Clifton Lambert.] by Lambert, Henry Clifton

Culm 3–6° high; leaves about 6´´ wide; cymes decompound, diffuse; bristles awl-shaped, stout, unequal, shorter than the achene.—Wet places, Penn. to Fla., west to S. Ind. and Mo. 14.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

He himself went through the tremendous campaign that brought about the conclusion of the war and the downfall of Napoleon, and was present at the great battles of Lutzen, Bautzen, Reichenbach, Dresden, Culm, and Leipsic.

From Through Russian Snows A Story of Napoleon's Retreat from Moscow by Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)

Culm fossils appear in the Carnic Alps, in the Balkans and parts of Spain, also in Spitzbergen and part of New Guinea.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 8 "Cube" to "Daguerre, Louis" by Various

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