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limescale

British

/ ˈlaɪmskeɪl /

noun

Often shortened to: scale. a flaky deposit left in containers such as kettles by the action of heat on water containing calcium salts

"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

Etymology

Origin of limescale

from _lime ¹ (sense 1) + _scale ¹ (sense 3)

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.

Hard water is caused by mineral buildup, which isn’t bad for your health but can create limescale on appliances like your water heater.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 22, 2024

Zeng says that over time, these incrustants would build up like typical limescale, at which point they could be scrubbed away to remove the NMPs.

From Science Daily • Feb. 28, 2024

So the researchers, led by former ETH Professor Thomas Schutzius, took a close look at the interactions among individual growing limescale crystals, the surrounding water flow and the surface at the microscopic level.

From Science Daily • Feb. 9, 2024

While the coating can't fully prevent limescale crystals from forming, the constant passive removal of the microscopic crystals stops them growing together to form a tenacious layer.

From Science Daily • Feb. 9, 2024

This is a nuisance in households -- and an expensive problem in thermal power stations, for example those that generate electricity, where the formation of limescale is known as fouling.

From Science Daily • Feb. 9, 2024

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023