limestone

American  

[lahym-stohn] / ˈlaɪmˌstoʊn /

noun

• limestones
  plural

1. a sedimentary rock consisting predominantly of calcium carbonate, varieties of which are formed from the skeletons of marine microorganisms and coral: used as a building stone and in the manufacture of lime.

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limestone British  

/ ˈlaɪmˌstəʊn /

noun

1. a sedimentary rock consisting mainly of calcium carbonate, deposited as the calcareous remains of marine animals or chemically precipitated from the sea: used as a building stone and in the manufacture of cement, lime, etc

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limestone Scientific  

/ līm′stōn′ /

1. A sedimentary rock consisting primarily of calcium carbonate, often in the form of the minerals calcite or aragonite, and sometimes with magnesium carbonate in the form of dolomite. Minor amounts of silica, feldspar, pyrite, and clay may also be present. Limestone can occur in many colors but is usually white, gray, or black. It forms either through the accumulation and compaction of fossil shells or other calcium-carbonate based marine organisms, such as coral, or through the chemical precipitation of calcium carbonate out of sea water.

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limestone Cultural  

1. Sedimentary rock formed primarily of calcium carbonate, often the skeletons of small marine organisms.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• limestones
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of limestone

First recorded in 1515–25; lime ² + stone

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Compare meaning

How does limestone compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• limestone vs. travertine

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

limestone limestones

"These predators lived in a shallow tropical sea filled with small limestone islands," paper co-author Dr David Whiteside said of the two species.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

Both are small, with cone-shaped shells measuring about 6 mm in length, and they live on limestone rocks where they feed on algae and lichens.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 24, 2026

In the occupied West Bank's arid region of Masafer Yatta, Emar made a smooth concrete floor on two caves' rough limestone ground before applying a white limewash on the brittle stone walls.

From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026

Other tour boats skate around the limestone coast fringed with wind-blasted greenery.

From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026

The buildings were painted in shades of pale limestone and sand, adorned with colorful hieroglyphics and a menagerie of statues depicting gods and creatures.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

The cradle of palaeontology -- the study of fossil remains of animals and plants -- lies in the Maastricht limestones, where the first Mosasaurus was discovered in 1766.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 9, 2023

This magma is thought to have expelled gases that flowed into limestones, chemically altering them.

From Science Magazine ● Jun. 1, 2023

Next, I moved to Ridgewood, so deep into Bushwick that I was actually in Queens, where the old limestones on my block literally doubled in value over the course of four years.

From New York Times ● Jan. 30, 2020

Carbon-rich rocks, such as limestones, are sucked inside Earth at plate margins.

From Nature ● Jun. 11, 2019

The deposits are silver-lead, and they occur along the contact between approximately horizontal limestones and slates.

From De Re Metallica, Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 by Georgius Agricola

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