marl

[ mahrl ]

/ mɑrl /

noun

Geology. a friable earthy deposit consisting of clay and calcium carbonate, used especially as a fertilizer for soils deficient in lime.

Archaic. earth.

verb (used with object)

to fertilize with marl.

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Are you the Cinderella of this week’s quiz? Test your memory on the words and definitions from March 23–29.

Question 1 of 7

schlep

to say or do hesitantly or awkwardly

to fold or wind around something

to carry; lug

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Origin of marl

1325–75; Middle English marle < Middle Dutch < Old French < Medieval Latin margila, diminutive of Latin marga, said to be < Gaulish

OTHER WORDS FROM marl

mar·la·cious

[mahr-ley-shuh s] /mɑrˈleɪ ʃəs/, marl·y, adjective

Words nearby marl

markowitz, marksman, markswoman, markup, markup language, marl, marlboro, marlborough, marlborough leg, marled, marlene

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for marly

The comments were a shocking dose of reality for graduating senior Marly Faherty.
Obama’s Barnard College Commencement Speech Win|Jesse Ellison|May 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST
It became quite the fashion to go from Marly to his chateau.
The Memoirs of Louis XIV., His Court and The Regency, Complete|Duc de Saint-Simon
Marly lay beyond Versailles, four leagues from Paris, and his horse could go no further.
In the Day of Adversity|John Bloundelle-Burton
The old councillors themselves murmured between their teeth, "To Marly!"
A Popular History of France From The Earliest Times|Francois Pierre Guillaume Guizot

You are just the man never to have seen Marly—come and see it now; I will give you up afterwards to Desmarets.
The Memoirs of Louis XIV., His Court and The Regency, Complete|Duc de Saint-Simon
I thought of the little group who at Marly were expecting and reproaching me.
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. 12, No. 32, November, 1873|Various

British Dictionary definitions for marly (1 of 2)

marl¹

/ (mɑːl) /

noun

a fine-grained sedimentary rock consisting of clay minerals, calcite or aragonite, and silt: used as a fertilizer

verb

(tr) to fertilize (land) with marl

Derived forms of marl

marlacious (mɑːˈleɪʃəs) or marly, adjective

Word Origin for marl

C14: via Old French, from Late Latin margila, diminutive of Latin marga

British Dictionary definitions for marly (2 of 2)

marl²

/ (mɑːl) /

verb

nautical to seize (a rope) with marline, using a hitch at each turn

Word Origin for marl

C15 marlyn to bind; related to Dutch marlen to tie, Old English mārels cable

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

Scientific definitions for marly

marl

[ märl ]

A crumbly mixture of clays, calcium and magnesium carbonates, and remnants of shells that forms in both freshwater and marine environments.