oolite

American  

[oh-uh-lahyt] / ˈoʊ əˌlaɪt /

noun

Geology.

1. a limestone composed of minute rounded concretions resembling fish roe, in some places altered to ironstone by replacement with iron oxide.

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oolite British  

/ ˌəʊəˈlɪtɪk, ˈəʊəˌlaɪt /

noun

1. any sedimentary rock, esp limestone, consisting of tiny spherical concentric grains within a fine matrix

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oolite Scientific  

/ ō′ə-līt′ /

1. A sedimentary rock consisting of ooliths that are cemented together by calcium carbonate.

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Other Word Forms

• oolitic adjective

Etymology

Origin of oolite

1775–85; (< French oölithe ) < New Latin oölithēs. See oo-, -lite

Example Sentences

Above this are 147 ft. of freestone, 7 ft. of oolite marl, 34 ft. of upper freestone and 38 ft. of ragstone.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 2 "Gloss" to "Gordon, Charles George" by Various

It is inferior oolite, and very like Bath stone, which is the greater oolite.

From Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Wells A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See by Dearmer, Percy

About a dozen men, with little tables before them, are dispersed over the latter part of the ascent, and keep tempting you with "fossiliferous specimens of the oolite formation," "tertiary," "silurian," "saurian," "stratification," "carboniferous."

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol 58, No. 357, July 1845 by Various

Birds in the oolite," he said to himself quickly; "it's quite impossible!

From The Beckoning Hand and Other Stories by Allen, Grant

That part of the cliffs which consist of lias, the oolite series, and chalk, decays slowly.

From Principles of Geology or, The Modern Changes of the Earth and its Inhabitants Considered as Illustrative of Geology by Lyell, Charles, Sir