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.

---

oolite British  

/ ˈəʊəˌlaɪt /

noun

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

---

oolite Scientific  

/ ō′ə-līt′ /

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

---

Other Word Forms

• oolitic
  adjective

---

Etymology

Origin of oolite

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

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

oolite

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 Sir Charles Lyell

The next day brought us to the oolite limestones at Mont Bard, and we always spent the Sunday at the Bell in Dijon.

From Proserpina, Volume 2 Studies Of Wayside Flowers by John Ruskin

The belemnites are the internal shells of a sort of cuttle-fish which swam about in enormous numbers in the seas whose sediment forms our modern lias, oolite, and gault.

From Falling in Love With Other Essays on More Exact Branches of Science by Grant Allen

Cornbrash, so called from its 'brashy' or rubbly nature, an earthy oolite yielding fair land for corn.

From The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 3 Atrebates to Bedlis by Various

The building material consists of the oolite and calcareous stone of Lincoln Heath and Haydor, the surface of which, when worked upon with tools, appears to become quite hardened.

From Cathedral Cities of England by George Gilbert

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---