quicklime
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of quicklime
1350–1400; Middle English quyk lym, translation Latin calx vīva; see quick, lime 2
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.
But the reaction is also reversible: Add enough heat back to cement, and you can drive out the water and produce quicklime once more.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026
If that calcium comes straight from crushed limestone, it’s considered natural, but if it’s isolated from crushed stone and then treated with heat to become more concentrated quicklime, it qualifies as synthetic.
From Salon • Jan. 2, 2025
Burning vast amounts of wood to convert limestone into quicklime ravaged the forests, which led to soil erosion and water contamination.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 1, 2023
The chunk of concrete made with quicklime had its cracks completely healed within two weeks.
From Washington Times • Jan. 8, 2023
The tree trunks were painted with quicklime, but the ants continued to climb, sparing neither pears, oranges, nor apples.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
