stalactites

[ (stuh-lak-teyets) ]


Rock structures formed on the ceilings of caves as water drips down, leaving behind minerals before it falls. (Compare stalagmites.)

Notes for stalactites

Stalactites grow very slowly.

Notes for stalactites

One easy way to distinguish stalactites from stalagmites is to recall that stalactites “hold tight” to the ceiling of a cave. Stalagmites “might reach the ceiling” of the cave and form a column.

Words Nearby stalactites

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

How to use stalactites in a sentence