stalactites
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Stalactites grow very slowly.
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.
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.
These included the chemical signatures preserved in stalactites and stalagmites from two Indian caves and water level histories recorded in five lakes across northwest India.
From Science Daily • Dec. 14, 2025
The drips from the stalactites and the hot waterfall from the source inside gives you a natural shower and sauna experience like nowhere else.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 23, 2024
The bow, now covered in stalactites of rust, is still instantly recognisable even 100 years after the ship was lost.
From BBC • May 17, 2023
This illusion is especially strong when looking at stalactites, the mineral formations dangling from a cavern’s ceiling.
From Los Angeles Times • May 9, 2023
Harry could not hear anything over the rattling of the cart on the tracks: His hair flew behind him as they swerved between stalactites, flying ever deeper into the earth, but he kept glancing back.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
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.
