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
Across the cave system, stalactites broken off by vibrations from train construction litter the ground like rubble following an earthquake.
From Seattle Times • May 30, 2024
The stalactites - hundreds of mineral formations hanging like melted candle wax above us which naturally filtrate the rainwater - are being clogged by cement dust, he says.
From BBC • Dec. 14, 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
At first, all she could think about was how she wouldn’t get to make her own rock crystal stalactites for her Carlsbad Caverns diorama idea.
From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
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.
