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chalk

Syllabification: (chalk)
Pronunciation: /CHôk/

Translate chalk | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of chalk

noun

  • 1a soft white limestone (calcium carbonate) formed from the skeletal remains of sea creatures.
  • a chalklike substance (calcium sulfate), made into white or colored sticks used for drawing or writing on a blackboard.
  • Geology a series of strata consisting mainly of chalk.

verb

[with object]
  • 1draw or write with chalk.
  • draw or write on (a surface) with chalk:blackboards chalked with Japanese phrases
  • 2rub (something, especially a pool cue) with chalk.
  • 3British charge (drinks bought in a bar) to a person’s account.

Phrases

as different as (or like) chalk and cheese

British fundamentally different or incompatible.

by a long chalk

British by far.

Phrasal Verbs

chalk something out

sketch or plan something:we have already chalked out the strategy for conducting raids

chalk something up

  • 1achieve something noteworthy:he has chalked up a box-office success
  • 2ascribe something to a particular cause:I chalked my sleeplessness up to nerves

Origin:

Old English cealc (also denoting lime), related to Dutch kalk and German Kalk, from Latin calx (see calx)

chalk in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of chalk in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

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