chalk
UK/t͡ʃɔːk/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Australia/t͡ʃoːk/
chalk noun: a soft, white, powdery limestone (calcium carbonate, CaCO₃).
Noun
chalk (countable and uncountable, plural chalks)
- A soft, white, powdery limestone (calcium carbonate, CaCO₃).
- chalk cliffs are not recommended for climbing
- A piece of chalk, or nowadays processed compressed gypsum (calcium sulfate, CaSO₄), that is used for drawing and for writing on a blackboard (chalkboard).
- Tailor's chalk.
- A white powdery substance used to prevent hands slipping from holds when climbing, or losing grip in weight-lifting or gymnastics, sometimes but not always limestone-chalk, often magnesium carbonate (MgCO₃).
- when working out your next move, it's a good idea to get some more chalk from the bag
- A platoon-sized group of airborne soldiers.
- The favorite in a sporting event.
- The prediction that there will be no upsets, and the favored competitor will win.
- OK, let's get rid of the chalk players right away. The chalk likes North Carolina. Dean Smith has taken Carolina to the Final Four six times.1982 March 22, Phil Musick, “And the pick here is - Georgetown over Houston”, in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, page 13
- Excuse us for sticking with the chalk, but the predicted winners are Afternoon Deelites in the Derby, Oliver McCall over Larry Holmes, Nick Faldo in the Masters, and Al Unser Jr. in the Grand Prix.1995 April 6, “Notes on a Scorecard”, in Los Angeles Times, archived from the original on 06 Mar 2012, retrieved 19 Mar 2009, page C3
Verb
chalk (third-person singular simple present chalks, present participle chalking, simple past and past participle chalked)
- To apply chalk to anything, such as the tip of a billiard cue.
- chalk your hands before climbing
- After a leg stretch, we set off again at 11:30 hours in charge of U.S.A. No. 1736 (Miss Ohio had been chalked on her), a 2-8-0 utility engine.1944 January and February, Major J. C. F. Lloyd Williamson, “Ambulance Trains in Algeria and Tunisia”, in Railway Magazine, page 6
- To record something, as on a blackboard, using chalk.
- To use powdered chalk to mark the lines on a playing field.
- To record a score or event, as if on a chalkboard.
- This Book it chaulketh out before thine eyes / The man that ſeeks the everlaſting Prize: / It ſhevvs you vvhence he comes, vvhither he goes, / VVhat he leaves undone; alſo vvhat he does: / It alſo ſhovvs you hovv he runs, and runs, / Till he unto the Gate of Glory comes.1678, John Bunyan, “The Author’s Apology for His Book”, in The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC
- To manure (land) with chalk.
- Land that is chalked1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], →OCLC
- To make white, as if with chalk; to make pale; to bleach.
- Fear Stared in her eyes, and chalked her face1847, Alfred Tennyson, “(please specify the page number, or |part=Prologue, I to VII, or conclusion)”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC
Proper noun capitalized: Chalk
Chalk (countable and uncountable, plural Chalks)
chalk meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
chalk in Hindi
- soft, white, powdery limestone
- चूना cūnā, खड़िया khaṛiyā, चाक cāk
- a piece of chalk used for drawing and on a blackboard
- चाक cāk, खड़िया khaṛiyā
- white powdery substance used for grip in climbing, weight-lifting and gymnastics
- चूना cūnā
chalk in Tamil
- கரும்பலகை
chalk in Marathi
- a piece of chalk used for drawing and on a blackboard
- खडू khaḍū
chalk in Urdu
- soft, white, powdery limestone
- کَھڑِیا khaṛiyā, چاک cāk, چُونا cūnā
- a piece of chalk used for drawing and on a blackboard
- چاک cāk, کَھڑِیا khaṛiyā
More languagesFewer languages
- chalk in Bengali
- সফেদা śopheda, সফেদ śophed, চক cok
- chalk in Telugu
- సుద్ద sudda, సుద్దముక్క suddamukka
- chalk in Malayalam
- ചോക്ക് cōkkŭ
- chalk in Kannada
- ಸುಣ್ಣದ ಕಡ್ಡಿ, ಖಡವು, ಕಡವು
- chalk in Gujarati
- ખડી khaḍī
- chalk in Sanskrit
- चूर्ण cūrṇa
- chalk in Nepali
- चूना cūnā, चक cak, खरीमट्टी kharīmaṭṭī
- chalk in Pashto
- تباشير tabāšir
- chalk in Tagalog
- tisa, yeso
- chalk in Arabic
- طَبْشُورَة ṭabšūra
- chalk in Malay
- kapur, kapur tulis
- chalk in Indonesian
- kapur, kapur tulis
- chalk in Thai
- หินดินสอพอง, ชอล์ก chɔ́k
- chalk in Vietnamese
- phấn, đá phấn, phấn viết, phấn viết bảng
- chalk in Myanmar
- မြေဖြူခဲ mrehpruhkai:
Examples of chalk in a sentence
- The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England.
- The teacher wanted to rub out the chalk marks on the blackboard.
- The professor stood at the blackboard, chalk in hand, and chewed the question the student had asked.
Forms of chalk
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | chalks |
| alternative form (dated) | chaulk |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | chalks |
| present participle | chalking |
| past participle | chalked |
| past | chalked |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Chalks |
Origin of chalk
Inherited from Middle English chalk, chalke, from Old English ċealc, from Proto-West Germanic *kalk, borrowed from Latin calx (“limestone”), again borrowed from Ancient Greek χάλιξ (khálix, “pebble”). Doublet of calx and cauk.
From early Middle English Celc, from Old English ċealc (“chalk”)
Words formed from chalk
- ball of chalk
- bechalk
- black chalk
- Briançon chalk
- by a long chalk
- calabash chalk
- chalkable
- chalk and cheese
- chalk and talk
- chalk bag
- chalk bass
- chalkboard
- chalk box
- chalkbrood
- chalkdust
- chalk eater
- chalk-eating weasel
- chalken
- chalker
- Chalk Farm
- chalk fish
- chalk for cheese
- chalk full
- chalkland
- chalkless
- chalk lettuce
- chalklike
- chalk line
- chalk maple
- chalk mixture
- chalkpit
- chalk player
- chalkstone
- chalk stream
- chalk talk
- chalkware
- chalk-white
- chalky
- chrysochalk
- different as chalk and cheese
- French chalk
- gym chalk
- gymnastics chalk
- hair chalk
- hand chalk
- lifting chalk
- nitrochalk
- pavement chalk
- rechalk
- red chalk
- sidewalk chalk
- Spanish chalk
- walk the chalk
- walk the chalk line
- walk the chalk mark
- warchalk
- weightlifting chalk
- chalk against
- chalk down
- chalk it down
Phrases with chalk
Words that rhyme with chalk
Questions about chalk
- What does chalk mean?
- Chalk means a soft, white, powdery limestone (calcium carbonate, CaCO₃).
- What is chalk in Hindi?
- Chalk in Hindi is चूना (cūnā), खड़िया (khaṛiyā), चाक (cāk). See Chalk meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is chalk?
- Chalk can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce chalk?
- Chalk is pronounced /t͡ʃɔːk/ (UK).
- What is the plural of chalk?
- The plural of chalk is chalks.
Words near chalk in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: chalk (page history and authors); Chalk (page history and authors); chalk (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); chalk (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ખડી (Gujarati) (page history and authors); चूर्ण (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-chalk.ogg.
Cite this entry: “chalk.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/chalk. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.