marl
/mɑːl/US/mɑɹl/
marl noun: a mixed earthy substance, consisting of carbonate of lime, clay, and possibly sand, in very variable proportions, and accordingly designated as calcareous, clayey, or sandy.
Noun (1)
marl (countable and uncountable, plural marls)
- A mixed earthy substance, consisting of carbonate of lime, clay, and possibly sand, in very variable proportions, and accordingly designated as calcareous, clayey, or sandy.
- Marle is indeed, as it is in name, the fat or (marrovv) of the earth: […] it is therfore a fat, oyly and vnctious ground, lying in the belly of the earth, vvhich is of vvarme and moiſt temperature, and ſo moſt fertill, ſeeing that heat and moyſture be the father and mother of generation and...1625, attributed to Gervase Markham, “A Discourse of the Weald of Kent; and a Comparison of the Arable Lands therein, with the Other Parts of the Shire: Together with Some Necessary Counsels for the...
- ... uneasie steps / Over the burning Marle, not like those steps / On Heavens Azure...1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC
Verb (1)
marl (third-person singular simple present marls, present participle marling, simple past and past participle marled)
- To cover (the ground) with marl (noun sense).
- [I]n this ſhort time vve haue ſeene many arable grounds, vvhich for ſundry yeeres after the marling of them, haue plentifully borne VVheat and other Graine, to be novv become vnfruitfull, and ſo vvill they continue, albeit they ſhould novv [be] marled againe. And this commeth to paſſe by the...1625, attributed to Gervase Markham, “A Discourse of the Weald of Kent; and a Comparison of the Arable Lands therein, with the Other Parts of the Shire: Together with Some Necessary Counsels for the...
Verb (2)
marl (third-person singular simple present marls, present participle marling, simple past and past participle marled)
Noun (2)
marl (plural marls)
- A species of bandicoot, Perameles myosurus, of southern Western Australia.
- Synonyms:
- western barred bandicoot
marl meaning in Tamil, Bengali, Indonesian and Thai
marl in Tamil
- சுண்ணக்களி
marl in Bengali
- সারমাটিবিশেষ
marl in Indonesian
- mixed earthy substance
- napal
marl in Thai
- mixed earthy substance
- ดินสอพอง din-sŏr pong
More languagesFewer languages
- marl in Vietnamese
- macnơ
Examples of marl in a sentence
- Greenshields was the contractor selected to build the embankment, and over a hundred thousand tons of marl and moss compacted with brushwood were used in its construction.1952 July, W. R. Watson, “Sankey Viaduct and Embankment”, in Railway Magazine, pages 486-487:
- Important marl and marine-shell deposits are worked in Michigan, Virginia, and Florida.1955, Robert Herman Bogue, The chemistry of portland cement, page 39:
- It was not a fish setting—only bare rock, no trees, pungent sagebrush, and marl dust floating when a truck passed.1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 231:
- Those loved unhappy shades whom Dante turned / To sticks and marl2004, Peter Porter, “Why Did Dante Pick on Suicides”, in Afterburner:
Synonyms of marl
- marline
- western barred bandicoot
Forms of marl
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | marls |
| alternative form | marle |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | marls |
| present participle | marling |
| past participle | marled |
| past | marled |
Origin of marl
From Middle English marle, from Old French marle, from Late Latin margila, diminutive of marga (“marl”). Doublet of marla.
Borrowed from Nyunga maarl.
Words formed from marl
Words that rhyme with marl
Questions about marl
- What does marl mean?
- Marl means a mixed earthy substance, consisting of carbonate of lime, clay, and possibly sand, in very variable proportions, and accordingly designated as calcareous, clayey, or sandy.
- What is marl in Tamil?
- Marl in Tamil is சுண்ணக்களி. See Marl meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use marl in a sentence?
- Greenshields was the contractor selected to build the embankment, and over a hundred thousand tons of marl and moss compacted with brushwood were used in its construction.
- What part of speech is marl?
- Marl can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce marl?
- Marl is pronounced /mɑːl/ (UK).
- What is the plural of marl?
- The plural of marl is marls.
Words near marl in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: marl (page history and authors); marl (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); marl (Bengali Wiktionary) (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-marl.wav.
Cite this entry: “marl.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/marl. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.