chalk
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: chôk
rhymes: -ɔːk
ipa: /t͡ʃɔːk/
enpr: chŏk
ipa: /t͡ʃɒk/
note: cot–caught merger and father-bother merger
enpr: chäk
ipa: /t͡ʃɑːk/
Forms: form: chalks
form: chaulk
Etymology: 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.
Senses: examples: text: chalk cliffs are not recommended for climbing
glosses: A soft, white, powdery limestone (calcium carbonate, CaCO₃).
examples: text: the chalk used to write on the blackboard makes a squeaky sound
glosses: A piece of chalk, or nowadays processed compressed gypsum (calcium sulfate, CaSO₄), that is used for drawing and for writing on a blackboard (chalkboard).
glosses: Tailor's chalk.
examples: text: when working out your next move, it's a good idea to get some more chalk from the bag
topics: climbing
gymnastics
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: 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).
topics: government
military
politics
war
glosses: A platoon-sized group of airborne soldiers.
topics: ball-games
basketball
games
hobbies
horse-racing
horseracing
horses
lifestyle
pets
racing
sports
glosses: The favorite in a sporting event.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1982 March 22, Phil Musick, “And the pick here is - Georgetown over Houston”, in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, page 13:
text: 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.
ref: 1995 April 6, “Notes on a Scorecard”, in Los Angeles Times, archived from the original on 06 Mar 2012, page C3:
text: Instead, he played the chalk and selected the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament.
ref: 2008 March 24, Jason Bauman, “Non-news of the week: Obama picks North Carolina”, in Beacon-News, Aurora, Illinois, archived from the original on 03 Mar 2012:
topics: ball-games
basketball
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: The prediction that there will be no upsets, and the favored competitor will win.
Derived terms: 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
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
Related terms: calcium
calx