Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of or relating to chalk.
  • adjective Consisting of chalk.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin crēta ("chalk") + -āceus

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word cretaceous.

Examples

  • It takes in a great part of New Brunswick and certain spots or areas in Nova Scotia; and another great coal-bearing system which we call the cretaceous and the tertiary in the mountain valleys of British Columbia.

    The Undeveloped Mineral Resources of Canada 1907

  • The record of this period consists of a series of strata, in which chalk beds make a conspicuous appearance, and which is therefore called the cretaceous system or formation.

    Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation Robert Chambers 1836

  • He said in the exploration of oil the set of system geologists refer to as the cretaceous rock, which is an oil bearing rock is said to be found in the gulf of Guinea stretching from Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

    AllAfrica News: Latest 2009

  • A: If you burn it all at once, there is some chance of getting above the cretaceous level, but lots of uncertainty, including how much reserves there really are.

    AGU Day 2: The role of CO2 in the earth’s history | Serendipity 2009

  • A: If you burn it all at once, there is some chance of getting above the cretaceous level, but lots of uncertainty, including how much reserves there really are.

    2009 December | Serendipity 2009

  • The discovery adds to growing evidence that the dinosaurs were wiped out when a comet or asteroid crashed into Earth at the end of the cretaceous.

    'Last dinosaur' fossil adds weight to theory that asteroid wiped out creatures 2011

  • If you burn it all at once, some chance of getting above the cretaceous level, but lots of uncertainty, including how much reserves there really are.

    2009 December | Serendipity 2009

  • A: If you burn it all at once, there is some chance of getting above the cretaceous level, but lots of uncertainty, including how much reserves there really are.

    2009 December 17 | Serendipity 2009

  • The mid-cretaceous “saurian sauna” – no ice at sea level at poles.

    2009 December | Serendipity 2009

  • Fast forward to the mid-cretaceous “saurian sauna”, when there was no ice at sea level at poles.

    2009 December | Serendipity 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.