Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A common sedimentary rock consisting mostly of calcium carbonate, CaCO3, used as a building stone and in the manufacture of lime, carbon dioxide, and cement.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A limestone in the New York series of formations, originally called the Scutella and Upper Pentamerus limestones of the Lower Helderberg group of strata. It belongs to the lowest or Helderbergian division of the Lower Devonian, lying near the top, beneath the Port Ewen beds and above the New Scotland limestone. It abounds in fossil remains, and from its purity is highly esteemed both as a construction stone and as a flux in smelting.
- noun A division of the Lower Silurian of New York State and the adjoining regions, originally termed by Eaton the “Calciferous sandrock.” It is regarded as the lowest member of the Lower Silurian, resting on and graduating by easy changes from the Potsdam sandstone beneath. The rock in northern New York and the Lake Champlain basin is largely a limestone, at times magnesian, and carries a profuse and highly interesting marine fauna. In the Mohawk valley the beds are almost devoid of organic remains, are highly dolomitic, and have been locally designated as the Little Falls dolomite.
- noun Rock consisting wholly or in large part of calcareous material or carbonate of lime.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A rock consisting chiefly of calcium carbonate or carbonate of lime. It sometimes contains also magnesium carbonate, and is then called
magnesian ordolomitic limestone . Crystalline limestone is calledmarble .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun mineralogy An abundant
rock ofmarine and fresh-watersediments ; primarily composed ofcalcite (CaCO₃); it occurs in a variety of forms, bothcrystalline andamorphous . - adjective Made of or with limestone.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a sedimentary rock consisting mainly of calcium that was deposited by the remains of marine animals
Etymologies
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Examples
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It is scarcely more previous than the underlying limestones, and why a solution that could penetrate and leach ores from it should be stopped at the upper surface of the blue limestone is not obvious; nor why the plane of junction between the porphyry and the _blue limestone_ should be the special place of deposit of the ore.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 446, July 19, 1884 Various
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In examining the specimens collected by the indefatigable Caillaud in the Lybian desert and the Oasis of Siwa, we recognize sandstone similar to that of Thebes; fragments of petrified dicotyledonous wood (from thirty to forty feet long), with rudiments of branches and medullary concentric layers, coming perhaps from tertiary sandstone with lignites; * chalk with spatangi and anachytes, Jura limestone with nummulites partly agatized; another fine-grained limestone* employed in the construction of the temple of Jupiter Ammon (Omm – Beydah); and gem-salt with sulphur and bitumen.
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(from thirty to forty feet long), with rudiments of branches and medullary concentric layers, coming perhaps from tertiary sandstone with lignites; * (* Formation of molassus.); chalk with spatangi and anachytes, Jura limestone with nummulites partly agatized; another fine-grained limestone* employed in the construction of the temple of
Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804 — Volume 3 Alexander von Humboldt 1814
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Thus, what we call limestone is a more or less pure calcareous earth in combination with a delicate acid, which is familiar to us in the form of a gas.
Robert Browning: How to Know Him William Lyon Phelps 1904
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Thus, what we call limestone is a more or less pure calcareous earth in combination with a delicate acid, which is familiar to us in the form of a gas.
The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 02 Masterpieces of German Literature Translated into English. in Twenty Volumes Kuno Francke 1892
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Her mother worked in limestone pits exposing her to excessive amounts of fluoride while pregnant.
Mark Hyman, MD: Is There a Cure for Autoimmune Disease? MD Mark Hyman 2010
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Her mother worked in limestone pits exposing her to excessive amounts of fluoride while pregnant.
Mark Hyman, MD: Is There a Cure for Autoimmune Disease? MD Mark Hyman 2010
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Her mother worked in limestone pits exposing her to excessive amounts of fluoride while pregnant.
Mark Hyman, MD: Is There a Cure for Autoimmune Disease? MD Mark Hyman 2010
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The building, clad in limestone, was built in 1917 and has only 12 apartments.
Wasserstein Sale Seeks Quick Bids Josh Barbanel 2010
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Her mother worked in limestone pits exposing her to excessive amounts of fluoride while pregnant.
Mark Hyman, MD: Is There a Cure for Autoimmune Disease? MD Mark Hyman 2010
asativum commented on the word limestone
Not to be taken for granite.
June 13, 2008
dontcry commented on the word limestone
That's a good one!
The definition puzzles me though. How can the remains of marine animals deposit...anything?
June 13, 2008
asativum commented on the word limestone
You know, that's a good point. Or maybe the rest of the marine animal remains decomposed, leaving the calcium deposits?
June 14, 2008