chalk

[ chawk ]

/ tʃɔk /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR chalk ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a soft, white, powdery limestone consisting chiefly of fossil shells of foraminifers.

a prepared piece of chalk or chalklike substance for marking, as a blackboard crayon.

a mark made with chalk.

a score or tally.

verb (used with object)

to mark or write with chalk.

to rub over or whiten with chalk.

to treat or mix with chalk: to chalk a billiard cue.

to make pale; blanch: Terror chalked her face.

verb (used without object)

(of paint) to powder from weathering.

adjective

of, made of, or drawn with chalk.

Verb Phrases

chalk up,

to score or earn: They chalked up two runs in the first inning.
to charge or ascribe to: It was a poor performance, but may be chalked up to lack of practice.

Origin of chalk

before 900; Middle English chalke, Old English cealc < Latin calc- (stem of calx) lime

OTHER WORDS FROM chalk

chalk·like, adjective un·chalked, adjective

Words nearby chalk

chaliapin, chalice, chaliced, chalicosis, chalicothere, chalk, chalk and talk, chalk line, chalk out, chalk stripe, chalk talk

British Dictionary definitions for chalk up (1 of 2)

chalk up

verb (tr, adverb) informal

to score or register (something) we chalked up 100 in the game

to credit (money) to an account etc (esp in the phrase chalk it up)

British Dictionary definitions for chalk up (2 of 2)

chalk

/ (tʃɔːk) /

noun

a soft fine-grained white sedimentary rock consisting of nearly pure calcium carbonate, containing minute fossil fragments of marine organisms, usually without a cementing material

a piece of chalk or a substance like chalk, often coloured, used for writing and drawing on a blackboard

a line, mark, etc made with chalk

billiards snooker a small cube of prepared chalk or similar substance for rubbing the tip of a cue

British a score, tally, or record

as alike as chalk and cheese or as different as chalk and cheese informal totally different in essentials

by a long chalk British informal by far

can't tell chalk from cheese or doesn't know chalk from cheese to be unable to judge or appreciate important differences

not by a long chalk British informal by no means; not possibly

(modifier) made of chalk

verb

to draw or mark (something) with chalk

(tr) to mark, rub, or whiten with or as if with chalk

(intr) (of paint) to become chalky; powder

(tr) to spread chalk on (land) as a fertilizer

Derived forms of chalk

chalklike, adjective chalky, adjective chalkiness, noun

Word Origin for chalk

Old English cealc, from Latin calx limestone, from Greek khalix pebble

Scientific definitions for chalk up

chalk

[ chôk ]

A soft, white, gray, or yellow limestone consisting mainly of calcium carbonate and formed primarily from the accumulation of fossil microorganisms such as foraminifera and calcareous algae. Chalk is used in making lime, cement, and fertilizers, and as a whitening pigment in ceramics, paints, and cosmetics. The chalk used in classrooms is usually artificial.

Idioms and Phrases with chalk up

chalk up

Score or earn, as in She chalked up enough points to be seeded first in the tournament. This term alludes to recording accounts (and later, scores) in chalk on a slate. [c. 1700]

Credit or ascribe, as They chalked their success up to experience. [First half of 1900s]

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

chalk