chalk
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A piece of chalk, or nowadays processed compressed gypsum, that is used for drawing and for writing on a blackboard.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
chahkIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtʃɑk
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
countable
A piece of chalk, or nowadays processed compressed gypsum (calcium sulfate, CaSO₄), that is used for drawing and for writing on a blackboard (chalkboard).
uncountable
A soft, white, powdery limestone (calcium carbonate, CaCO₃).
uncountableclimbinggymnastics
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).
A suburban village attached to the east side of Gravesend, Gravesham borough, Kent, England (OS grid ref TQ6773).
Tailor's chalk.
verb
To use powdered chalk to mark the lines on a playing field.
To apply chalk to anything, such as the tip of a billiard cue.
To record something, as on a blackboard, using chalk.
figurative
To record a score or event, as if on a chalkboard.
Write, draw, or trace with chalk
To manure (land) with chalk.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A piece of chalk, or nowadays processed compressed gypsum (calcium sulfate, CaSO₄), that is used for drawing and for writing on a blackboard (chalkboard).
Used this way, chalk is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use chalk
- “The teacher used a piece of white chalk to write on the blackboard.”noun
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.