calcium carbonate

noun

: a compound CaCO₃ found in nature as calcite and aragonite and in plant ashes, bones, and shells and used especially in making lime and Portland cement and as a gastric antacid

Examples of calcium carbonate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The toughness comes from the egg shell's structure; it is made up mostly of calcium carbonate (calcite) crystals, similar to tooth enamel or sea shells, embedded within a protein matrix. —Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 26 May 2025

Aquatic anomalies, both are meromictic—a rare condition where surface and deeper waters do not mix—and contain calcium carbonate, which precipitates out of the water during late May to early June and settles to form white, reef-like structures on the shores. —Jen Murphy, Outside Online, 22 May 2025

The bacteria formed calcium carbonate quickly and effectively, making the material stronger. —Margherita Bassi, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Apr. 2025

The holes were not empty but filled with a fine powder of clean calcium carbonate, the same mineral forming the marble. —David Bressan, Forbes, 24 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1868, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for calcium carbonate

• borosilicate
• decontaminate
• deoxycholate
• deteriorate
• differentiate
• diisocyanate
• dinoflagellate
• excommunicate
• incapacitate
• insubordinate
• intercorporate
• interpenetrate

Kids Definition

calcium carbonate

noun

: a solid substance found in nature as limestone and marble and in plant ashes, bones, and shells and used especially in making lime and portland cement

Medical Definition

calcium carbonate

noun

: a calcium salt CaCO₃ that is found in limestone, chalk, marble, plant ashes, bones, and many shells, that is obtained also as a white precipitate by passing carbon dioxide into a suspension of calcium hydroxide in water, and that is used in dentifrices and in pharmaceuticals as an antacid and to supplement bodily calcium stores