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 invertebrate animals develop a hard skeleton of calcium carbonate, which forms the structure of living reefs. —Evan Bush, NBC news, 23 Oct. 2025

Other alternatives, including calcium carbonate and alpha aluminum, are plentiful but more difficult to evenly disperse in the atmosphere due to their tendency to create clumps. —Tereza Pultarova, Space.com, 22 Oct. 2025

Once captured, the pollutants are converted through a natural chemical reaction into stable byproducts—CO2 into carbonates such as calcium carbonate (CaCOz) and NOx into small quantities of harmless nitrates. —Jennifer Bringle, Sourcing Journal, 14 Oct. 2025

Recent identification of calcite — a form of calcium carbonate — in the fossil eggshells suggested that the eggs would be good candidates for U-Pb dating, researchers reported Thursday in the journal Frontiers in Earth Science. —Mindy Weisberger, CNN Money, 12 Sep. 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