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

Since taking over the property in 2023, Six Senses has built a hydroponic farm and organic garden that currently provides the resort with around 150 pounds of herbs and vegetables per month — an impressive feat given the island’s natural soil is made up of nutrient-deficient calcium carbonate. —Jessica Vincent, Travel + Leisure, 15 Aug. 2024

Corals are animals that secrete calcium carbonate skeletons that form reefs. —Justine Calma, The Verge, 7 Aug. 2024

Chitons–the hard spines and bristles in some modern mollusks–are made of the mineral calcium carbonate instead of the organic chitin that is in Shishania. —Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 1 Aug. 2024

These ball-like organisms, with a surface covered in calcium carbonate plates, are big players in fighting climate change, pumping carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to deep into the ocean. —New Atlas, 16 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1868, in the meaning defined above

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