chalk

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

chalk, n. [AS. cealc lime, from L. calx limestone. See Calz, and Cawk.].

•  A soft, earthy substance, of a white, grayish, or yellowish white color, consisting of calcium carbonate, and having the same composition as common limestone.  [1913 Webster]
•  Finely prepared chalk, used as a drawing implement; also, by extension, a compound, as of clay and black lead, or the like, used in the same manner. See Crayon.  [1913 Webster]

Black chalk, a mineral of a bluish color, of a slaty texture, and soiling the fingers when handled; a variety of argillaceous slate. -- By a long chalk, by a long way; by many degrees. [Slang] Lowell. -- Chalk drawing (Fine Arts), a drawing made with crayons. See Crayon. -- Chalk formation. See Cretaceous formation, under Cretaceous. -- Chalk line, a cord rubbed with chalk, used for making straight lines on boards or other material, as a guide in cutting or in arranging work. -- Chalk mixture, a preparation of chalk, cinnamon, and sugar in gum water, much used in diarrheal affection, esp. of infants. -- Chalk period. (Geol.) See Cretaceous period, under Cretaceous. -- Chalk pit, a pit in which chalk is dug. -- Drawing chalk. See Crayon, n., 1. -- French chalk, steatite or soapstone, a soft magnesian mineral. -- Red chalk, an indurated clayey ocher containing iron, and used by painters and artificers; reddle.

chalk, v. t. 

•  To rub or mark with chalk.  [1913 Webster]
•  To manure with chalk, as land.  Morimer.  [1913 Webster]
•  To make white, as with chalk; to make pale; to bleach.  Tennyson.  [1913 Webster]

  "Let a bleak paleness chalk the door."  [1913 Webster]

To chalk out, to sketch with, or as with, chalk; to outline; to indicate; to plan. [Colloq.] “I shall pursue the plan I have chalked out.” Burke.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

chalk, n. & v.
--n.
1 a white soft earthy limestone (calcium carbonate) formed from the skeletal remains of sea creatures.
2 a a similar substance (calcium sulphate), sometimes coloured, used for writing or drawing. b a piece of this (a box of chalks).
3 a series of strata consisting mainly of chalk.
4 = French chalk.
--v.tr.
1 rub, mark, draw, or write with chalk.
2 (foll. by up) a write or record with chalk. b register (a success etc.). c charge (to an account).

Idiom

as different as chalk and (or from) cheese fundamentally different. by a long chalk Brit. by far (from the use of chalk to mark the score in games). chalk and talk traditional teaching (employing blackboard, chalk, and interlocution). chalk out sketch or plan a thing to be accomplished. chalk-pit a quarry in which chalk is dug. chalk-stone a concretion of urates like chalk in tissues and joints esp. of hands and feet. chalk-stripe a pattern of thin white stripes on a dark background. chalk-striped having chalk-stripes.

Etymology

OE cealc ult. f. WG f. L CALX

THESAURUS

chalk

air brush, alabaster, art paper, ballpoint pen, besnow, blackboard, blanch, blaze, blaze a trail, bleach, blemish, blotch, book, brand, brush, calcimine, calendar, camera lucida, camera obscura, canvas, cartoon, carve, catalog, chalk up, charcoal, check, check in, check off, chronicle, cicatrize, color, copy, crayon, crosshatch, cut, dapple, dash, dash off, daub, define, delimit, delineate, demarcate, depict, design, diagram, discolor, docket, doodle, dot, draft, draw, drawing paper, drawing pencil, drier, driven snow, easel, engrave, enroll, enscroll, enter, eraser, etiolate, file, fill out, fixative, fleck, fleece, flour, foam, freckle, frost, gash, grave, grizzle, ground, hatch, impanel, impress, imprint, incise, index, ink, inkhorn, inkstand, inkwell, inscribe, insert, invisible ink, ivory, jot down, lay figure, lead pencil, lily, limn, line, list, log, maggot, make a mark, make a memorandum, make a note, make an entry, make out, mark, mark down, mark off, mark out, matriculate, maulstick, medium, milk, minute, mottle, nib, nick, notch, note, note down, paint, paint a picture, paintbrush, palette, palette knife, paper, pastel, pearl, pen, pencil, pepper, picture, picturize, pigments, pipe-clay, place upon record, plume, point, poll, portray, post, post up, prick, print, punch, punctuate, puncture, put down, put in writing, put on paper, put on tape, quill, record, reduce to writing, reed, register, riddle, scar, scarify, score, scotch, scratch, scratchboard, scumble, seal, seam, set down, shade, sheet, siccative, silver, sketch, sketchbook, sketchpad, slate, snow, spatula, speck, speckle, splotch, spot, spray gun, stain, stamp, stencil, stigmatize, streak, striate, stripe, stump, style, stylograph, stylus, swan, sympathetic ink, table, tablet, tabulate, take down, tape, tape-record, tattoo, tick, tick off, tint, trace, underline, underscore, varnish, videotape, white, whiten, whitewash, write, write down, write in, write out, write up

ROGET THESAURUS

chalk

Land

N land, earth, ground, dry land, terra firma, continent, mainland, peninsula, chersonese, delta, tongue of land, neck of land, isthmus, oasis, promontory, highland, coast, shore, scar, strand, beach, playa, bank, lea, seaboard, seaside, seabank, seacoast, seabeach, ironbound coast, loom of the land, derelict, innings, alluvium, alluvion, ancon, riverbank, river bank, levee, soil, glebe, clay, loam, marl, cledge, chalk, gravel, mold, subsoil, clod, clot, rock, crag, acres, real estate, landsman, earthy, continental, midland, coastal, littoral, riparian, alluvial, terrene, landed, predial, territorial, geophilous, ripicolous, ashore, on shore, on land.

Whiteness

N whiteness, argent, albification, etiolation, lactescence, snow, paper, chalk, milk, lily, ivory, alabaster, albata, eburin, German silver, white metal, barium sulphate, titanium oxide, blanc fixe, ceruse, pearl white, white lead, carbonate of lead, white, milk-white, snow-white, snowy, niveous, candid, chalky, hoar, hoary, silvery, argent, argentine, canescent, cretaceous, lactescent, whitish, creamy, pearly, fair, blond, blanched, high in tone, light, white as a sheet, white as driven snow, white as a lily, white as silver, like ivory.

Indication

VB indicate, be the sign, of, denote, betoken, argue, testify, bear the impress, of, connote, connotate, represent, stand for, typify, symbolize, put an indication, put a mark, note, mark, stamp, earmark, blaze, label, ticket, docket, dot, spot, score, dash, trace, chalk, print, imprint, impress, engrave, stereotype, make a sign, signalize, underscore, give a signal, hang out a signal, beckon, nod, wink, glance, leer, nudge, shrug, tip the wink, gesticulate, raise the finger, hold up the finger, raise the hand, hold up the hand, saw the air, suit the action to the word, wave a banner, unfurl a banner, hoist a banner, hang out a banner, wave the hand, wave a kerchief, give the cue, show one's colors, give an alarm, sound an alarm, beat the drum, sound the trumpets, raise a cry, sign, seal, attest, underline, call attention to, give notice.

Painting

N painting, depicting, drawing, design, perspective, sciagraphy, skiagraphy, chiaroscuro, composition, treatment, historical painting, portrait painting, miniature painting, landscape painting, marine painting, still life, flower painting, scene painting, scenography, school, style, the grand style, high art, genre, portraiture, ornamental art, monochrome, polychrome, grisaille, pallet, palette, easel, brush, pencil, stump, black lead, charcoal, crayons, chalk, pastel, paint, watercolor, body color, oil color, oils, oil paint, varnish, priming, gouache, tempera, distemper, fresco, water glass, enamel, encaustic painting, mosaic, tapestry, photography, heliography, color photography, sun painting, graphics, computer graphics, picture, painting, piece, tableau, canvas, oil painting, fresco, cartoon, easel picture, cabinet picture, draught, draft, pencil drawing, water color drawing, etching, charcoal, pen-and-ink, sketch, outline, study, photograph, color photograph, black-and-white photograph, holograph, heliograph, daguerreotype, talbotype, calotype, heliotype, negative, positive, print, glossy print, matte print, enlargement, reduction, life-size print, instant photo, Polaroid photo, technicolor, Kodachrome, Ektachrome, Polaroid, portrait, whole length, full length, half length, kitcat, head, miniature, shade, silhouette, profile, landscape, seapiece, view, scene, prospect, panorama, diorama, still life, picture gallery, exhibit, studio, atelier, pinacotheca, painted, pictorial, graphic, picturesque, pencil, oil, in pencil, fecit, delineavit, mutum est pictura poema.