HOW TO PRONOUNCE
chalk
/tʃɑk/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 1:03
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The “l” does not add a sound.
Begin with the ch of chair and finish with k. The dictionary lists alternative vowel pronunciations; both keep the word to one syllable and omit the written l.
1 syllable
TRY SAYING
“She drew a circle with chalk.”
APG practice sentence · CC BY-SA 4.0
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗What does chalk mean?
noun
- A soft, white, powdery limestone (calcium carbonate, CaCO₃).
- A piece of chalk, or nowadays processed compressed gypsum (calcium sulfate, CaSO₄), that is used for drawing and for writing on a blackboard (chalkboard).
- Tailor's chalk.
More meanings (12)
noun
- 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 platoon-sized group of airborne soldiers.
- The favorite in a sporting event.
- The prediction that there will be no upsets, and the favored competitor will win.
verb
- To apply chalk to anything, such as the tip of a billiard cue.
- To record something, as on a blackboard, using chalk.
- To use powdered chalk to mark the lines on a playing field.
- (figuratively) To record a score or event, as if on a chalkboard.
- To manure (land) with chalk.
- To make white, as if with chalk; to make pale; to bleach.
proper noun
- A surname.
- A suburban village attached to the east side of Gravesend, Gravesham borough, Kent, England (OS grid ref TQ6773).
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/tʃɑk/
Pronunciation used in the listening tip.
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
After the turn, I had a huge chalk cliff towering over me on the right, and a chalk precipice on my left.
These are of that Spatangoid form, which you will often find fossil in the chalk, and which shepherd boys call snakes’ heads.
More book examples (3)
For at these distant points, the organic remains in certain beds present an unmistakeable degree of resemblance to those of the Chalk.
But there was a quantity of chalk about our country, and perhaps the people neglected no opportunity of turning it to account.
On the opposite side stood Dólokhov’s Cossack, counting the prisoners and marking off each hundred with a chalk line on the gate.