Stalagmite

//stəˈlæɡˌmaɪt// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A secondary mineral deposit of calcium carbonate or other mineral, in shapes similar to icicles, that lies on the ground of a cave.

    "In one place, near at hand, a stalagmite had been slowly growing up from the ground for ages, builded by the water-drip from a stalactite overhead."

  2. 2
    a cylinder of calcium carbonate projecting upward from the floor of a limestone cave wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
crustincrustationscabscaleshellstone

Example

More examples

"What is the difference between a stalactite and a stalagmite?"

Etymology

From New Latin stalagmitēs, from Ancient Greek στάλαγμα (stálagma, “drop”) or σταλαγμός (stalagmós, “dripping”).

Related phrases

calcium carbonate

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.