Culm
name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Waste coal, used as a poor quality fuel. countable, uncountable
"Holonyms: spoils, tailings"
- 2 The stem of a plant, especially of grass or sedge.
"[…] because, upon hearing him out, she sank down on the lawn in an impossible posture, examining a grass culm and frowning, he had taken his words back at once; […]"
- 3 stem of plants of the Gramineae wordnet
- 4 The spoils from which such low-quality coal can be retrieved. countable, uncountable
"culm dump"
- 5 Anthracite, especially when found in small masses. countable, uncountable
- 1 A German bishopric, founded in 1234.
- 2 A river in Devon, England, which joins the River Exe near Stoke Canon.
Example
More examples"Here he lay down on a place soft with culm, to take his contemplated rest, and, before he was aware of it, sleep had descended on him, overpowered him, and bound him fast."
Etymology
From Middle English culme, colme (“fragments of coal”), of uncertain origin. Probably from Old English *colm, related to Old English col (“coal”). Alternatively, perhaps from Welsh cwlm (“knot or tie”), applied to this species of coal, which is much found in balls or knots in some parts of Wales.
Borrowed from Latin culmus. Doublet of calame, calamus, and haulm; further related to caramel, chalumeau and shawm.
Related phrases
More for "culm"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.