culm

1
[ kuhlm ]
See synonyms for culm on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. coal dust; slack.

  2. anthracite, especially of inferior grade.

Origin of culm

1
1300–50; Middle English colme, probably equivalent to colcoal + -m suffix of uncertain meaning (compare -m in Old English fæthm fathom, wæstm growth)

Words Nearby culm

Other definitions for culm (2 of 2)

culm2
[ kuhlm ]

noun
  1. a stem or stalk, especially the jointed and usually hollow stem of grasses.

verb (used without object)
  1. to grow or develop into a culm.

Origin of culm

2
1650–60; <Latin culmus stalk; akin to calamus, haulm

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use culm in a sentence

  • The sides and top are covered with culm or slack, and the heap is kindled from certain openings towards the circumference.

  • The culm used to be a good river at Culmstock, tormented already by a factory, but not strangled as yet by a railroad.

    Crocker's Hole | R. D. Blackmore
  • How it is now the present writer does not know, and is afraid to ask, having heard of a vile "culm Valley Line."

    Crocker's Hole | R. D. Blackmore

British Dictionary definitions for culm (1 of 3)

culm1

/ (kʌlm) /


nounmining
  1. coal-mine waste

  2. inferior anthracite

Origin of culm

1
C14: probably related to coal

British Dictionary definitions for culm (2 of 3)

culm2

/ (kʌlm) /


noun
  1. the hollow jointed stem of a grass or sedge

Origin of culm

2
C17: from Latin culmus stalk; see haulm

British Dictionary definitions for Culm (3 of 3)

Culm

noun
  1. a formation consisting mainly of shales and sandstone deposited during the Carboniferous period in parts of Europe

Origin of Culm

3
C19: from culm 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for culm

culm

[ kŭlm ]


  1. The stem of a grass or similar plant.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.