Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A mineral deposit rich in sodium nitrate occurring naturally in Chile, Peru, and the southwest United States, and used as fertilizer, in explosives, and as a raw material for manufacturing nitric acid.
- noun The accretions of calcium carbonate in soil.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The local South American name of the native impure nitrate of soda (Chili saltpeter), of much importance in the commerce of South America.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun a deposit of sand or clay on the surface containing crystallized salts such as sodium chloride or sodium nitrate; -- used especially of the sodium nitrate deposits of Chile and Peru.
- noun a stratum of calcium carbonate in the soil of an arid or semiarid region.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun mineralogy A crude form of
sodium nitrate fromSouth America ; used as afertilizer . - noun A
layer of hardclay subsoil ;hardpan .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun nitrate-bearing rock or gravel of the sodium nitrate deposits of Chile and Peru
- noun crust or layer of hard subsoil encrusted with calcium-carbonate occurring in arid or semiarid regions
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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The term caliche is Spanish and is originally from the Latin calx, meaning lime.
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The term caliche is Spanish and is originally from the Latin calx, meaning lime.
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The term caliche is Spanish and is originally from the Latin calx, meaning lime.
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In alkaline soils of arid and semiarid areas a white, nonporous layer composed mainly of calcium carbonate and known as caliche, can form in this horizon, and if it is too close to the surface it may cause problems with root growth and drainage (Box 9.3).
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There is also a thick layer of hard clay, known as caliche, that allows the heavy planes to be stored on the desert without a concrete pad or steel for parking.
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There is also a thick layer of hard clay, known as caliche, that allows the heavy planes to be stored on the desert without a concrete pad or steel for parking.
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There is also a thick layer of hard clay, known as caliche, that allows the heavy planes to be stored on the desert without a concrete pad or steel for parking.
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There is also a thick layer of hard clay, known as caliche, that allows the heavy planes to be stored on the desert without a concrete pad or steel for parking.
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It contains calcareous matter; the sandy soil grades down to a thick arenaceous "caliche" which is a layer of sand cemented into a limestone by interstitial deposition of calcium carbonate.
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In the desert Daniel glides over rocky caliche and scrub brush.
An Ugly Man Marcela Fuentes 2011
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