What does stalactite mean?
Word: Stalactite
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Stalactite means a thin pointed spike of rock that hangs from the roof of a cave, formed very slowly from minerals in water.
Word origin: From Greek stalaktos, through modern Latin stalactites.
How do you spell stalactite?
Syllables: sta - lac - tite
Tricky part: Stalactite has a near twin that differs by two letters in the middle, so the two are easily mixed up. Check which formation you mean before you write.
Watch out for: stalactight, stallactite
Memory tip: The last beat sounds like the word tight, but spell it like kite: no g, no h, and an e to finish.
Stalactite in a sentence
Example 1: Our guide pointed his torch at a stalactite as long as a cricket bat.
Example 2: On our trip to the Borra Caves in Andhra Pradesh, every stalactite seemed a different shape.
Example 3: Each stalactite in the photograph glittered with wet minerals.
Fun Fact
Many a stalactite grows by less than a millimetre a year, so one as long as your arm can be thousands of years old.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Twins
Read the sentences and choose the correct option:
1. A long ___ hung from the cave roof above the guide's head. 2. A stumpy ___ rose from the cave floor beside the path.
a) 'stalactite' in both
b) 'stalagmite' in both
c) stalactite/stalagmite
d) stalagmite/stalactite
Show answer
c) stalactite/stalagmite. One formation grows down from above; its partner builds up from below.
Spellacadabra
Choose the word in which both blanks take the same letter:
a) st_m_na
b) sp_t_la
c) sc_ff_ld
d) st_l_ctite
Show answer
d) st_l_ctite. Two a's complete the cave word; spatula needs a and u, scaffold a and o, stamina a and i.
Back to the Roots
Choose the correct option:
Stalactite goes back to the Greek word stalaktos, which means ___.
a) dripping
b) shining
c) frozen
d) pointed
Show answer
a) dripping. Water falling drop by drop leaves behind the minerals that build the rock.
Sound Check
Which word does not rhyme with stalactite?
a) satellite
b) meteorite
c) opposite
d) appetite
Show answer
c) opposite. Opposite ends with the weak sound of the word it; the other three end with the sound of kite.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. What is shaped most like a stalactite?
a) a puddle lying on a path
b) an icicle hanging from a ledge
c) a mushroom growing in a field
d) a pebble lying on a beach
Show answer
b) an icicle hanging from a ledge
2. Most stalactites in limestone caves are made mainly of ___.
a) quartz
b) calcite
c) copper
d) granite
Show answer
b) calcite
