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Definition of stalactite noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

stalactite

noun
 
/ˈstæləktaɪt/
 
/stəˈlæktaɪt/
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  1. a long pointed piece of rock hanging down from the roof of a cave (= a hollow place underground), formed over a long period of time as water containing lime runs off the roof compare stalagmite
    Word Originlate 17th cent.: from modern Latin stalactites, from Greek stalaktos ‘dripping’, based on stalassein ‘to drip’.
See stalactite in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
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