‖ kunkur E. Ind.
(ˈkʌŋkə(r))
Forms: 8 konker, concha, 9 conca, concher, conker, kankur, -ar, kunkar, -er, -ur.
[Hindī kankar = Prakrit kakkaram, Skr. karkaram.]
A coarse kind of limestone found in many parts of India, in large tabular strata, or interspersed throughout the surface soil, in nodules of various sizes; it is burned to lime, and also used for constructing roads, binding to a compact, hard, and even surface.
| 1793 W. Hodges Trav. India 110 The river Jumna, the sides of which consist of what in India is called concha. 1810 Williamson Vade M. II. 13 A weaker kind of lime is obtained by burning a substance called kunkur. 1834 Medwin Angler in Wales I. 195 A round mass of ‘concher’..which he rolled before him. 1859 R. F. Burton Centr. Afr. in Jrnl. Geog. Soc. XXIX. 102 Small calcareous nodules of weatherworn ‘kunker’. 1879 Medlicott & Blanford Geol. India I. 397 In places the kankar forms compact beds of earthy limestone. |
| attrib. 184. Mrs. Sherwood Lady of Manor III. xxi. 239 The site of his habitation was on a conca rock. 18.. ― in Life xxiii. 381 Our long, long voyage terminated under a high conker bank. 1895 B. M. Croker Village Tales (1896) 169 There he sat, on the kunker heap. |