stalactitic, a.
(ˌstælækˈtɪtɪk)
[f. stalactite + -ic.]
1. Having the form or structure of a stalactite, resembling or pertaining to stalactites.
| 1778 Ann. Reg., Nat. Hist. 103/1 A kind of sparry stalactitick shell. 1799 Kirwan Geol. Ess. 127 Stalactitic concretions of modern formation. 1823 Buckland Reliq. Diluv. 49 A hollow stalactitic tube. 1830 Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 384 It is of a hard stalactitic nature. 1877 Erichsen's Surg. (ed. 7) II. 228 Stalactitic masses of bone. 1886 G. P. Merrill in Ann. Rep. Smithsonian Inst. ii. (1889) 525 Stalactitic marble..is a marble which is formed by the deposit of lime carbonates from waters percolating into cavities or caves. |
2. Covered with, containing or consisting of stalactites.
| 1845 Hirst Poems 67 Stalactitic islands ever rise from out the waves of sound. a 1849 H. Coleridge Ess. (1851) I. 253 Stalactitic caves. 1849 Dana Geol. 272 The roof was very rough, though not stalactitic. 1872 W. S. Symonds Rec. Rocks ix. 351 A thin stalactitic floor, the results of the droppings of water. |