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countable and uncountable, plural marls
A mixed earthy substance, consisting of carbonate of lime, clay, and possibly sand, in very variable proportions, and accordingly designated as calcareous, clayey, or sandy. quotations examples
... uneasie steps / Over the burning Marle, not like those steps / On Heavens Azure...
1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873,
Important marl and marine-shell deposits are worked in Michigan, Virginia, and Florida.
1955, Robert Herman Bogue, The chemistry of portland cement, page 39
The surroundings were unearthly. It was not a fish setting—only bare rock, no trees, pungent sagebrush, and marl dust floating when a truck passed.
1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, page 231
Those loved unhappy shades whom Dante turned / To sticks and marl
2004, Peter Porter, “Why Did Dante Pick on Suicides”, in Afterburner
third-person singular simple present marls, present participle marling, simple past and past participle marled
(transitive) To cover with the earthy substance called marl. examples
(nautical) To cover, as part of a rope, with marline, marking a peculiar hitch at each turn to prevent unwinding. examples