1. small round grains of calcium carbonate that form in warm, shallow marine waters and accumulate to create limestone
Usage: geology; plural form

Examples

• The limestone formation contained numerous ooliths that had formed millions of years ago.
• Geologists identified ooliths in the rock sample from the ancient seabed.
• The Bahama Banks are famous for their modern ooliths forming in shallow waters.
• Under the microscope, the ooliths appeared as perfectly spherical calcium carbonate grains.
• The oolitic limestone was composed almost entirely of these tiny ooliths.
• Scientists studied how ooliths develop through the precipitation of minerals around sand grains.