: a dark gray to black dense to fine-grained igneous rock that consists of basic plagioclase, augite, and usually magnetite
Examples of basalt in a Sentence
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Wales tempts with rugged coastlines and windswept castles, and Northern Ireland stuns with the surreal basalt columns of Giant’s Causeway.
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Lewis Nunn, Forbes.com, 25 July 2025
Located 2,000 kilometers from the continent, and almost halfway to Brazil, this shard of basalt—often grouped with its sister islands, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, which lie only marginally closer—forms one of the most isolated territories on Earth.
—Liam Freeman, Vogue, 2 July 2025
The black basalt station in Daraa, the second-largest in Syria, is in ruins.
—Taylor Luck, Christian Science Monitor, 6 June 2025
Researchers have also unearthed stone tools, called adzes, made from basalt that came from Tahiti, Moorea, the Marquesas Islands, the Austral Islands and Tonga, which suggests Tetiaroa’s inhabitants were part of a wide-reaching trade network.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 Jan. 2025
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Lewis Nunn, Forbes.com, 25 July 2025
Located 2,000 kilometers from the continent, and almost halfway to Brazil, this shard of basalt—often grouped with its sister islands, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, which lie only marginally closer—forms one of the most isolated territories on Earth.
—Liam Freeman, Vogue, 2 July 2025
The black basalt station in Daraa, the second-largest in Syria, is in ruins.
—Taylor Luck, Christian Science Monitor, 6 June 2025
Researchers have also unearthed stone tools, called adzes, made from basalt that came from Tahiti, Moorea, the Marquesas Islands, the Austral Islands and Tonga, which suggests Tetiaroa’s inhabitants were part of a wide-reaching trade network.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for basalt
Cite this Entry
“Basalt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/basalt. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
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: a dark gray to black usually fine-grained igneous rock
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