How to Use red ocher in a Sentence

red ocher

noun
  • At least one reason, Meacham said, was to prospect and mine red ocher.
    — Fox News, 7 July 2020
  • One large wooden face is fierce with marks from the mineral pigment red ocher.
    — Lisa Demer, Alaska Dispatch News, 3 Sep. 2017
  • Sketched in red ocher, the creatures dance on a cave wall on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
    — Matthew Twombly, National Geographic, 8 Dec. 2021
  • The mining tribe resembles the Himba of Namibia, known for their red ocher body paint and leather headpieces.
    — Melena Ryzik, New York Times, 23 Feb. 2018
  • He had been ceremoniously buried; his hands were folded over the pelvis and traces of red ocher enveloped him from cranium to loin.
    — David Maurice Smith, Smithsonian, 23 Aug. 2019
  • The 23-year-old’s body was dusted with red ocher, a pigment used by many ancient cultures in burial ceremonies.
    — Washington Post, 16 Nov. 2020
  • The soil, stained by the red ocher, had to be gently sieved and was closely studied using electron microscopes and high-resolution images.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN, 2 Nov. 2022
  • The team posits that someone applied a red ocher pigment around the injury, possibly for therapeutic or symbolic purposes.
    — Livia Gershon, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Mar. 2021
  • In all, divers identified more than 350 pits used for extracting red ocher, reports Bruce Bower for Science News.
    — Theresa MacHemer, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 July 2020
  • Communities including the Himba in Namibia continue to use red ocher as a bug repellant and sunscreen today; the pigment is also useful for tanning hides.
    — Theresa MacHemer, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 July 2020
  • Likely the oldest color in the spectrum, red ocher was the first pigment to be used in cave paintings, and its been associated with nobility, revolutionaries, prostitutes, and popes.
    — Rebecca Ramsey, The Cut, 31 Aug. 2017
  • Some 7,000 years ago, a prehistoric human (or humans) added red ocher paintings to Los Machos, a natural rock shelter in southern Spain.
    — Theresa MacHemer, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Sep. 2020
  • Microscopic analysis suggests the figurine was once painted with red ocher, according to Archaeology News.
    — Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 22 Nov. 2025
  • Today Himba women in southern Africa cover their bodies in a mix of butterfat and red ocher, a culturally important tradition that also acts as sunscreen and bug repellent.
    — Theresa MacHemer, National Geographic, 8 Sep. 2020
  • The Majoonsuo grave first drew the attention of researchers in 1992 in the municipality of Outokumpu when bright red ocher, a clay rich in iron, was spotted on the surface of a new service trail in the forest.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN, 2 Nov. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'red ocher.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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