ironstone

[ ahy-ern-stohn ]

noun

1. any iron-bearing mineral or rock with siliceous impurities.
2. Also called ironstone china. a hard white stoneware.

ironstone

/ ˈaɪənˌstəʊn /

noun

1. any rock consisting mainly of an iron-bearing ore
2. Also calledironstone china a tough durable earthenware

Word History and Origins

Origin of ironstone¹

First recorded in 1515–25; iron + stone

Example Sentences

The town-walls are built of flint and concrete bonded with ironstone, and are backed with earth.

From Project Gutenberg

Behind, and almost overhanging it, was a great krantz whose smooth ironstone wall glowed like a vast slab of red-hot metal.

From Project Gutenberg

The first cargo of ironstone was sent from here in 1836, when the Pickering and Whitby Railway was opened.

From Project Gutenberg

Examples of this are chert nodules in limestone; flint nodules in chalk; clay-ironstone balls in shale, &c.

From Project Gutenberg

I found the magnetic polarity to be very distinct in some of the ironstone pebbles on these rises.

From Project Gutenberg