hailstone

[heyl-stohn]

noun

1. a pellet of hail.

hailstone

/ ˈheɪlˌstəʊn /

noun

1. a pellet of hail

Other Word Forms

• hailstoned adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hailstone¹

before 1000; Middle English; Old English hagolstān. See hail ², stone

Example Sentences

Large hailstones, some the size of £1 coins, fell in a 20-minute burst over the city, with some roads also flooded in the city centre.

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That's the reason we publish more content explaining the physics of the aurora borealis, or why climate change is leading to bigger hailstones.

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There were "hailstones as big as toes with torrential rain, thunderstorm and lightning", he said.

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On Monday night, hailstones piled up in doorways, making it impossible to open them and creating dams that pushed rainwater into buildings, he said.

Read more on Seattle Times

All sound like the stuff of fun games — except when they are used to describe the size of the hailstones that often accompany severe thunderstorms.

Read more on New York Times