pumice

[puhm-is]

noun

1. Also called pumice stone. a porous or spongy form of volcanic glass, used as an abrasive.

verb (used with object)

pumiced, pumicing 

1. to rub, smooth, clean, etc., with pumice.

pumice

/ ˈpʌmɪs, pjuːˈmɪʃəs /

noun

1. Also called: pumice stone. a light porous acid volcanic rock having the composition of rhyolite, used for scouring and, in powdered form, as an abrasive and for polishing

verb

1. (tr) to rub or polish with pumice

pumice

1. A usually light-colored, porous, lightweight rock of volcanic origin. The pores form when water vapor and gases escape from the lava during its quick solidification into rock.

Other Word Forms

• pumiceous adjective
• pumicer noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of pumice¹

First recorded before 1000; from Latin pūmic-, stem of pūmex “pumice stone”; replacing Middle English pomis(e), pomish(e), pomice, from Middle French pomis, from Latin; compare Old English pumic- (from Latin ), in pumicstān “pumice stone”; pounce ³

Word History and Origins

Origin of pumice¹

C15 pomys, from Old French pomis, from Latin pūmex

Example Sentences

The Paiute-Shoshone Indians later chipped away at the red pumice stone, which exposed the lighter rock minerals underneath, according to the Bureau of Land Management.

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Besides the acids and bacteria, the balls also contained volcanic rock pumice.

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They had also visited Pompeii, the ancient Italian city buried under volcanic ash and pumice when Mt.

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A wide residential and commercial block, known as "Region 9", is being cleared of several metres of overlying pumice and ash thrown out by Vesuvius almost 2,000 years ago.

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In addition to lava, volcanos eject large amounts of pumice, ashes and gases as a fast-moving flow, known as "pyroclastic flow," and its sediments are a valuable data source on past eruptions.

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