Blarney stone

American  

noun

1. a stone in Blarney Castle near Cork, Ireland, said to impart skill in flattery to anyone who kisses it.

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Blarney Stone British  

noun

1. a stone in Blarney Castle , in the SW Republic of Ireland, said to endow whoever kisses it with the gift of the gab and skill in flattery

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Blarney Stone Cultural  

1. A stone in the wall of Blarney Castle in Ireland. According to an Irish legend, those who kiss the Blarney Stone receive a gift of eloquence that enables them to obtain, through persuasion, anything they want.

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People who talk “blarney” are saying things they do not mean. Usually the expression blarney is applied to flattery designed to gain a favor.

Example Sentences

Then it's the Blarney stone and four generations of one family living in the same house.

From The Guardian • Mar. 18, 2013

The timekeepers must have kissed the Blarney stone.

From Time Magazine Archive

"He'll also tell you that I lived quite forty miles from the Blarney stone!"

From The Gambler A Novel by Thurston, Katherine Cecil

The stone door-step, hollowed like the steps to the Blarney stone, had borne the steady tread of feet for sixty years, and the floor within was worn in the same way.

From The Land of Long Ago by Hall, Eliza Calvert

"Kiss the Blarney stone?" echoed the man, who was an Englishman.

From The Charm of Ireland by Stevenson, Burton Egbert