Blarney stone
- a stone in Blarney Castle near Cork, Ireland, said to impart skill in flattery to anyone who kisses it.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for blarney stone
Historical Examples
Ah, Katty, you have been kissing the blarney-stone, she said.
Signing the Contract and What it CostMartha Finley
From the virtues which it communicates to the masculine pilgrims, we have the well-known term blarney and blarney-stone.
Bits of BlarneyR. Shelton Mackenzie
Blarney Stone
- 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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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Blarney Stone
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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Note
People who talk “blarney” are saying things they do not mean. Usually the expression blarney is applied to flattery designed to gain a favor.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.