boulder
1 Americannoun
noun
noun
-
a smooth rounded mass of rock that has a diameter greater than 25cm and that has been shaped by erosion and transported by ice or water from its original position
-
geology a rock fragment with a diameter greater than 256 mm and thus bigger than a cobble
Other Word Forms
- bouldered adjective
- bouldery adjective
Etymology
Origin of boulder
1610–20; short for boulder stone; Middle English bulderston < Scandinavian; compare dialectal Swedish bullersten big stone (in a stream), equivalent to buller rumbling noise (< Old Swedish bulder ) + sten stone
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In “The Myth of Sisyphus,” Camus describes a man doomed to push a boulder uphill forever and asks us to imagine him “happy.”
Astronauts documented boulder tracks and landslides that appear to have been triggered by moonquakes.
From Science Daily
Residents at the time described seeing slurry carrying "trees and big boulders", and buildings left deep in sludge and mud.
From BBC
I feel the rough texture of a boulder, chafing against my fingers.
From Literature
He felt like a blade of grass caught between two boulders.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
