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 tests, the team dropped marbles into sand that contained scattered pieces of painted gravel representing boulders on Dimorphos.
From Science Daily
It is a twenty-mile downhill run through a river gorge studded with boulders and you run on an ice ledge steeply down, weaving in and out of the boulders for the whole distance.
From Literature
We were in a draw with boulders on both sides of the trail.
From Literature
“I would climb mountains and traverse dangerous cliff paths. I would poke my head into dark caves and push over heavy boulders.”
From Literature
"They left my yard just a mud pile with all the boulders and rocks that they dug up from around the house," Hines said.
From BBC
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.
