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stone

[stohn]
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noun, plural stones for 1–5, 7–19, stone for 6.
  1. the hard substance, formed of mineral matter, of which rocks consist.
  2. a rock or particular piece or kind of rock, as a boulder or piece of agate.
  3. a piece of rock quarried and worked into a specific size and shape for a particular purpose: paving stone; building stone.
  4. a small piece of rock, as a pebble.
  5. precious stone.
  6. Chiefly British. one of various units of weight, especially the British unit equivalent to 14 pounds (6.4 kg).
  7. something resembling a small piece of rock in size, shape, or hardness.
  8. any small, hard seed, as of a date; pit.
  9. Botany. the hard endocarp of a drupe, as of a peach.
  10. Pathology.
    1. a calculous concretion in the body, as in the kidney, gallbladder, or urinary bladder.
    2. a disease arising from such a concretion.
  11. a gravestone or tombstone.
  12. a grindstone.
  13. a millstone.
  14. a hailstone.
  15. Building Trades. any of various artificial materials imitating cut stone or rubble.
  16. Printing. a table with a smooth surface, formerly made of stone, on which page forms are composed.
  17. (in lithography) any surface on which an artist draws or etches a picture or design from which a lithograph is made.
  18. a playing piece in the game of dominoes, checkers, or backgammon.
  19. Usually stones. testes.
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adjective
  1. made of or pertaining to stone.
  2. made of stoneware: a stone mug or bottle.
  3. stonelike; stony; obdurate: a stone killer; stone strength.
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adverb
  1. completely; totally (usually used in combination): stone cold.
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verb (used with object), stoned, ston·ing.
  1. to throw stones at; drive by pelting with stones.
  2. to put to death by pelting with stones.
  3. to provide, fit, pave, line, face or fortify with stones.
  4. to rub (something) with or on a stone, as to sharpen, polish, or smooth.
  5. to remove stones from, as fruit.
  6. Obsolete. to make insensitive or unfeeling.
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Idioms
  1. cast the first stone, to be the first to condemn or blame a wrongdoer; be hasty in one's judgment: What right has she to cast the first stone?
  2. leave no stone unturned, to exhaust every possibility in attempting to achieve one's goal; spare no effort: We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to find the culprit.
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Origin of stone

before 900; (noun) Middle English stan, sto(o)n, Old English stān; cognate with Dutch steen, German Stein, Old Norse steinn, Gothic stains; akin to Greek stī́a pebble, Latin stīria icicle; (v.) Middle English stanen, stonen, derivative of the noun; (adj. and adv.) Middle English, derivative of the noun
Related formsston·a·ble, stone·a·ble, adjectivestone·less, adjectivestone·less·ness, nounstone·like, adjectiveun·ston·a·ble, adjectiveun·stone·a·ble, adjective
Can be confusedboulder cobblestone granule pebble rock stone
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for cast the first stone

Stone

noun
  1. Oliver. born 1946, US film director and screenwriter: his films include Platoon (1986), Born on the Fourth of July (1989), JFK (1991), Nixon (1995), Alexander (2004), and World Trade Center (2006)
  2. Sharon. born 1958, US film actress: her films include Basic Instinct (1991), Casino (1995), and Cold Creek Manor (2003)
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stone

noun
  1. the hard compact nonmetallic material of which rocks are madeRelated adjective: lithic
  2. a small lump of rock; pebble
  3. jewellery short for gemstone
    1. a piece of rock designed or shaped for some particular purpose
    2. (in combination)gravestone; millstone
    1. something that resembles a stone
    2. (in combination)hailstone
  6. the woody central part of such fruits as the peach and plum, that contains the seed; endocarp
  7. any similar hard part of a fruit, such as the stony seed of a date
  8. plural stone British a unit of weight, used esp to express human body weight, equal to 14 pounds or 6.350 kilograms
  9. Also called: granite the rounded heavy mass of granite or iron used in the game of curling
  10. pathol a nontechnical name for calculus
  11. printing a table with a very flat iron or stone surface upon which hot-metal pages are composed into formes; imposition table
  12. rare (in certain games) a piece or man
    1. any of various dull grey colours
    2. (as adjective)stone paint
  14. (modifier) relating to or made of stonea stone house
  15. (modifier) made of stonewarea stone jar
  16. cast a stone at cast aspersions upon
  17. heart of stone an obdurate or unemotional nature
  18. leave no stone unturned to do everything possible to achieve an end
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adverb
  1. (in combination) completelystone-cold; stone-dead
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verb (tr)
  1. to throw stones at, esp to kill
  2. to remove the stones from
  3. to furnish or provide with stones
  4. stone the crows British and Australian slang an expression of surprise, dismay, etc
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Derived Formsstonable or stoneable, adjectivestoneless, adjectivestonelessness, nounstonelike, adjective

Word Origin

Old English stān; related to Old Saxon stēn, German Stein, Old Norse steinn, Gothic stains, Greek stion pebble
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

Word Origin and History for cast the first stone

stone

n.

Old English stan, used of common rocks, precious gems, concretions in the body, memorial stones, from Proto-Germanic *stainaz (cf. Old Norse steinn, Danish steen, Old High German and German stein, Gothic stains), from PIE *stai- "stone," also "to thicken, stiffen" (cf. Sanskrit styayate "curdles, becomes hard;" Avestan stay- "heap;" Greek stear "fat, tallow," stia, stion "pebble;" Old Church Slavonic stena "wall").

Slang sense of "testicle" is from mid-12c. The British measure of weight (usually equal to 14 pounds) is from late 14c., originally a specific stone. Stone's throw for "a short distance" is attested from 1580s. Stone Age is from 1864. To kill two birds with one stone is first attested 1650s.

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stone

v.

c.1200, "to pelt with stones," from stone (n.). Related: Stoned; stoning.

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stone

adj.

intensifying adjective, 1935, first recorded in black slang, probably from earlier use in phrases like stone blind (late 14c., literally "blind as a stone"), stone deaf, etc., from stone (n.). Stone cold sober dates from 1937.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
cast the first stone in Medicine

stone

(stōn)
n.
  1. calculus
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
cast the first stone in Science

stone

[stōn]
  1. Rock, especially when used in construction.
  2. The hard, woody inner layer (the endocarp) of a drupe such as a cherry or peach. Not in scientific use.
  3. See calculus.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Idioms and Phrases with cast the first stone

cast the first stone

Also, throw the first stone. Be quick to blame, criticize, or punish, as in She's always criticizing her colleagues, casting the first stone no matter what the circumstances. The term comes from the New Testament (John 8:7), where Jesus defends an adulteress against those who would stone her, saying “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” Also see people who live in glass houses; pot calling the kettle black.

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stone

In addition to the idioms beginning with stone

  • stone cold
  • stone deaf

also see:

  • cast in stone
  • cast the first stone
  • flat (stone) broke
  • heart of stone
  • leave no stone unturned
  • rolling stone gathers no moss
  • run into a stone wall
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.