a hard stone, a form of silica resembling chalcedony but more opaque, less pure, and less lustrous.
a piece of this, especially as used for striking fire.
a chunk of this used as a primitive tool or as the core from which such a tool was struck.
something very hard or unyielding.
a small piece of metal, usually an iron alloy, used to produce a spark to ignite the fuel in a cigarette lighter.
Austin, 1812–86, U.S. physician: founder of Bellevue and Buffalo medical colleges.
his son Austin, 1836–1915, U.S. physiologist and physician.
a city in SE Michigan.
an impure opaque microcrystalline greyish-black form of quartz that occurs in chalk. It produces sparks when struck with steel and is used in the manufacture of pottery, flint glass, and road-construction materials. Formula: SiO 2
any piece of flint, esp one used as a primitive tool or for striking fire
a small cylindrical piece of an iron alloy, used in cigarette lighters
Also called: flint glass. white flint. colourless glass other than plate glass
See optical flint
a town in NE Wales, in Flintshire, on the Dee estuary. Pop: 11 936 (2001)
a city in SE Michigan: closure of the car production plants led to a high level of unemployment. Pop: 120 292 (2003 est)
A very hard, gray to black variety of chalcedony that makes sparks when it is struck with steel. It breaks with a conchoidal fracture.
The dark gray to black variety of chert.
before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Middle Dutch vlint, Danish flint; cf. plinth
Flint is a very hard type of rock. Ever since humans first learned to make tools, back in the Stone Age, they've used flint. Through history, flint has been used for sharp tools, in walls and buildings, for making sparks to start fires, and in jewelry and pottery. You can also use the word figuratively, to mean a quality of hardness or even cruelty in a someone's personality: "The flint in his nature made him unsympathetic even to the most pitiful crying child."
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Artefacts were also found at the site, including pottery, flint tools and animal bone, suggesting prehistoric people held gatherings there.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
Researchers found Early Bronze Age pottery, large communal bowls, grinding stones, flint tools, animal horn cores, and a few copper objects -- all items that suggest ceremonial use and possible feasting events.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 4, 2025
There, archaeologists found two pieces of flint encased in birch tar residue, indicating the flint pieces were once hafted to other objects.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 22, 2024
You have to be particular about muzzle-loading a flintlock and making sure the flint is in place.
From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2024
One of them was striking a flint to light a fire.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
GM’s Flint, Mich., plant, which assembles the pickups, is set to add a sixth day of weekly production in June.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026
Pete Hawkins, aged 17 at the time, was working nearby with the son of foreman Jim Flint.
From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2026
When I spoke to the UK's Fraud Minister, Lord Hanson of Flint, he told me punishing countries for refusing or failing to cooperate on tackling scams could be counterproductive.
From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2026
So going back nearly 60 years, the late Mr. Flint has been left to quietly suffer the indignities of desecration and abandonment, but for temporary intervention.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2026
Mrs. Flint banged pans until you couldn’t hear yourself think.
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
She said: "While sitting and chatting we realised the flints we were sitting on were extremely hot... some thoughtless, careless people had just buried three disposable BBQs which were still glowing red! Absolutely disgusting behaviour!"
From BBC ● May 31, 2026
In the chemical industry, cerium is widely used in oil refining and glass polishing -- as well as in flints for cigarette lighters.
From Barron's ● Feb. 4, 2026
The material finds at Stonehenge gravesites are limited — bone pins, mace heads, carved flints.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 12, 2022
Crossing over to the spit is like crossing the River Styx: “Two flints on your eyes for the journey, cold on the lids, keeping sight in so you couldn’t find your way back.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2020
She dressed herself and padded down the four flints of stairs in her darned and redarned stockings.
From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson
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.
