freestone

[free-stohn]

noun

a fruit having a stone to which the flesh does not cling, as certain peaches and plums.
the stone itself.
any stone, as sandstone, that can be freely worked or quarried, especially one that cuts well in all directions without splitting.

adjective

having a stone from which the flesh is easily separated.

Origin of freestone

1250–1300; Middle English freston (see free, stone); translation of Old French franche piere; see frank¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for freestone

Historical Examples of freestone

I must go to Tenby one of these days, and walk that old walk to Freestone.
Letters of Edward FitzGerald
Edward FitzGerald
The colour of the freestone of which it is built is as fresh as that of the castle of Tarascon.
Itinerary of Provence and the Rhone
John Hughes
The chest was of freestone, such as is common on Lincoln heath.
Records of Woodhall Spa and Neighbourhood
J. Conway Walter
Minerals; coal in large quantities, lime, sand and freestone.
A New Guide for Emigrants to the West
J. M. Peck
In Kentucky most of the sandstone quarried is known locally as "freestone."
The Economic Aspect of Geology
C. K. Leith

British Dictionary definitions for freestone

freestone

noun

1. any fine-grained stone, esp sandstone or limestone, that can be cut and worked in any direction without breaking
2. (as modifier)a freestone house
botany
1. a fruit, such as a peach, in which the flesh separates readily from the stone
2. (as modifier)a freestone peach Compare clingstone

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