freestone

[ free-stohn ]

/ ˈfriˌstoʊn /

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.

Nearby words

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for freestone

Opulent is a white-fleshed, freestone peach of very mediocre character as it grows on the Station grounds.
The Peaches of New York|U. P. Hedrick
In the neighbourhood, as at Mansfield Woodhouse to the north, there are quarries of limestone, sandstone and freestone.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 17, Slice 5|Various
This is a freestone peach resembling Stump; ripens the end of July in Alabama.
The Peaches of New York|U. P. Hedrick
The house, built of freestone, in the style of the period of Louis XV.
A Start in Life|Honore de Balzac

Minerals; quarries of freestone, some limestone, and inexhaustible beds of coal.
A New Guide for Emigrants to the West|J. M. Peck

British Dictionary definitions for freestone

freestone

/ (ˈfriːˌstəʊn) /

noun

any fine-grained stone, esp sandstone or limestone, that can be cut and worked in any direction without breaking
(as modifier)a freestone house

botany

a fruit, such as a peach, in which the flesh separates readily from the stone
(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