sandstone

[ sand-stohn ]

noun

1. a common sedimentary rock consisting of sand, usually quartz, cemented together by various substances, as silica, calcium carbonate, iron oxide, or clay.

sandstone

/ ˈsændˌstəʊn /

noun

1. any of a group of common sedimentary rocks consisting of sand grains consolidated with such materials as quartz, haematite, and clay minerals: used widely in building

sandstone

/ sănd′stōn′ /

1. A medium-grained sedimentary rock consisting of fine to coarse sand-sized grains that have been either compacted or cemented together by a material such as silica, iron oxide, or calcium carbonate. Although sandstone usually consists primarily of quartz, it can also consist of other minerals, and it can vary in color from yellow or red to gray or brown.

sandstone

1. A sedimentary rock formed of sand-sized grains that have been either compacted or cemented together. Although sandstone usually consists primarily of quartz, it can also consist of other minerals .

Word History and Origins

Origin of sandstone¹

First recorded in 1660–70; sand + stone

Example Sentences

We pulled off first at Burden Falls, where Burden Creek babbles over a series of small sandstone shelves before crashing 20 feet to the rocks below.

From Washington Post

Multiple people lost their lives in recent years by just enjoying the beaches below towering and unstable sandstone cliffs.

From Voice of San Diego

It’s an unfortunate marriage as the destabilized sandstone top is prone to slipping off just because the rocks happened to form that way ages ago.

From Voice of San Diego

The desert of southern Utah is a mesmerizing landscape of red sandstone mesas and canyons.

From Nautilus

Gravity doesn’t just pull things down — it can hold huge sandstone arches up.

From Science News For Students

Her father built a successful business and the family lives in an $800,000 sandstone house in a posh Glasgow suburb.

From The Daily Beast

Nice places to live, where the kids can run through the hilly yards behind sandstone apartment blocs.

From The Daily Beast

In the center of the river line stood the imposing red sandstone palace of Bahadur Shah, last of the Moguls.

From Project Gutenberg

To begin with, the bar was of pinkish sandstone, smoothed and covered by a coating of plastic.

From Project Gutenberg

Built of red sandstone, rich with sculptures and of graceful and harmonious architecture, there are few cathedrals more pleasing.

From Project Gutenberg

Sometimes they would clamp a crooked stick between a grooved piece of sandstone and a flat bone.

From Project Gutenberg

When the Cave-men pulled the shaft back and forth on the sandstone, they made deep grooves in it.

From Project Gutenberg