stone
noun
the hard substance, formed of mineral matter, of which rocks consist.
stone
1 American
[stohn]
/ stoʊn /
noun
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stones,
plural
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stone
plural
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the hard substance, formed of mineral matter, of which rocks consist.
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a rock or particular piece or kind of rock, as a boulder or piece of agate.
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a piece of rock quarried and worked into a specific size and shape for a particular purpose: building stone.
paving stone;
building stone.
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a small piece of rock, as a pebble.
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Chiefly British. one of various units of weight, especially the British unit equivalent to 14 pounds (6.4 kilograms).
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something resembling a small piece of rock in size, shape, or hardness.
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any small, hard seed, as of a date; pit.
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Botany. the hard endocarp of a drupe, as of a peach.
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Pathology. a calculous concretion in the body, as in the kidney, gallbladder, or urinary bladder.
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a gravestone or tombstone.
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Don’t even think about using that stone until you’ve got your safety glasses on.
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The gristmill’s original pair of stones were made from volcanic lava deposits in southern Italy.
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With many verified reports of stones as large as 6 inches in diameter, we can tell you this was no ordinary hailstorm.
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Friction between the stone and the surface of the ice is controlled by many parameters, including velocity.
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Building Trades. any of various artificial materials imitating cut stone or rubble.
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Printing. a table with a smooth surface, formerly made of stone, on which page forms are composed.
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(in lithography) any surface on which an artist draws or etches a picture or design from which a lithograph is made.
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a playing piece in the game of dominoes, checkers, or backgammon.
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Slang: Vulgar. Usually stones testes.
adjective
adverb
verb (used with object)
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stones,
present (3rd person singular)
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stoned,
past participle, past
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stoning
present participle
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to throw stones at; drive by pelting with stones.
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to put to death by pelting with stones.
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to provide, fit, pave, line, face or fortify with stones.
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to rub (something) with or on a stone, as to sharpen, polish, or smooth.
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to remove stones from, as fruit.
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Obsolete. to make insensitive or unfeeling.
idioms
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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?
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set in stone, to put (something) in final form; finalize so as to prevent change or reversal: Also set / cast in concrete
These schematics for the library renovation are only proposals—nothing yet is set in stone.
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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.
Stone
2
American
[stohn]
/ stoʊn /
noun
-
Edward Durell 1902–78, U.S. architect.
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Harlan Fiske 1872–1946, U.S. jurist: chief justice of the U.S. 1941–46.
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Irving, 1903–1989, U.S. author.
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I(sidor) F(einstein) Izzy, 1907–1989, U.S. political journalist.
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Lucy, 1818–93, U.S. suffragist (wife of Henry Brown Blackwell).
stone
1
British
/ stəʊn /
noun
-
the hard compact nonmetallic material of which rocks are made
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a small lump of rock; pebble
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jewellery short for gemstone
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a piece of rock designed or shaped for some particular purpose
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( in combination )
gravestone
millstone
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-
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something that resembles a stone
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( in combination )
hailstone
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the woody central part of such fruits as the peach and plum, that contains the seed; endocarp
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any similar hard part of a fruit, such as the stony seed of a date
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a unit of weight, used esp to express human body weight, equal to 14 pounds or 6.350 kilograms
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Also called: granite. the rounded heavy mass of granite or iron used in the game of curling
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pathol a nontechnical name for calculus
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printing a table with a very flat iron or stone surface upon which hot-metal pages are composed into formes; imposition table
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rare (in certain games) a piece or man
-
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any of various dull grey colours
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( as adjective )
stone paint
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(modifier) relating to or made of stone
a stone house
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(modifier) made of stoneware
a stone jar
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cast aspersions upon
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an obdurate or unemotional nature
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to do everything possible to achieve an end
adverb
verb
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to throw stones at, esp to kill
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to remove the stones from
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to furnish or provide with stones
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slang an expression of surprise, dismay, etc
Stone
2
British
/ stəʊn /
noun
-
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)
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Sharon. born 1958, US film actress: her films include Basic Instinct (1991), Casino (1995), and Cold Creek Manor (2003)
stone-
3
British
prefix
stone
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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stonelessnessnoun
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stonableadjective
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stoneableadjective
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stonelessadjective
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stonelikeadjective
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unstonableadjective
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unstoneableadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stonesimple
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stonessimple
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have stonedperfect
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has stonedperfect
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am stoningprogressive
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are stoningprogressive
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is stoningprogressive
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have been stoningperfect progressive
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has been stoningperfect progressive
Past
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stonedsimple
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had stonedperfect
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was stoningprogressive
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were stoningprogressive
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had been stoningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stone
First recorded before 900; Middle English noun 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”; the verb, adjective, and adverb are derivative of the noun
Explanation
Another name for a stone, or hard mineral lump, is a rock. If you turn over a large stone in the forest, you might find a whole colony of worms, beetles, and other creepy-crawlies living underneath. Stones are commonly used to build walls and buildings. Sculptures are carved from stone, and patios and garden walls are constructed of individual stones. Someone who seems to have "turned to stone" becomes as unmoving and unemotional as a piece of rock. Sometimes a valuable gem is colloquially called a stone, and the hard pit in a plum or apricot is another kind of stone. A stone is also a unit of measuring weight in Britain—equal to 14 pounds.
Vocabulary lists containing stone
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
These workers are developing silicosis, a condition in which microscopic silica dust contained in the stone slabs they grind and polish is cutting up the inside of their lungs until the organs fail.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
The 1,350-square-foot original structure boasts two bedrooms, one bathroom, a living room with a glass wall and Bear Valley stone fireplace, and a kitchen with warm-wood cabinets.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
In his small stone hut at the entrance to the Cavustepe site, Kusman is undaunted by the doubters.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
Trump was discussing changes he has made to the White House grounds, including replacing portions of the Rose Garden lawn with a stone patio, when the conversation turned to turf.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026
Patch was there, bent over, humming to himself, piling one stone on top of another.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
The Clowns are a revival of a 1940s and 1950s barnstorming Negro League team that included Toni Stone, the first woman to play in a professional men’s baseball league.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026
The Stone Age characters say things such as “Omygod” and “Wow, that’s pretty ballsy.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Kaye was writing about music — for publications like Rock Scene, Crawdaddy and Rolling Stone — when the discipline was still nascent.
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2026
Similarly, Scotland's Steven Stone had attempts with his glasses on his face and the top of his head in the men's T20 long jump but did not register a clean effort.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
His name was Andy Stone, and along with his intellectual connection to the subprime crisis came a personal one: He was Greg Lippmann’s first boss on Wall Street.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
They come in stone- and black-coloured leather or tan suede.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 12, 2020
A digital transfer mired in grays and blues will muddy the sepia-seeping proceedings but not enough to appreciate the director’s vision of the stone- and iron-laden, antiquated era.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 10, 2015
Then stone- grind the kernels into masa, a light, slightly sticky paste with a distinct maize fragrance.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Though his look was full of hatred, the steward turned and began to move along the stone- paved road.
From "Crispin: The Cross of Lead" by Avi
Flames leapt ten feet in the air from three huge stone- lined firepits.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
The president has weighed in on paving stones, marble, flagpoles and other aesthetic details around the White House as he reshapes the presidential grounds.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026
Near the base of a column atop which Saint Simeon Stylites once perched, scattered stones lay bare the damage inflicted on the surrounding Byzantine monastery in northern Syria by war, looting and rampant illegal excavations.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
"We show that enculturated chimpanzees can distinguish crystals from other stones," said lead author Prof Juan Manuel García-Ruiz, an Ikerbasque Research Professor on crystallography at the Donostia International Physics Center in San Sebastián.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026
That includes Rabban Aalam, who loads crushed stones for transport to construction sites on the outskirts of New Delhi.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
He is a doctor, and the wife is often in pain because she suffers from kidney stones.
From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar
Muslim faithful ritually stoned the devil on Wednesday in the climactic ceremony of a hajj pilgrimage held in intense heat and against the backdrop of a war that has plunged the wealthy Gulf into crisis.
From Barron's ● May 27, 2026
The first Sunday service after the arrests, streamed from pastors outside the mainland, included a meditation on the biblical account of Stephen, the first-century disciple stoned to death for his faith.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025
“I have been convicted and sacrificed and crucified and stoned without a trial and without the option to defend myself.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 4, 2025
The costumes are shining because the seamstress stoned them.
From Salon ● Jan. 8, 2025
Her feet are so cold, and just hours ago they were running over the stoned streets, and suddenly there are tears falling down my face.
From "Girl in the Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse
McNish says virginity is a man-made myth created by those in power, in times that "also spoke positively of slavery and stoning".
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Jackson’s lottery stoning takes place on a sunny June day, in contrast to the apocalyptic storm’s nighttime arrival on “Widow’s Bay,” forcing everyone into an underground shelter.
From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2026
It reenacts the Prophet Abraham's stoning of the devil at three places where Satan is said to have tried to dissuade him from obeying God's command to sacrifice his son Ishmael.
From Barron's ● May 27, 2026
What’s funny about the inspiration is that I had a whole ’nother outfit planned, and with the help of a friend, she’s stoning some things for me, but that didn’t come through today.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2025
“Well, he did. And it’s stood all this time and not a single scratch to it. Not until you started stoning it.”
From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt
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.
