stone

[ stohn ]
See synonyms for stone on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural stones for 1-5, 7-20, stone for 6.

  1. the hard substance, formed of mineral matter, of which rocks consist.

  2. a rock or particular piece or kind of rock, as a boulder or piece of agate.

  1. a piece of rock quarried and worked into a specific size and shape for a particular purpose: paving stone;building stone.

  2. a small piece of rock, as a pebble.

  3. precious stone.

  4. Chiefly British. one of various units of weight, especially the British unit equivalent to 14 pounds (6.4 kilograms).

  5. something resembling a small piece of rock in size, shape, or hardness.

  6. any small, hard seed, as of a date; pit.

  7. Botany. the hard endocarp of a drupe, as of a peach.

  8. Pathology. a calculous concretion in the body, as in the kidney, gallbladder, or urinary bladder.

  9. a gravestone or tombstone.

  10. grindstone: Don’t even think about using that stone until you’ve got your safety glasses on.

  11. millstone: The gristmill’s original pair of stones were made from volcanic lava deposits in southern Italy.

  12. hailstone: With many verified reports of stones as large as 6 inches in diameter, we can tell you this was no ordinary hailstorm.

  13. curling stone: Friction between the stone and the surface of the ice is controlled by many parameters, including velocity.

  14. Building Trades. any of various artificial materials imitating cut stone or rubble.

  15. Printing. a table with a smooth surface, formerly made of stone, on which page forms are composed.

  16. (in lithography) any surface on which an artist draws or etches a picture or design from which a lithograph is made.

  17. a playing piece in the game of dominoes, checkers, or backgammon.

  18. Slang: Vulgar.Usually stones . testes.

adjective

  1. made of or pertaining to stone.

  2. made of stoneware: a stone mug or bottle.

  1. stonelike; stony; obdurate: a stone killer;stone strength.

adverb

  1. completely; totally (usually used in combination): stone cold.

verb (used with object),stoned, ston·ing.

  1. to throw stones at; drive by pelting with stones.

  2. to put to death by pelting with stones.

  1. to provide, fit, pave, line, face or fortify with stones.

  2. to rub (something) with or on a stone, as to sharpen, polish, or smooth.

  3. to remove stones from, as fruit.

  4. Obsolete. to make insensitive or unfeeling.

Idioms about stone

  1. 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?

  2. 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.

  1. set in stone, to put (something) in final form; finalize so as to prevent change or reversal: These schematics for the library renovation are only proposals—nothing yet is set in stone.: Also set / cast in concrete .

Origin of stone

1
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

Other words from stone

  • ston·a·ble, stone·a·ble, adjective
  • stone·less, adjective
  • stone·less·ness, noun
  • stone·like, adjective
  • un·ston·a·ble, un·stone·a·ble, adjective

Words that may be confused with stone

Words Nearby stone

Other definitions for Stone (2 of 2)

Stone
[ stohn ]
noun

  1. Edward Du·rell [doo-rel, dyoo-], /dʊˈrɛl, dyʊ-/, 1902–78, U.S. architect.

  2. Har·lan Fiske [hahr-luhn], /ˈhɑr lən/, 1872–1946, U.S. jurist: chief justice of the U.S. 1941–46.

  1. Irving, 1903–1989, U.S. author.

  2. I(sidor) F(ein·stein) [fahyn-stahyn], /ˈfaɪn staɪn/, "Izzy", 1907–1989, U.S. political journalist.

  3. Lucy, 1818–93, U.S. suffragist (wife of Henry Brown Blackwell).

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use stone in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for stone (1 of 3)

stone

/ (stəʊn) /

noun

  1. the hard compact nonmetallic material of which rocks are made: Related adjective: lithic

  2. a small lump of rock; pebble

  1. jewellery short for gemstone

    • a piece of rock designed or shaped for some particular purpose

    • (in combination): gravestone; millstone

    • something that resembles a stone

    • (in combination): hailstone

  4. the woody central part of such fruits as the peach and plum, that contains the seed; endocarp

  5. any similar hard part of a fruit, such as the stony seed of a date

  6. plural stone British a unit of weight, used esp to express human body weight, equal to 14 pounds or 6.350 kilograms

  7. Also called: granite the rounded heavy mass of granite or iron used in the game of curling

  8. pathol a nontechnical name for calculus

  9. printing a table with a very flat iron or stone surface upon which hot-metal pages are composed into formes; imposition table

  10. rare (in certain games) a piece or man

    • any of various dull grey colours

    • (as adjective): stone paint

  12. (modifier) relating to or made of stone: a stone house

  13. (modifier) made of stoneware: a stone jar

  14. cast a stone at cast aspersions upon

  15. heart of stone an obdurate or unemotional nature

  16. leave no stone unturned to do everything possible to achieve an end

adverb

  1. (in combination) completely: stone-cold; stone-dead

verb(tr)

  1. to throw stones at, esp to kill

  2. to remove the stones from

  1. to furnish or provide with stones

  2. stone the crows British and Australian slang an expression of surprise, dismay, etc

Origin of stone

1
Old English stān; related to Old Saxon stēn, German Stein, Old Norse steinn, Gothic stains, Greek stion pebble

Derived forms of stone

  • stonable or stoneable, adjective
  • stoneless, adjective
  • stonelessness, noun
  • stonelike, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for Stone (2 of 3)

Stone

/ (stəʊn) /

noun

  1. 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)

  2. Sharon. born 1958, US film actress: her films include Basic Instinct (1991), Casino (1995), and Cold Creek Manor (2003)

British Dictionary definitions for stone- (3 of 3)

stone-
prefix

  1. very; completely: stone-blind; stone-cold

Origin of stone-

3
from stone in the sense of "like a stone"

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

Scientific definitions for stone

stone

[ stōn ]

  1. Rock, especially when used in construction.

  2. The hard, woody inner layer (the endocarp) of a drupe such as a cherry or peach. Not in scientific use.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Other Idioms and Phrases with stone

stone

In addition to the idioms beginning with stone

  • stone cold
  • stone deaf

also see:

  • cast in stone
  • cast the first stone
  • flat (stone) broke
  • heart of stone
  • leave no stone unturned
  • rolling stone gathers no moss
  • run into a stone wall

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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