stone

[stohn]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR stone ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural stones for 1–5, 7–19, stone for 6.

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

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

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

a small piece of rock, as a pebble.

precious stone.

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

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

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

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

Pathology.

a calculous concretion in the body, as in the kidney, gallbladder, or urinary bladder.
a disease arising from such a concretion.

a gravestone or tombstone.

a grindstone.

a millstone.

a hailstone.

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

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

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

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

Usually stones. testes.

adjective

made of or pertaining to stone.

made of stoneware: a stone mug or bottle.

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

adverb

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

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

to throw stones at; drive by pelting with stones.

to put to death by pelting with stones.

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

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

to remove stones from, as fruit.

Obsolete. to make insensitive or unfeeling.

Idioms

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?

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.

Origin of stone

before 900; (noun) Middle English 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; (v.) Middle English stanen, stonen, derivative of the noun; (adj. and adv.) Middle English, derivative of the noun

Related formsston·a·ble, stone·a·ble, adjectivestone·less, adjectivestone·less·ness, nounstone·like, adjectiveun·ston·a·ble, adjectiveun·stone·a·ble, adjective

Can be confusedboulder cobblestone granule pebble rock stone

Stone

[stohn]

noun

Edward Du·rell

[doo-rel, dyoo-] /dʊˈrɛl, dyʊ-/, 1902–78, U.S. architect.

Har·lan Fiske

[hahr-luh n] /ˈhɑr lən/, 1872–1946, U.S. jurist: chief justice of the U.S. 1941–46.

Irving,1903–1989, U.S. author.

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

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for stone

metal, crystal, grain, rock, gravel, gem, mineral, pebble, jewel, masonry, ore, boulder, crag, stonework

Examples from the Web for stone

Contemporary Examples of stone

My body used for his hard pleasure; a stone god gripping me in his hands.
‘A Gronking to Remember’ Speed Read: 8 Naughtiest Bits
Emily Shire
January 7, 2015
“The US cannot tolerate the idea of any rival economic entity,” Stone writes.
Oliver Stone’s Latest Dictator Suckup
James Kirchick
January 5, 2015
Accusing his opponents of being locked in a Cold War mind-set, it is Stone who is beholden to old orthodoxies.
Oliver Stone’s Latest Dictator Suckup
James Kirchick
January 5, 2015
That Stone would slander the democratic, pro-Western, EuroMaidan revolution as a CIA coup is no surprise.
Oliver Stone’s Latest Dictator Suckup
James Kirchick
January 5, 2015
Woods were shredded, the earth trembled and the ground exploded in showers of stone and red-hot metal splinters.
Hitler’s Hail Mary
James A. Warren
December 20, 2014

Historical Examples of stone

We talked of progress; but progress, like the philosopher's stone, could not be easily attained.
Explorations in Australia
John Forrest
Soon a stone flew against the door—then another— and bang, bang!
Harriet, The Moses of Her People
Sarah H. Bradford
In the grass there can still be seen the stone to which the bull-ring was secured.
Yorkshire Painted And Described
Gordon Home
As to the stone, it glanced off obliquely and fell midway between the vessels.
The White Company
Arthur Conan Doyle
The door was piled with bodies, and the stone floor was slippery with blood.
The White Company
Arthur Conan Doyle

British Dictionary definitions for stone

stone

noun

the hard compact nonmetallic material of which rocks are madeRelated adjective: lithic

a small lump of rock; pebble

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

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

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

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

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

pathol a nontechnical name for calculus

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

rare (in certain games) a piece or man

any of various dull grey colours
(as adjective)stone paint

(modifier) relating to or made of stonea stone house

(modifier) made of stonewarea stone jar

cast a stone at cast aspersions upon

heart of stone an obdurate or unemotional nature

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

adverb

(in combination) completelystone-cold; stone-dead

verb (tr)

to throw stones at, esp to kill

to remove the stones from

to furnish or provide with stones

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

Derived Formsstonable or stoneable, adjectivestoneless, adjectivestonelessness, nounstonelike, adjective

Word Origin for stone

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

Stone

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)

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

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

Word Origin and History for stone

Old English stan, used of common rocks, precious gems, concretions in the body, memorial stones, from Proto-Germanic *stainaz (cf. Old Norse steinn, Danish steen, Old High German and German stein, Gothic stains), from PIE *stai- "stone," also "to thicken, stiffen" (cf. Sanskrit styayate "curdles, becomes hard;" Avestan stay- "heap;" Greek stear "fat, tallow," stia, stion "pebble;" Old Church Slavonic stena "wall").

Slang sense of "testicle" is from mid-12c. The British measure of weight (usually equal to 14 pounds) is from late 14c., originally a specific stone. Stone's throw for "a short distance" is attested from 1580s. Stone Age is from 1864. To kill two birds with one stone is first attested 1650s.

c.1200, "to pelt with stones," from stone (n.). Related: Stoned; stoning.

adj.

intensifying adjective, 1935, first recorded in black slang, probably from earlier use in phrases like stone blind (late 14c., literally "blind as a stone"), stone deaf, etc., from stone (n.). Stone cold sober dates from 1937.

stone in Medicine