stone
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.
Chiefly British. one of various units of weight, especially the British unit equivalent to 14 pounds (6.4 kilograms).
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 gravestone or tombstone.
grindstone: Don’t even think about using that stone until you’ve got your safety glasses on.
millstone: The gristmill’s original pair of stones were made from volcanic lava deposits in southern Italy.
hailstone: With many verified reports of stones as large as 6 inches in diameter, we can tell you this was no ordinary hailstorm.
curling stone: Friction between the stone and the surface of the ice is controlled by many parameters, including velocity.
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.
Slang: Vulgar.Usually stones . testes.
made of or pertaining to stone.
made of stoneware: a stone mug or bottle.
completely; totally (usually used in combination): stone cold.
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 about stone
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.
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
1Other 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
- boulder, cobblestone, granule, pebble, rock, stone
Words Nearby stone
Other definitions for Stone (2 of 2)
Edward Du·rell [doo-rel, dyoo-], /dʊˈrɛl, dyʊ-/, 1902–78, U.S. architect.
Har·lan Fiske [hahr-luhn], /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. 2023
How to use stone in a sentence
One of these stones is decorated with a boar lying on its back.
An Ancient Site with Human Skulls on Display - Issue 89: The Dark Side | Jo Marchant | September 2, 2020 | NautilusStonehenge today includes 63 complete stones, including 17 standing sarsen stones in the outer circle.
Stonehenge enhanced sounds like voices or music for people inside the monument | Bruce Bower | August 31, 2020 | Science NewsWe used to sit around his stone fireplace, chatting about everything under the sun, wine flowing and Leonard Cohen playing somewhere in the background.
Investors ride the Big Tech rally even as COVID cases and unemployment spike | Bernhard Warner | August 21, 2020 | FortuneInstead, the focus is on medical conditions that astronauts have a fairly high chance of developing, like rashes or kidney stones.
What will astronauts need to survive the dangerous journey to Mars? | Maria Temming | July 15, 2020 | Science NewsThe stones help squish food so a creature doesn’t have to grind up everything in its mouth.
Fossil stomach reveals a dinosaur’s last meal | Carolyn Wilke | July 7, 2020 | Science News For Students
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 DAILY BEAST“The US cannot tolerate the idea of any rival economic entity,” stone writes.
Accusing his opponents of being locked in a Cold War mind-set, it is stone who is beholden to old orthodoxies.
That stone would slander the democratic, pro-Western, EuroMaidan revolution as a CIA coup is no surprise.
Mullins quotes Stewart from an interview with Rolling stone.
David Gregory's 'Meet the Press' Eviction Exposed in Washingtonian Takedown | Lloyd Grove | December 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThat evening in the gondola, with one old and two newer friends, is marked with a white stone in my recollection.
Glances at Europe | Horace GreeleyMonsieur,” growls the baron, “stone walls have ears, you say if only they had tongues; what tales these could tell!
Checkmate | Joseph Sheridan Le FanuA colossal steam "traveller" had ceaselessly carried great blocks of stone and long steel girders from point to point.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3) | Charles James WillsThe clink of the stone-masons' chisels had resounded year after year from morning till night.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3) | Charles James WillsA few small rocks of some soft stone may be added, and in between these the Ferns are planted.
How to Know the Ferns | S. Leonard Bastin
British Dictionary definitions for stone (1 of 3)
/ (stəʊn) /
the hard compact nonmetallic material of which rocks are made: Related 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 stone: a stone house
(modifier) made of stoneware: a 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
(in combination) completely: stone-cold; stone-dead
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
Origin of stone
1Derived forms of stone
- stonable or stoneable, adjective
- stoneless, adjective
- stonelessness, noun
- stonelike, adjective
British Dictionary definitions for Stone (2 of 3)
/ (stəʊn) /
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)
British Dictionary definitions for stone- (3 of 3)
very; completely: stone-blind; stone-cold
Origin of stone-
3Collins 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
[ stōn ]
Rock, especially when used in construction.
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
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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