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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
Stone
- 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).
Related Words for stone
metal, crystal, grain, rock, gravel, gem, mineral, pebble, jewel, masonry, ore, boulder, crag, stoneworkExamples from the Web for stone
Contemporary Examples of stone
My body used for his hard pleasure; a stone god gripping me in his hands.
“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.
Woods were shredded, the earth trembled and the ground exploded in showers of stone and red-hot metal splinters.
Historical Examples of stone
We talked of progress; but progress, like the philosopher's stone, could not be easily attained.
Explorations in AustraliaJohn Forrest
Soon a stone flew against the door—then another— and bang, bang!
Harriet, The Moses of Her PeopleSarah H. Bradford
In the grass there can still be seen the stone to which the bull-ring was secured.
Yorkshire Painted And DescribedGordon Home
As to the stone, it glanced off obliquely and fell midway between the vessels.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
What are these bits of stone, and of wood, and rusted nails, which are set out in front of him?
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
stone
- 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
- (in combination) completelystone-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
Word Origin for stone
Stone
- 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)
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.
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
(stōn)- calculus
stone
- 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.
- See calculus.
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