thunderstone

American  

[thuhn-der-stohn] / ˈθʌn dərˌstoʊn /

Or thunder-stone

noun

1. any of various stones or fossils formerly thought to be fallen thunderbolts.

2. Archaic. a thunderbolt or flash of lightning.

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thunderstone British  

/ ˈθʌndəˌstəʊn /

noun

1. a long tapering stone, fossil, or similar object, formerly thought to be a thunderbolt

2. an archaic word for thunderbolt

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Etymology

Origin of thunderstone

First recorded in 1590–1600; thunder ( def. ) + stone ( def. )

Example Sentences

In Notes and Queries, 2-8-92, a writer says that he had a "thunderstone," which he had brought from Jamaica.

From The Book of the Damned by Fort, Charles

He searched among the roots of this tree and found a "thunderstone."

From The Book of the Damned by Fort, Charles

The "thunderstone" is usually "a beautifully polished, wedge-shaped piece of greenstone," says a writer in the Cornhill Magazine, 50-517.

From The Book of the Damned by Fort, Charles

Meunier tells of another "thunderstone" said to have fallen in North Africa.

From The Book of the Damned by Fort, Charles

June 20, 1880, it was reported that a "thunderstone" had struck the house at 180 Oakley Street, Chelsea, falling down the chimney, into the kitchen grate.

From The Book of the Damned by Fort, Charles