thunderstone
Americannoun
-
any of various stones or fossils formerly thought to be fallen thunderbolts.
-
Archaic. a thunderbolt or flash of lightning.
noun
-
a long tapering stone, fossil, or similar object, formerly thought to be a thunderbolt
-
an archaic word for thunderbolt
Etymology
Origin of thunderstone
First recorded in 1590–1600; thunder ( def. ) + stone ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
I knew not how time passed till the thunderstone had struck the temple, and a pain stung me through the heart.
From Appearances Being Notes of Travel by Dickinson, G. Lowes (Goldsworthy Lowes)
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
Meunier tells of another "thunderstone" said to have fallen in North Africa.
From The Book of the Damned by Fort, Charles
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
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
