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

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)

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

The thunderstone, or thunderbolt, was supposed to have no power of harming any one who was asleep, or who wore laurel leaves.

From Bussy D'Ambois and The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois by Boas, Frederick S.

He describes the "thunderstone" as an "agglomeration of brick, soot, unburned coal, and cinder."

From The Book of the Damned by Fort, Charles