stone
noun
the hard substance, formed of mineral matter, of which rocks consist.
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stone
1 American
[stohn]
/ stoʊn /
noun
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stones,
plural
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stone
plural
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the hard substance, formed of mineral matter, of which rocks consist.
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a rock or particular piece or kind of rock, as a boulder or piece of agate.
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a piece of rock quarried and worked into a specific size and shape for a particular purpose: building stone.
paving stone;
building stone.
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a small piece of rock, as a pebble.
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Chiefly British. one of various units of weight, especially the British unit equivalent to 14 pounds (6.4 kilograms).
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something resembling a small piece of rock in size, shape, or hardness.
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any small, hard seed, as of a date; pit.
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Botany. the hard endocarp of a drupe, as of a peach.
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Pathology. a calculous concretion in the body, as in the kidney, gallbladder, or urinary bladder.
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a gravestone or tombstone.
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Don’t even think about using that stone until you’ve got your safety glasses on.
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The gristmill’s original pair of stones were made from volcanic lava deposits in southern Italy.
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With many verified reports of stones as large as 6 inches in diameter, we can tell you this was no ordinary hailstorm.
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Friction between the stone and the surface of the ice is controlled by many parameters, including velocity.
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Building Trades. any of various artificial materials imitating cut stone or rubble.
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Printing. a table with a smooth surface, formerly made of stone, on which page forms are composed.
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(in lithography) any surface on which an artist draws or etches a picture or design from which a lithograph is made.
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a playing piece in the game of dominoes, checkers, or backgammon.
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Slang: Vulgar. Usually stones testes.
adjective
adverb
verb (used with object)
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stones,
present (3rd person singular)
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stoned,
past participle, past
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stoning
present participle
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to throw stones at; drive by pelting with stones.
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to put to death by pelting with stones.
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to provide, fit, pave, line, face or fortify with stones.
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to rub (something) with or on a stone, as to sharpen, polish, or smooth.
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to remove stones from, as fruit.
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Obsolete. to make insensitive or unfeeling.
idioms
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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?
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set in stone, to put (something) in final form; finalize so as to prevent change or reversal: Also set / cast in concrete
These schematics for the library renovation are only proposals—nothing yet is set in stone.
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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.
Stone
2
American
[stohn]
/ stoʊn /
noun
-
Edward Durell 1902–78, U.S. architect.
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Harlan Fiske 1872–1946, U.S. jurist: chief justice of the U.S. 1941–46.
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Irving, 1903–1989, U.S. author.
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I(sidor) F(einstein) Izzy, 1907–1989, U.S. political journalist.
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Lucy, 1818–93, U.S. suffragist (wife of Henry Brown Blackwell).
stone
1
British
/ stəʊn /
noun
-
the hard compact nonmetallic material of which rocks are made
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a small lump of rock; pebble
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jewellery short for gemstone
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a piece of rock designed or shaped for some particular purpose
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( in combination )
gravestone
millstone
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-
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something that resembles a stone
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( in combination )
hailstone
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the woody central part of such fruits as the peach and plum, that contains the seed; endocarp
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any similar hard part of a fruit, such as the stony seed of a date
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a unit of weight, used esp to express human body weight, equal to 14 pounds or 6.350 kilograms
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Also called: granite. the rounded heavy mass of granite or iron used in the game of curling
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pathol a nontechnical name for calculus
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printing a table with a very flat iron or stone surface upon which hot-metal pages are composed into formes; imposition table
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rare (in certain games) a piece or man
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any of various dull grey colours
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( as adjective )
stone paint
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(modifier) relating to or made of stone
a stone house
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(modifier) made of stoneware
a stone jar
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cast aspersions upon
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an obdurate or unemotional nature
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to do everything possible to achieve an end
adverb
verb
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to throw stones at, esp to kill
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to remove the stones from
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to furnish or provide with stones
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slang an expression of surprise, dismay, etc
Stone
2
British
/ stəʊn /
noun
-
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)
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Sharon. born 1958, US film actress: her films include Basic Instinct (1991), Casino (1995), and Cold Creek Manor (2003)
stone-
3
British
prefix
stone
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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stonelessnessnoun
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stonableadjective
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stoneableadjective
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stonelessadjective
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stonelikeadjective
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unstonableadjective
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unstoneableadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stonesimple
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stonessimple
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have stonedperfect
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has stonedperfect
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am stoningprogressive
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are stoningprogressive
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is stoningprogressive
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have been stoningperfect progressive
-
has been stoningperfect progressive
Past
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stonedsimple
-
had stonedperfect
-
was stoningprogressive
-
were stoningprogressive
-
had been stoningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stone
First recorded before 900; Middle English noun stan, sto(o)n, Old English stān; cognate with Dutch steen, German Stein, Old Norse steinn, Gothic stains; akin to Greek stī́a “pebble,” Latin stīria “icicle”; the verb, adjective, and adverb are derivative of the noun
Explanation
Another name for a stone, or hard mineral lump, is a rock. If you turn over a large stone in the forest, you might find a whole colony of worms, beetles, and other creepy-crawlies living underneath. Stones are commonly used to build walls and buildings. Sculptures are carved from stone, and patios and garden walls are constructed of individual stones. Someone who seems to have "turned to stone" becomes as unmoving and unemotional as a piece of rock. Sometimes a valuable gem is colloquially called a stone, and the hard pit in a plum or apricot is another kind of stone. A stone is also a unit of measuring weight in Britain—equal to 14 pounds.
Vocabulary lists containing stone
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.
See Examples For:
He then secured a position at Canterbury, where he honed his skills at cutting stone and came to appreciate the grand tradition of which he was now a part.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
"This a very sad and singular case," he said, adding the police had "left no stone unturned".
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
Hidden among the layers was another striking discovery: a standing stone measuring 28 cm high.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026
"The Moon is a kind of touchstone for us - and an important conceptual stepping stone on our way to Mercury."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 12, 2026
“Whatcha doing?” said a voice at my elbow, and I jumped so badly that my head cracked the stone ceiling of my bunk.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
For many wrestling fans growing up meant watching stars like The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin and John Cena on television.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
The set consisted of songs they had written themselves, including Stone Cold Crazy and Son and Daughter, as well as rock 'n' roll covers.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
She writes mostly about music and culture and has previously written for publications such as Rolling Stone, Interview, Paste and Out Magazine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
“Tran showed far more worry for his new car than he did for his passengers,” Stone wrote in the arbitration.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
Anyhow, we were sitting on the terrace of the Café Select, and Harvey Stone had just crossed the street.
From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
They come in stone- and black-coloured leather or tan suede.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 12, 2020
A digital transfer mired in grays and blues will muddy the sepia-seeping proceedings but not enough to appreciate the director’s vision of the stone- and iron-laden, antiquated era.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 10, 2015
Then stone- grind the kernels into masa, a light, slightly sticky paste with a distinct maize fragrance.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Telkies, swifts, nymphs, greenys, stone- skins—all of them terrible to watch.
From "Red Queen" by Victoria Aveyard
Flames leapt ten feet in the air from three huge stone- lined firepits.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
In a cyberwar, the United States has much bigger stones but much glassier houses.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
"Precious stones in jewellery, on the other hand, can be easily removed and sold further."
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
"The windows partially shattered, the stones from the track came into the carriage. It was really shocking. I'm still shaking."
From Barron's ● Sep. 12, 2026
"This tells us prehistoric people placed real importance on the landscape itself. It wasn't just about convenience -- the location the stones came from likely held meaning for them."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 9, 2026
His words drop from his lips like stones, their weight practically makes divots in the snow.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
Muslim faithful ritually stoned the devil on Wednesday in the climactic ceremony of a hajj pilgrimage held in intense heat and against the backdrop of a war that has plunged the wealthy Gulf into crisis.
From Barron's ● May 27, 2026
The first Sunday service after the arrests, streamed from pastors outside the mainland, included a meditation on the biblical account of Stephen, the first-century disciple stoned to death for his faith.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025
“I have been convicted and sacrificed and crucified and stoned without a trial and without the option to defend myself.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 4, 2025
The costumes are shining because the seamstress stoned them.
From Salon ● Jan. 8, 2025
The last rolling thunder of the avalanche stoned down about his ears, not touching him.
From "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury
McNish says virginity is a man-made myth created by those in power, in times that "also spoke positively of slavery and stoning".
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Jackson’s lottery stoning takes place on a sunny June day, in contrast to the apocalyptic storm’s nighttime arrival on “Widow’s Bay,” forcing everyone into an underground shelter.
From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2026
It reenacts the Prophet Abraham's stoning of the devil at three places where Satan is said to have tried to dissuade him from obeying God's command to sacrifice his son Ishmael.
From Barron's ● May 27, 2026
What’s funny about the inspiration is that I had a whole ’nother outfit planned, and with the help of a friend, she’s stoning some things for me, but that didn’t come through today.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2025
My mother left China in the winter of 1939, almost six months after the stoning, and arrived in New York Harbor in January, 1940.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
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.
