whinstone

American  

[hwin-stohn, win-] / ˈʰwɪnˌstoʊn, ˈwɪn- /

noun

1. Chiefly British. any of the dark-colored, fine-grained rocks, especially igneous rocks, as dolerite and basalt.

---

whinstone British  

/ ˈwɪnˌstəʊn /

noun

1. any dark hard fine-grained rock, such as basalt

---

Etymology

Origin of whinstone

1505–15; dial. ( Scots and N England) whin whinstone ( Middle English quin < ?) + stone

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

whinstone

Made of Scottish whinstone, the lecterns were commissioned by the Guardians of Scotland Trust, set up in 2011 to mark the equal contribution made by Wallace and de Moray in the Wars of Scottish Independence.

From BBC ● May 29, 2015

The rock is of trap, greenstone, or whinstone, which miners call iron-stone and Cornishmen 'blue elvan:' this diorite, composed of felspar and the hardest hornblende, contains granular iron and pyrites like silver.

From To The Gold Coast for Gold, Vol. II A Personal Narrative by Sir Richard Francis Burton

It was, like the rest of these desolate isles, all of dark whinstone, cracked in every direction, and worn with the action of winds, waves, and tempests since the world began.

From Man on the Ocean A Book about Boats and Ships by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne

Then I took down my father's sword from its deer-horn brackets over the chimney-piece, and set myself to fine its edge and point with a bit of Scotch whinstone.

From The Master of Appleby A Novel Tale Concerning Itself in Part with the Great Struggle in the Two Carolinas; but Chiefly with the Adventures Therein of Two Gentlemen Who Loved One and the Same Lady by Francis Lynde

The stones and rocks were generally hard whinstone, or freestone, the former in large masses; the beach, of pebbles of all colours and kinds, from quartz to sandstone.

From Journals of Two Expeditions into the Interior of New South Wales by John Oxley

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---