whinstone

[ hwin-stohn, win- ]

/ ˈʰwɪnˌstoʊn, ˈwɪn- /

noun

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

Nearby words

Origin of whinstone

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for whinstone

You see I know too much, and I haven't your whinstone nerve and total lack of imagination.'
Prester John|John Buchan
The roof was formed of large flat slabs, which I was told were whinstone (basalt).
Ulster Folklore|Elizabeth Andrews
The result was an intermediate substance, neither glass nor whinstone—a sort of slag.
An Introduction to the History of Science|Walter Libby
It consisted of an elevated tableland composed of ironstone and granite occasionally traversed by veins of whinstone.
Journals Of Two Expeditions Of Discovery In North-West And Western Australia, Vol. 1 (of 2)|George Grey

It is of whinstone, and "appears not to have had the chisel, or any inscription upon it."
Archaeological Essays, Vol. 1|James Y. Simpson

British Dictionary definitions for whinstone

whinstone

/ (ˈwɪnˌstəʊn) /

noun

any dark hard fine-grained rock, such as basalt

Word Origin for whinstone

C16: from whin ² + stone

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012