Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Marble
Mar′ble
(mär′b’l)
, Noun.
[OE.
marbel
, marbre
, F. marbre
, L. marmor
, fr. Gr. μάρμαρος
, fr. μαρμαίρειν
to sparkle, flash. Cf. Marmoreal
.] 1.
A massive, compact limestone; a variety of calcite, capable of being polished and used for architectural and ornamental purposes. The color varies from white to black, being sometimes yellow, red, and green, and frequently beautifully veined or clouded. The name is also given to other rocks of like use and appearance, as serpentine or verd antique marble, and less properly to polished porphyry, granite, etc.
☞
Breccia marble
consists of limestone fragments cemented together. – Ruin marble
, when polished, shows forms resembling ruins, due to disseminated iron oxide. – Shell marble
contains fossil shells. – Statuary marble
is a pure, white, fine-grained kind, including Parian (from Paros) and Carrara marble. If coarsely granular it is called saccharoidal. 2.
A thing made of, or resembling, marble, as a work of art, or record, in marble; or, in the plural, a collection of such works;
as, the Arundel or Arundelian
marbles
; the Elgin marbles
.3.
A little ball of glass, marble, porcelain, or of some other hard substance, used as a plaything by children; or, in the plural, a child’s game played with marbles.
☞ Marble is also much used in self-explaining compounds; when used figuratively in compounds it commonly means, hard, cold, destitute of compassion or feeling; as, marble-breasted, marble-faced, marble-hearted.
Mar′ble
,Adj.
1.
Made of, or resembling, marble;
as, a
marble
mantel; marble
paper.2.
Cold; hard; unfeeling;
as, a
. marble
breast or heartMar′ble
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Marbled
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Marbling
.] To stain or vein like marble; to variegate in color;
as, to
. marble
the edges of a book, or the surface of paperWebster 1828 Edition
Marble
M`ARBLE
,Noun.
1.
The popular name of any species of calcarious stone or mineral, of a compact texture, and of a beautiful appearance, susceptible of a good polish. The varieties are numerous, and greatly diversified in color. Marble is limestone, or a stone which may be calcined to lime, a carbonate of lime; but limestone is a more general name, comprehending the calcarious stones of an inferior texture, as well as those which admit a fine polish. Marble is much used for statues, busts, pillars, chimney pieces, monuments, &c.2.
A little ball of marble or other stone,used by children in play.3.
A stone remarkable for some inscription or sculpture.Arundel marbles,
Arundelian marbles, marble pieces with a chronicle of the city of Athens inscribed on them; presented to the university of Oxford, by Thomas, earl of Arundel.
M`ARBLE
,Adj.
Definition 2024
marble
marble
English
Marble (mineral).
Marbles (children's toy).
Noun
marble (countable and uncountable, plural marbles)
- (uncountable) A rock of crystalline limestone.
- 1751, Thomas Morell (librettist), Jephtha:
- Open thy marble jaws, O tomb / And hide me, earth, in thy dark womb.
- 1751, Thomas Morell (librettist), Jephtha:
- (countable) A small spherical ball of rock, glass, ceramic or metal used in children's games.
Derived terms
terms derived from marble (noun)
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Translations
crystalline limestone
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spherical ball
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Verb
marble (third-person singular simple present marbles, present participle marbling, simple past and past participle marbled)
- (transitive) To cause (something to have) the streaked or swirled appearance of certain types of marble, for example by mixing viscous ingredients incompletely, or by applying paint or other colorants unevenly.
- 1774, William Hutchinson, An excursion to the lakes in Westmoreland and Cumberland, August, 1773, page 29:
- The small clouds which chequered the sky, as they passed along, spread their flitting shadows on the distant mountains, and seemed to marble them; a beauty which I do not recollect has struck any painter.
- 1899, Thirteenth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor, volume 1, page 106:
- In the operation of marbling the edges of the books, [...]
- 1774, William Hutchinson, An excursion to the lakes in Westmoreland and Cumberland, August, 1773, page 29:
- (intransitive) To get or have the streaked or swirled appearance of certain types of marble, for example due to the incomplete mixing of viscous ingredients, or the uneven application of paint or other colorants.
- 2007, Alicia Grosso, The Everything Soapmaking Book: Recipes and Techniques, page 125:
- Scent the entire batch and then color half with the blue colorant. Pour both parts back into your soap pot. Do not stir. Pour in a circular motion into a block mold. The pouring action will cause the soap to marble.
- 2007, Alicia Grosso, The Everything Soapmaking Book: Recipes and Techniques, page 125:
- (transitive) To cause meat, usually beef, pork, or lamb, to be interlaced with fat so that its appearance resembles that of marble.
- 1848, Samuel D. Martin, in a letter to the Albany Cultivator, quoted in the Fourteenth Annual Report of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture (for the year 1859; published 1860), page 157:
- Their flesh is soft (tender), and they throw a portion of their fat among the lean so as to marble it. The beef is of a better quality and they take on fat much easier.
- 1904, Annual Report of the Wisconsin State Board of Agriculture for the year 1903, page 309:
- The Merino sheep is likely to put his weight largely into tallow around the stomach, intestines and on his kidneys, instead of mixing fairly with the meat, instead of marbling the meat.
- 2004, Mary Ellen Snodgrass, Encyclopedia of kitchen history, page 684:
- Either by forcing the lardoon out with a plunger, by pushing it with a knife point, or by trailing it behind the needle, the cook artificially marbles the meat. For French cooks intent on larding, traditionally, the choice fat was the lard gras (pork fat).
- 1848, Samuel D. Martin, in a letter to the Albany Cultivator, quoted in the Fourteenth Annual Report of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture (for the year 1859; published 1860), page 157:
- (intransitive, of meat, especially beef) To become interlaced with fat; (of fat) to interlace through meat.
- 1972, Sondra Gotlieb, The Gourmet’s Canada, page 129:
- The exercising of the cattle causes the fat to marble right through the animal — and much of the flavour is found in the fat.
- 1999, Kathleen Jo Ryan, Deep in the heart of Texas: Texas ranchers in their own words, page 99:
- We've gone mostly to black bulls — Angus bulls because today the packers like black cattle. They seem to marble better.
- 1974, Rising cost of meat: hearings before the Subcommittee on Domestic Marketing and Consumer Relations:
- As we feed these cattle corn their meat marbles. By marbling, I mean the red meat cells are surrounded with fat
- 1978, Theodore Carroll Byerly, The role of ruminants in support of man:
- ... claims probably stem from people having eaten beef from older, thinner animals which had rarely had enough excess energy in their diet to cause the meat to marble.
- 1972, Sondra Gotlieb, The Gourmet’s Canada, page 129:
- (by extension, figuratively) To lace or be laced throughout.
- 1993, Susan Napier, Winter of Dreams, page 52:
- Was he the reason for the bitterness that seemed to marble her character?
- 1993, Susan Napier, Winter of Dreams, page 52:
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
to cause to have the streaked appearance of marble
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to get the streaked appearance of marble
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to cause meat to be interlaced with fat
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to become interlaced with fat
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Related terms
Adjective
marble (comparative more marble, superlative most marble)
- Made of, or resembling, marble.
- a marble mantel; marble paper
- (figuratively) Cold; hard; unfeeling.
- a marble heart
