Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Granite
Gran′ite
(grăn′ĭt)
, Noun.
[It.
granito
granite, adj., grainy, p. p. of granire
to make grainy, fr. L. granum
grain; cf. F. granit
. See Grain
.] (Geol.)
A crystalline, granular rock, consisting of quartz, feldspar, and mica, and usually of a whitish, grayish, or flesh-red color. It differs from gneiss in not having the mica in planes, and therefore in being destitute of a schistose structure.
Gneissoid granite
, granite in which the mica has traces of a regular arrangement.
– Graphic granite
, granite consisting of quartz and feldspar without mica, and having the quartz crystals so arranged in the transverse section like oriental characters.
– Porphyritic granite
, granite containing feldspar in distinct crystals.
– Hornblende granite
, or Syenitic granite
, granite containing hornblende as well as mica, or, according to some authorities hornblende replacing the mica.
– Granite ware
. (a)
A kind of stoneware.
(b)
A Kind of ironware, coated with an enamel resembling granite.
Definition 2024
Granite
granite
granite
English
Noun
granite (countable and uncountable, plural granites)
- (petrology) A group of igneous and plutonic rocks composed primarily of feldspar and quartz. Usually contains one or more dark minerals, which may be mica, pyroxene, or amphibole. Granite is quarried for building stone, road gravel, decorative stone, and tombstones. Common colors are gray, white, pink, and yellow-brown.
- (uncountable, figuratively) Toughness; the quality of having a thick skin or being rough.
- 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 18, in The China Governess:
- ‘Then the father has a great fight with his terrible conscience,’ said Munday with granite seriousness. ‘Should he make a row with the police […]? Or should he say nothing about it and condone brutality for fear of appearing in the newspapers?
- 2012 May 27, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club:
- The neighbor is eventually able to sell her home despite Homer’s pants-less affronts to propriety and decency and Bart falls deeply and instantly for one of its new inhabitants, a tough but charming and funny tomboy girl named Laura (voiced by Sara Gilbert) with just the right combination of toughness and sweetness, granite and honey.
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Derived terms
Terms derived from granite
Hyponyms
- (rock): syenite
Translations
type of rock
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