Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Stone

Stone

,
Noun.
[OE.
ston
,
stan
, AS.
stān
; akin to OS. & OFries.
stēn
, D.
steen
, G.
stein
, Icel.
steinn
, Sw.
sten
, Dan.
steen
, Goth.
stains
, Russ.
stiena
a wall, Gr. [GREEK], [GREEK], a pebble. √167. Cf.
Steen
.]
1.
Concreted earthy or mineral matter; also, any particular mass of such matter;
as, a house built of
stone
; the boy threw a
stone
; pebbles are rounded
stones
.
“Dumb as a stone.”
Chaucer.
They had brick for
stone
, and slime . . . for mortar.
Gen. xi. 3.
☞ In popular language, very large masses of stone are called rocks; small masses are called stones; and the finer kinds, gravel, or sand, or grains of sand. Stone is much and widely used in the construction of buildings of all kinds, for walls, fences, piers, abutments, arches, monuments, sculpture, and the like.
2.
A precious stone; a gem.
“Many a rich stone.”
Chaucer.
“Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels.”
Shak.
3.
Something made of stone. Specifically: -
(a)
The glass of a mirror; a mirror.
[Obs.]
Lend me a looking-glass;
If that her breath will mist or stain the
stone
,
Why, then she lives.
Shakespeare
(b)
A monument to the dead; a gravestone.
Gray.
Should some relenting eye
Glance on the where our cold relics lie.
Pope.
4.
(Med.)
A calculous concretion, especially one in the kidneys or bladder; the disease arising from a calculus.
5.
One of the testes; a testicle.
Shak.
6.
(Bot.)
The hard endocarp of drupes;
as, the
stone
of a cherry or peach
. See Illust. of
Endocarp
.
7.
A weight which legally is fourteen pounds, but in practice varies with the article weighed.
[Eng.]
☞ The stone of butchers’ meat or fish is reckoned at 8 lbs.; of cheese, 16 lbs.; of hemp, 32 lbs.; of glass, 5 lbs.
8.
Fig.: Symbol of hardness and insensibility; torpidness; insensibility;
as, a heart of
stone
.
I have not yet forgot myself to
stone
.
Pope.
9.
(Print.)
A stand or table with a smooth, flat top of stone, commonly marble, on which to arrange the pages of a book, newspaper, etc., before printing; – called also
imposing stone
.
☞ Stone is used adjectively or in composition with other words to denote made of stone, containing a stone or stones, employed on stone, or, more generally, of or pertaining to stone or stones; as, stone fruit, or stone-fruit; stone-hammer, or stone hammer; stone falcon, or stone-falcon. Compounded with some adjectives it denotes a degree of the quality expressed by the adjective equal to that possessed by a stone; as, stone-dead, stone-blind, stone-cold, stone-still, etc.
Atlantic stone
,
ivory.
[Obs.]
“Citron tables, or Atlantic stone.”
Milton.
–
Bowing stone
.
Same as
Cromlech
.
Encyc. Brit.
–
Meteoric stones
,
stones which fall from the atmosphere, as after the explosion of a meteor.
–
Philosopher's stone
.
See under
Philosopher
.
–
Rocking stone
.
See
Rocking-stone
.
–
Stone age
,
a supposed prehistoric age of the world when stone and bone were habitually used as the materials for weapons and tools; – called also
flint age
. The
bronze age
succeeded to this.
–
Stone bass
(Zool.)
,
any one of several species of marine food fishes of the genus
Serranus
and allied genera, as
Serranus Couchii
, and
Polyprion cernium
of Europe; – called also
sea perch
.
–
Stone biter
(Zool.)
,
the wolf fish.
–
Stone boiling
,
a method of boiling water or milk by dropping hot stones into it, – in use among savages.
Tylor.
–
Stone borer
(Zool.)
,
any animal that bores stones; especially, one of certain bivalve mollusks which burrow in limestone. See
Lithodomus
, and
Saxicava
.
–
Stone bramble
(Bot.)
,
a European trailing species of bramble (
Rubus saxatilis
).
–
Stone-break
.
[Cf. G.
steinbrech
.]
(Bot.)
Any plant of the genus
Saxifraga
; saxifrage.
–
Stone bruise
,
a sore spot on the bottom of the foot, from a bruise by a stone.
–
Stone canal
.
(Zool.)
Same as
Sand canal
, under
Sand
.
–
Stone cat
(Zool.)
,
any one of several species of small fresh-water North American catfishes of the genus
Noturus
. They have sharp pectoral spines with which they inflict painful wounds.
–
Stone coal
,
hard coal; mineral coal; anthracite coal.
–
Stone coral
(Zool.)
,
any hard calcareous coral.
–
Stone crab
.
(Zool.)
(a)
A large crab (
Menippe mercenaria
) found on the southern coast of the United States and much used as food.
(b)
A European spider crab (
Lithodes maia
)
.
Stone crawfish
(Zool.)
,
a European crawfish (
Astacus torrentium
), by many writers considered only a variety of the common species (
Astacus fluviatilis
).
–
Stone curlew
.
(Zool.)
(a)
A large plover found in Europe (
Edicnemus crepitans
). It frequents stony places. Called also
thick-kneed plover
or
bustard
, and
thick-knee
.
(b)
The whimbrel
.
[Prov. Eng.]
(c)
The willet.
[Local, U.S.]
–
Stone crush
.
Same as
Stone bruise
, above.
–
Stone eater
.
(Zool.)
Same as
Stone borer
, above.
–
Stone falcon
(Zool.)
,
the merlin.
–
Stone fern
(Bot.)
,
a European fern (
Asplenium Ceterach
) which grows on rocks and walls.
–
Stone fly
(Zool.)
,
any one of many species of pseudoneuropterous insects of the genus
Perla
and allied genera; a perlid. They are often used by anglers for bait. The larvae are aquatic.
–
Stone fruit
(Bot.)
,
any fruit with a stony endocarp; a drupe, as a peach, plum, or cherry.
–
Stone grig
(Zool.)
,
the mud lamprey, or pride.
–
Stone hammer
,
a hammer formed with a face at one end, and a thick, blunt edge, parallel with the handle, at the other, – used for breaking stone.
–
Stone hawk
(Zool.)
,
the merlin; – so called from its habit of sitting on bare stones.
–
Stone jar
,
a jar made of stoneware.
–
Stone lily
(Paleon.)
,
a fossil crinoid.
–
Stone lugger
.
(Zool.)
See
Stone roller
, below.
–
Stone marten
(Zool.)
,
a European marten (
Mustela foina
) allied to the pine marten, but having a white throat; – called also
beech marten
.
–
Stone mason
,
a mason who works or builds in stone.
–
Stone-mortar
(Mil.)
,
a kind of large mortar formerly used in sieges for throwing a mass of small stones short distances.
–
Stone oil
,
rock oil, petroleum.
–
Stone parsley
(Bot.)
,
an umbelliferous plant (
Seseli Labanotis
). See under
Parsley
.
–
Stone pine
.
(Bot.)
A nut pine. See the Note under
Pine
, and
Piñon
.
–
Stone pit
,
a quarry where stones are dug.
–
Stone pitch
,
hard, inspissated pitch.
–
Stone plover
.
(Zool.)
(a)
The European stone curlew
.
(b)
Any one of several species of Asiatic plovers of the genus
Esacus
;
as, the large
stone plover
(
Esacus recurvirostris
)
.
(c)
The gray or black-bellied plover
.
[Prov. Eng.]
(d)
The ringed plover.
(e)
The bar-tailed godwit.
[Prov. Eng.]
Also applied to other species of limicoline birds.
–
Stone roller
.
(Zool.)
(a)
An American fresh-water fish (
Catostomus nigricans
) of the Sucker family. Its color is yellowish olive, often with dark blotches. Called also
stone lugger
,
stone toter
,
hog sucker
,
hog mullet
.
(b)
A common American cyprinoid fish (
Campostoma anomalum
); – called also
stone lugger
.
–
Stone's cast
, or
Stone's throw
,
the distance to which a stone may be thrown by the hand;
as, they live a
stone's throw
from each other
.
–
Stone snipe
(Zool.)
,
the greater yellowlegs, or tattler.
[Local, U.S.]
–
Stone toter
.
(Zool.)
(a)
See
Stone roller
(a)
, above
.
(b)
A cyprinoid fish (
Exoglossum maxillingua
) found in the rivers from
Virginia
to
New York
. It has a three-lobed lower lip; – called also
cutlips
.
–
To leave no stone unturned
,
to do everything that can be done; to use all practicable means to effect an object.

Stone

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Stoned
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Stoning
.]
[From
Stone
,
Noun.
: cf. AS.
st[GREEK]nan
, Goth.
stainjan
.]
1.
To pelt, beat, or kill with stones.
And they
stoned
Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Acts vii. 59.
2.
To make like stone; to harden.
O perjured woman! thou dost
stone
my heart.
Shakespeare
3.
To free from stones; also, to remove the seeds of;
as, to
stone
a field; to
stone
cherries; to
stone
raisins
.
4.
To wall or face with stones; to line or fortify with stones;
as, to
stone
a well; to
stone
a cellar
.
5.
To rub, scour, or sharpen with a stone.

Webster 1828 Edition

Stone

STONE

,
Noun.
[Gr.]
1.
A concretion of some species of earth, as lime, silex, clay and the like, usually in combination with some species of air or gas, with sulphur or with a metallic substance; a hard compact body, of any form and size. In popular language, very large masses of concretions are called rocks; and very small concretions are universally called gravel or sand, or grains of sand. Stones are of various degrees of hardness and weight; they are brittle and fusible, but not malleable, ductile, or soluble in water. Stones are of great and extensive use int he construction of buildings of all kinds, for walls, fences, piers, abutments, arches, monuments, sculpture and the like. When we speak of the substance generally, we use stone in the singular; as a house or wall of stone. But when we speak of particular separate masses, we say, a stone, or the stones.
2.
A gem; a precious stone.
Inestimable stones, unvalud jewels.
3.
Any thing made of stone; a mirror.
4.
A calculous concretion in the kidneys or bladder; the disease arising from a calculus.
5.
A testicle.
6.
The nut of a drupe or stone fruit; or the hard covering inclosing the kernel, and itself inclosed by the pulpy pericarp.
7.
In Great Britain, the weight of fourteen pounds. [8, 12, 14, or 16.] [Not used in the United States, except in reference to the riders of horses in races.]
8.
A monument erected to preserve the memory of the dead.
Should some relentless eye glance on the stone where our cold relics lie--
9.
It is used to express torpidness and insensibility; as a heart of stone.
I have not yet forgot myself to stone.
10.
Stone is prefixed to some words to qualify their signification. Thus stone-dead, is perfectly dead, as lifeless as a stone; stone-still, still as a stone, perfectly still; stone-blind, blind as a stone, perfectly blind.
To leave no stone unturned, a proverbial expression which signifies to do every thing that can be done; to use all practicable means to effect an object.
Meteoric stones, stones which fall from the atmosphere, as after the displosion of a meteor.
Philosophers stone, a pretended substance that was formerly supposed to have the property of turning any other substance into gold.

STONE

,
Adj.
Made of stone, or like stone; as a stone jug.

STONE

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To pelt, beat or kill with stones.
And they stoned Stephen calling on God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Acts 7.
2.
To harden.
O perjurd woman, thou dost stone my heart. [Little used.]
3.
To free from stones; as, to stone raisins.
4.
To wall or face with stones; to line or fortify with stones; as, to stone a well; to stone a cellar.

Definition 2024

Stone

Stone

See also: stone

English

Proper noun

Stone

  1. A surname​.

stone

stone

See also: Stone

English

Stones.

Noun

stone ‎(countable and uncountable, plural stones or stone) (see usage notes)

  1. (uncountable) A hard earthen substance that can form large rocks.
    • 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:
      The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight. Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll.
  2. A small piece of stone, a pebble.
  3. A gemstone, a jewel, especially a diamond.
    • Shakespeare
      inestimable stones, unvalued jewels
  4. (Britain, plural: stone) A unit of mass equal to 14 pounds. Used to measure the weights of people, animals, cheese, wool, etc. 1 stone ≈ 6.3503 kilograms
    • 1843, The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, page 202:
      Seven pounds make a clove, 2 cloves a stone, 2 stone a tod, 6 1/2 tods a wey, 2 weys a sack, 12 sacks a last. [...] It is to be observed here that a sack is 13 tods, and a tod 28 pounds, so that the sack is 364 pounds.
    • 1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 4, page 209:
      Generally, however, the stone or petra, almost always of 14 lbs., is used, the tod of 28 lbs., and the sack of thirteen stones.
  5. (botany) The central part of some fruits, particularly drupes; consisting of the seed and a hard endocarp layer.
    a peach stone‎
  6. (medicine) A hard, stone-like deposit.
    kidney stone‎
  7. (board games) A playing piece made of any hard material, used in various board games such as backgammon, and go.
  8. A dull light grey or beige, like that of some stones.
    stone colour:    
  9. (curling) A 42-pound, precisely shaped piece of granite with a handle attached, which is bowled down the ice.
  10. A monument to the dead; a gravestone or tombstone.
    • Alexander Pope
      Should some relenting eye / Glance on the stone where our cold relics lie.
    • Zayn Malik
      Seems to me that when I die these words will be written on my stone
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Gray to this entry?)
  11. (obsolete) A mirror, or its glass.
    • Shakespeare
      Lend me a looking-glass; / If that her breath will mist or stain the stone, / Why, then she lives.
  12. (obsolete) A testicle.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
    • 1750, W[illiam] Ellis, The Country Housewife's Family Companion: Or Profitable Directions for Whatever Relates to the Management and Good Œconomy of the Domestick Concerns of a Country Life, According to the Present Practice of the Country Gentleman's, the Yeoman's, the Farmer's, &c. Wives, in the Counties of Hertford, Bucks, and Other Parts of England: Shewing how Great Savings may be Made in Housekeeping: [...] With Variety of Curious Matters [...] The Whole Founded on Near Thirty Years Experience, London: Printed for James Hodges, at the Looking-glass, facing St. Magnus Church, London-Bridge; and B. Collins, bookseller, at Salisbury, OCLC 837728611, page 157:
      To make Capons […] [S]ome for this Purpoſe make it their Buſineſs after Harveſt-time to go to Markets for buying up Chickens, and between Michaelmas and All-hollantide caponize the Cocks, when they have got large enough to have Stones of ſuch a Bigneſs that they may be pulled out; for if they are too little, it can't be done; […] [M]aking a Cut here big enough to put her Finger in, which ſhe thruſts under the Guts, and with it rakes or tears out the Stone that lies neareſt to it. This done, ſhe performs the very ſame Operation on the other Side of the Cock's Body, and there takes out the other Stone; then ſhe ſtitches up the Wounds, and lets the Fowl go about as at other Times, till the Capon is fatted in a Coup, which is commonly done from Chriſtmas to Candlemas, and after.
  13. (dated, printing) A stand or table with a smooth, flat top of stone, commonly marble, on which to arrange the pages of a book, newspaper, etc. before printing; also called imposing stone.

Usage notes

All countable senses use the plural stones except the British unit of mass, which uses the invariant plural stone.

Synonyms

Translations

Verb

stone ‎(third-person singular simple present stones, present participle stoning, simple past and past participle stoned)

  1. (transitive) To pelt with stones, especially to kill by pelting with stones.
    She got stoned to death after they found her.
  2. (transitive) To remove a stone from (fruit etc.).
  3. (intransitive) To form a stone during growth, with reference to fruit etc.
  4. (transitive, slang) To intoxicate, especially with narcotics. (Usually in passive)
  5. (intransitive, Singapore, slang) To do nothing, to stare blankly into space and not pay attention when relaxing or when bored.
    • 2003, Roger, Joy, Vera and Amanda Loh, Facts about Singapore: Differences between Ohio and Singapore:
      I was stoning the whole of today.
    • 2011 November 2, Shermaine Ong, (Please provide the title of the work):
      Resume writing class lesson 2, stoning.
    • 2015 April 8, Becky Osawa, Trekking with Becky: Stoning at the Marina Barrage, Singapore:
      The Marina Barrage is a reservoir, but everyone goes there because the spacious greenery at the top is the perfect place for stoning, which is Singlish for hanging out and chilling.

Synonyms

Translations

Adjective

stone ‎(not comparable)

  1. Constructed of stone.
    stone walls
  2. Having the appearance of stone.
    stone pot
  3. Of a dull light grey or beige, like that of some stones.
  4. (African American Vernacular) Used as an intensifier.
    She is one stone fox.
    • 1994, Born Bad: Stories:
      Yeah, he's a stone ****–up. But he's stand–up, too, don't forget that.
    • 1999, Mercedes Lackey, Larry Dixon, The Chrome Borne:
      If travel was this difficult, it was going to make escaping a stone bitch.
    • 2001, Andrew H. Vachss, Pain Management:
      “And I got the best metal man in the business going for me, too.” “This job's going to be a stone ****,” Flacco said
    • 2004, K'Wan Foye, Street dreams, page 175:
      The man who had broken up their little party was a stone gangsta.
    • 2007, David Housewright, Dead Boyfriends, page 178:
      Back then most men would have described you as being a stone babe.
    • 2007, J. D. Robb, Born In Death:
      Her widower father married my stone bitch of a mother when I was about fourteen.
    • 2008, A. James, St. Martin's Academy: The Gifted Rule, page 64:
      “Well, Bradley Wreede told Moiré George who told Julia Nickols who told Katie Kimber who told that big stone dude who told...."
    • 2009, John Lutz, Night Victims, page 307:
      He might be a stone killer who simply doesn't care if his victim's alive or dead at the time of disfigurement.
  5. (LGBT) Willing to give sexual pleasure but not to receive it.
    stone butch; stone femme

Synonyms

  • (constructed of stone): stonen

Translations

Adverb

stone ‎(not comparable)

  1. As a stone (used with following adjective).
    My father is stone deaf. This soup is stone cold.
  2. (slang) Absolutely, completely (used with following adjectives).
    I went stone crazy after she left.
    I said the medication made my vision temporarily blurry, it did not make me stone blind.
  3. (slang) Ruthless, (used before the noun).
    He is a murderer. a pure stone killer.

Translations

Derived terms

Related terms

See also

  • Appendix:Colors

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: seven · notice · week · #779: stone · tree · cost · value

Anagrams

French

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ston/

Adjective

stone m, f ‎(plural stones)

  1. stoned (high on drugs)

Etymology

From Middle English stan, ston, from Old English stān, from Proto-Germanic *stainaz (compare Dutch steen, German Stein), from Proto-Indo-European *st(y)oy- (compare Latin stiria ‎(“icicle”), Russian стена́ ‎(stená, “wall”), Ancient Greek στῖον ‎(stîon, “pebble”), στέαρ ‎(stéar, “tallow”), Persian ستون ‎(sotun, “pillar”), Albanian shtëng ‎(“hardened or pressed matter”), Sanskrit स्त्यायते ‎(styāyate, “it hardens”)).

Pronunciation

Similar Results