stone
UK /stəʊ̯n/ · US /stoʊ̯n/ noun, adjective, adverb, verb, proper noun
Forms stones stoning stoned styen stean
- noun (uncountable, geology) A hard earthen substance that can form rocks; especially, such substance when regarded as a building material.
- noun (countable, geology) A piece of such material: a block of stone, rock or a pebble.
- noun A gemstone, a jewel, especially a diamond.
- noun (UK) A unit of weight equal to 14 pounds (≈6.3503 kilograms), formerly used for various commodities (wool, cheese, etc.), but now principally used for personal weight. Abbreviated as st. “British people measure their weight in stones and pounds. I weigh eight stone five.”
- noun (botany) The central part of some fruits, particularly drupes; consisting of the seed and a hard endocarp layer. “a peach stone”
- noun (medicine) A hard, stone-like deposit.
- noun (board games) A playing piece made of any hard material, used in various board games such as backgammon and go.
- noun A dull light grey or beige, like that of some stones.
- adjective Constructed of stone. “stone walls”
- adjective Having the appearance of stone. “stone pot”
- adjective Of a dull light grey or beige, like that of some stones.
- adjective (African-American Vernacular) Used as an intensifier. “She is one stone fox.”
- adjective (LGBTQ, slang) Willing to give sexual pleasure but not to receive it. “stone butch”
- adverb As a stone (used with following adjective). “My father is stone deaf. This soup is stone cold.”
- adverb (slang) Absolutely, completely (used with following adjectives). “I went stone crazy after she left.”
- verb (transitive) To pelt with stones; especially, to kill by pelting with stones. “stoned to death”
- verb (transitive) To wall or wall up with stones.
- verb (transitive) To remove a stone from (fruit etc.).
- verb (intransitive) To form a stone during growth, with reference to fruit etc.
- verb (transitive, slang) Especially of cannabis or narcotics: To intoxicate. (Usually in passive)
Synonyms
rock pebble petra pit seed pit pyrena pyrene pip calculus curling stone imposing stone hard stone-like deposit stonen lapidate stean destone chill chillax chill out hang out gem gemstone endocarp Harlan Stone Harlan F. Stone Harlan Fisk Stone Oliver Stone Lucy Stone I. F. Stone Isidor Feinstein Stone
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English ston, stone, stan, from Old English stān, from Proto-West Germanic *stain, from Proto-Germanic *stainaz (“stone”), from Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂- (“to stiffen”).
Cognate with Scots stane (“stone”), Yola sthoan (“stone”), North Frisian stean, stian, stiin, stiinj (“stone”), Saterland Frisian Steen (“stone”), West Frisian stien (“stone”), Alemannic German Steei (“rock, stone”), Bavarian Staa (“rock, stone”), Central Franconian Steen, Stään (“stone”), Dutch steen (“stone”), German Stein (“rock, stone”), German Low German Steen, Stein (“stone”), Luxembourgish Steen (“stone”), Vilamovian śtan (“stone”), Yiddish שטיין (shteyn, “stone”), Danish and Swedish sten (“stone”), Elfdalian stien (“stone”), Faroese steinur (“stone”), Gutnish stain (“rock, stone”), Icelandic steinn (“rock, stone”), Norwegian Bokmål stein, sten (“stone”), Norwegian Nynorsk steidn, stein (“stone”), Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 (stains, “stone”). Compare also Ancient Greek στία (stía, “pebble”), στέαρ (stéar, “tallow”), Lithuanian sténgti (“to be able, make an effort; to oppose”), Russian стена́ (stená, “wall”), Albanian shtëng (“hardened or pressed matter”), Sanskrit स्तिया (stiyā, “still or stagnant water”). Doublet of stain, stean, and stein.
From Middle English stonen, stanen, from Old English *stānian (“to stone”), from Proto-West Germanic *stainōn, from Proto-Germanic *stainōną (“to stone”).
Cognate with Scots stane (“to stone”), German Low German stenen (“to stone”), Danish stene (“to stone”), Swedish stena (“to stone”), Faroese steina (“to stone”). Compare also Saterland Frisian stenigje (“to stone”), West Frisian stiennigje (“to stone”), Dutch stenigen (“to stone”), German steinigen (“to stone”).
From stone. Doublet of Steen and Stein.
Webster’s 1913
- noun 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.
- noun A precious stone; a gem. "Many a rich stone." Chaucer.
- verb To pelt, beat, or kill with stones.
- verb To make like stone; to harden.
Etymology [OE. ston, stan, AS. stan; akin to OS. & OFries. sten, D. steen, G. stein, Icel. steinn, Sw. sten, Dan. steen, Goth. stains, Russ. stiena a wall, Gr. Steen.]
Etymology [From Stone, n.: cf. AS. st, Goth. stainjan.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “stone”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details