whinstonen.
/ˈwɪnstəʊn/, U.S. /ˈ(h)wɪnˌstoʊn/ a. A name for various very hard dark-coloured rocks or stones, as greenstone, basalt, chert, or quartzose sandstone.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > stone > [noun] > hard stone > whinstone
whina1400
whinstone1513
whin-rock1672
whimstone1822
whin-sill1839
1513 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid vii. Prol. 39 On raggit rolkis of hard harsk quhyne stane.
1763 W. Lewis Commercium Philosophico-technicum 441 The stone called whynn stone, with which some of the streets of London have been lately paved.
1791 T. Beddoes in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 81 65 Whether the basaltes proceeds southward..till it join the Elvin or whinstone, and granite of Devonshire and Cornwall.
1802 J. Playfair Illustr. Huttonian Theory 66 The strata are intersected by veins of whinstone, porphyry and granite.
1823 P. Nicholson New Pract. Builder 289 In Scotland, whole towns are built of whin-stone.
1879 G. MacDonald Sir Gibbie xxi Granite red and grey, blue whinstone, yellow ironstone, were all mingled.
b. A boulder or slab of this rock. Often used figuratively or allusively.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > [noun] > a rock > boulder > types of
whinstonea1585
Saracen's stone1644
grey wethers1660
sarsena1697
grey goose1816
Moeraki boulder1879
a1585 A. Montgomerie Flyting with Polwart 744 Except I wer to force the with quhin staneis.
1803 Gazetteer Scotl. at Girvan The coast is generally flat and sandy, interspersed with large whinstones, with which most of the houses are built.
1816 W. Scott Black Dwarf x, in Tales of my Landlord 1st Ser. I. 220 The despair he felt..was..such as would have melted the heart of a whinstane.
1827 W. Scott Jrnl. 15 Aug. (1941) 90 You might have been as well employd in buttering a whin-stone.
1865 G. MacDonald Alec Forbes I. xiv. 107 He's a blue whunstane that's hard to dress.
1899 S. R. Crockett Kit Kennedy xlvi An old man..that you told me was breaking whin-stones on the roadside.
Compounds
attributive. Pertaining to or consisting of whinstone; also figurative hard, tough.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > stone > [adjective] > whinstone
whinny1789
whinstone1835
the world > matter > constitution of matter > strength > [adjective] > tough
tougha700
sinewy1578
wiry1588
gristly1601
nervous1601
tenax1605
tenacious1607
clunga1722
whipcord1879
whinstone1910
1835 H. Miller Scenes & Legends N. Scotl. xii. 213 The castle—a grey, whinstone building.
1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People i. §3. 25 The scant herbage scarce veils the whinstone rock.
1910 J. Buchan Prester John v. 99 I haven't your whinstone nerve.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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