stone /stōn/

1. A detached piece of rock, usu small
2. The matter of which rocks consist
3. A gem
4. A shaped piece of stone designed for a particular purpose
5. A mirror (Shakespeare)
6. A concretion, esp in a bodily organ or vessel such as the kidney
7. A diseased state characterized by formation of a concretion in the body
8. A testicle (slang, now rare)
9. A hard fruit-kernel
10. The hard seed of any of several fruits
11. The colour of stone, usu a dull, light brownish-grey
12. (with pl usustone) a standard weight of 14lb avoirdupois (other stones have been in use, as that of 24lb for wool, 22lb for hay, 16lb for cheese, etc)
13. A tombstone
14. A hailstone
15. A curling-stone (qv under curl)
16. A printer's table for imposing (obsolete)

1. Of stone
2. Of the colour of stone
3. Of stoneware
4. Of the Stone Age
5. (of an animal) not castrated (rare)

1. To pelt with stones
2. To remove stones from (fruit)
3. To lay or wall with stones
4. To rub or sharpen with a stone
5. To turn to stone (Shakespeare)

To form a stone

stoned adjective

1. Having or containing a stone or stones
2. With the stone or stones removed
3. Very drunk, or very high on drugs (slang)

stoneˈless adjective

stonˈen or stonˈern adjective (obsolete or dialect)

Of stone

stonˈer noun

1. A person who stones
2. A person who habitually takes drugs, esp cannabis (informal)
3. Used in combination to denote a person who weighs, or a horse that carries, so many stone

stonˈily adverb

stonˈiness noun

stonˈing noun

stonˈy adjective

1. Of or like stone
2. Abounding with stones
3. Hard
4. Pitiless
5. Obdurate
6. Rigid
7. Petrifying
8. Stony-broke

Stone Age noun

A stage of culture before the general use of metal, divided into the Old (Palaeolithic), Middle (Mesolithic) and the New Stone Age (Neolithic)

Stoneˈ-Age or stoneˈ-age adjective (often figurative).

stone axe noun

1. An axe made of stone
2. A two-edged axe for cutting stone

stone bass /bas/ noun

A large marine perch (Polyprion americanus) of the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Tasman Sea, reputed to frequent wrecked ships (also called wreck fish)

stoneˈ-blind adjective

Completely blind

stoneˈboat noun (N American)

A low sled for carrying rocks or other heavy objects

stone boiling noun

A primitive method of boiling water by putting hot stones in it

stoneˈborer or stoneˈ-eater noun

Any boring mollusc

stone bramble noun

A bramble (Rubus saxatilis) of rocky places

stoneˈbrash noun

A soil of finely broken rock

stoneˈbreak noun

Another name for saxifrage

stoneˈ-breaker noun

1. A person who or thing that breaks stones
2. A stone-crushing machine

stone-broke see stony-broke below.

stone canal noun

A calcified vertical tube in the water-vascular system of echinoderms

stoneˈcast or stone'sˈ-cast noun

A stone('s) throw

stone cell noun (botany)

A cell not much longer than it is broad, with thick lignified walls

stoneˈchat noun

A small European songbird (Saxicola torquata) of gorse heathland, with a call resembling the sound of two stones being banged together

stone circle noun

A circle of prehistoric standing stones

stone coal noun

1. Mineral coal, as opposed to charcoal
2. Any hard coal
3. Anthracite

stone-coldˈ adjective

Cold as a stone (stone-cold sober completely free of (esp alcohol-induced) excitement or passion, utterly sober)

stoneˈ-colour noun and adjective

Light brownish-grey

stoneˈ-coloured adjective

stone crab see king crab under king

stoneˈ-crazy or stoneˈ-mad adjective

Completely crazy or mad

stoneˈcrop noun

1. Any plant of the crassulaceous genus Sedum
2. Any similar plant that grows on rocks and walls

stone curlew noun

A large ploverlike wading bird (Burhinus oedicnemus), that habitually nests on stony ground (also called thick knee)

stoneˈcutter noun

1. A person who hews stone
2. A machine for dressing stone

stoneˈcutting noun

stoneˈ-dead adjective

1. Dead as a stone, completely lifeless
2. (of a golf ball) so close to the hole as to make a putt a mere formality

stoneˈ-deaf adjective

Completely deaf

stone dresser noun

A person who prepares stones for building, a stonemason

stone-eater see stoneborer above.

stone-facedˈ or stony-facedˈ adjective

Revealing no emotion

stone falcon or stone hawk noun

The merlin, from its habit of using a stony outcrop as a ‘plucking-post’

stoneˈfish noun

Any poisonous tropical scorpaenid fish of the family Synanceiidae, which resembles a stone on the seabed

stoneˈfly noun

A plecopterous insect (Perla) whose larvae live under stones in streams

stone fruit noun

Any fruit with a stone, a drupe

stoneˈground adjective

(of flour) ground between millstones

stone hammer noun

1. A hammer for breaking stones
2. A hammer with a stone head

stoneˈhand noun (printing)

An imposer, a person who sets the type in the chase

stoneˈ-hard adjective (Shakespeare)

As hard as a stone

stone hawk see stone falcon above.

stoneˈhorse noun (rare)

A stallion

stone-lilˈy noun

A fossil crinoid

stone loach noun

A scaleless, bottom-living fish, Noemacheilus barbatulus, of European rivers, and sometimes lakes

stone-mad see stone-crazy above.

stone marten noun

1. A white-breasted marten (Martes foina) of European woodland (also called beech marten)
2. Its highly valued fur

stoneˈmason noun

A mason who works with stone

stoneˈmasonry noun

stone parsley noun

An umbelliferous plant (Sison amomum) similar to parsley, with aromatic seeds

stone pine noun

A Mediterranean pine (Pinus pinea) with umbrella-shaped branches and edible seeds or nuts

stone pit noun

A quarry

stone plover noun

Another name for the stone curlew

stoneˈrag or stoneˈraw noun

(OE ragu lichen) a lichen (Parmelia saxatilis) yielding a dye

stone saw noun

A toothless saw for cutting stone

stone's-cast see stonecast above.

stoneˈshot noun

1. A stone's-throw
2. Stones or a stone used as shot

stone snipe noun

A N American plover, Totanus melanoleucus

stone'sˈ-throw noun

The distance a stone may be thrown, hence, a fairly short distance

stoneˈ-still adverb and adjective (Shakespeare)

As still as a stone

stonewallˈ intransitive verb

To hold up progress, (in parliament) by obstructing discussion, (in cricket) by batting extremely defensively

transitive verb

To delay (a bill in parliament) by stonewalling

stonewallˈer noun

stonewallˈing noun

stoneˈware noun

1. A coarse kind of pottery baked hard and glazed
2. A high-fired, vitrified, non-porous ceramic material or objects made of it

stoneˈwashed adjective

(of new clothes) given an old faded appearance using small pieces of pumice

stoneˈwork noun

Work in (usu dressed) stone

stoneˈwort noun

1. Any plant of the Characeae (from the limy crust)
2. Stone parsley

stony-brokeˈ adjective (slang)

Penniless, or nearly so (also stonˈy, stone-brokeˈ)

stony coral noun

Any variety of coral that forms reefs

stony-faced see stone-faced above.

stony-heartˈed adjective

Hard-hearted

stonˈy-iron meteorite noun

One containing both metal and stony material

leave no stone unturned

To do everything that can be done in order to secure the effect desired

mark with a white stone

To mark as particularly fortunate

set in stone

(as if) engraved on stone and hence fixed and unalterable

stone me! and stone the crows! (slang)

Expressions of astonishment

• right-minded
• right-mindedness
• rightness
• rightnesses
• righto
• right-of-centre
• right of common
• right of drip
• right of entry
• right off
• right of feud
• right off the bat
• right off the reel
• right of search
• right of way
• right-of-way
• right-of-ways
• right-oh
• right on
• right-on
• right out
• Right Reverend
• rights
• right side
• rights issue