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Our Word of the day is hodiernal: relating to the present day …

stone Pronunciation: /stəʊn/

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Definition of stone

noun

  • 1 [mass noun] hard solid non-metallic mineral matter of which rock is made, especially as a building material: the houses are built of stone [as modifier]: high stone walls
  • used in similes and metaphors to refer to weight or lack of feeling, expression, or movement: Isabel stood as if turned to stone the elevator dropped like a stone
  • [count noun] a small piece of rock found on the ground.
  • [count noun] Astronomy a meteorite made of rock, as opposed to metal.
  • [count noun] Medicine a calculus; a gallstone or kidney stone.
  • 2a piece of stone shaped for a purpose, especially one of commemoration, ceremony, or demarcation: a memorial stone boundary stones
  • a gem or jewel: a gold ring with a small dark red stone
  • short for curling stone.
  • a round piece or counter, originally made of stone, used in various board games, especially the Japanese game of go.
  • a large flat table or sheet, originally made of stone and now usually of metal, on which pages of type are made up.
  • 3a hard seed in a cherry, plum, peach, and some other fruits.
  • 4 (plural ) British a unit of weight equal to 14 lb (6.35 kg): I weighed 10 stone
  • 5 [mass noun] a natural shade of whitish or brownish-grey: [as modifier]: stone stretch trousers

verb

[with object]
  • 1throw stones at: policemen were stoned by the crowd two people were stoned to death
  • 2remove the stone from (a fruit): (as adjective stoned) add 50 g of stoned black olives
  • 3build, face, or pave with stone: (as adjective, in combination -stoned) the honey-stoned, eighteenth-century city

Phrases

be written (or engraved or set) in stone

used to emphasize that something is fixed and unchangeable: anything can change—nothing is written in stone

cast (or throw) the first stone

be the first to make an accusation (used to emphasize that a potential critic is not wholly blameless).
[with biblical allusion to John 8:7]

leave no stone unturned

try every possible course of action in order to achieve something.

stone me! (or stone the crows!)

British informal an exclamation of surprise or shock.

a stone's throw

a short distance: the Sea Life Centre is just a stone’s throw from the sea itself

Derivatives

stoneless

adjective

Origin:

Old English stān (noun), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch steen and German Stein. The verb dates from Middle English (first recorded in stone (sense 1 of the verb))

stone in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of stone in US English dictionary