English
stone
see also: Stone
Etymology

From Middle English ston, stone, stan, from Old English stān, from Proto-West Germanic *stain, from Proto-Germanic *stainaz, from Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂-.

See also Dutch steen, German Stein, Danish - and Swedish sten, Norwegian stein; also Russian стена́, Ancient Greek στία, στέαρ, Albanian shtëng, Sanskrit स्त्यायते). Doublet of stein.

Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /stəʊn/
  • (America) IPA: /stoʊn/
  • (New Zealand) IPA: /stɐʉn/
Noun

stone

  1. (uncountable) A hard earthen substance that can form large rocks.
    • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act IV, scene i], page 143 ↗, column 2:
      Toad, that vnder cold ſtone, / Dayes and Nights ha’s thirty one: / Sweltred Venom ſleeping got, / Boyle thou firſt i’th’ charmed pot.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, John 20:1 ↗:
      The first day of the weeke, commeth Mary Magdalene earely when it was yet darke, vnto the Sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the Sepulchre.
  2. A small piece of stone, a pebble.
  3. A gemstone, a jewel, especially a diamond.
    • c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act I, scene iv], page 180 ↗, column 1:
      […] Ineſtimable Stones, vnvalewed Iewels […]
  4. (British) A unit of mass 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.
  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.
    Synonyms: calculus
    Hyponyms: kidney stone, nephrolith, gallstone, cholelith, sialolith, urolith
  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.
     
  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.
    • 1717, Alexander Pope, “Eloisa to Abelard”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume II, London: […] J. Wright, for Lawton Gilliver […], published 1717, →OCLC ↗, page 434 ↗:
      Amid that scene, if ſome relenting eye
      Glance on the ſtone where our cold reliques lie.
  11. (obsolete) A mirror, or its glass.
    • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act V, scene iii], page 309 ↗, column 1:
      She's dead as earth: Lend me a Looking-glaſſe; / If that her breath will miſt or ſtaine the ſtone, / Why then ſhe liues.
  12. (obsolete) A testicle.
    • c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act I, scene iii], page 56 ↗, column 1:
      […] and yet I warrant it had vpon it brow, a bumpe as big as a young Cockrels ſtone?
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Deuteronomy 23:1 ↗:
      Hee that is wounded in the ſtones, or hath his priuie member cut off, ſhall not enter into the Congregation of the Lord.
  13. (printing, historical) 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.
    Synonyms: imposing stone
    • 1965, George Murray, The Madhouse on Madison Street, page 38:
      The Chief called the makeup editor to the stone, pointed to the story which had caught his eye, and suggested a fairly simple remake.
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Verb

stone (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.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Acts 7:55–60 ↗:
      55 But hee being full of the holy Ghost, looked vp stedfastly into heauen, and saw the glory of God, and Iesus standing on the right hand of God,
      56 And said, Behold, I see the heauens opened, and the Sonne of man standing on the right hand of God.
      57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their eares, and ran vpon him with one accord,
      58 And cast him out of the citie, and stoned him: and the witnesses layd downe their clothes at a yong mans feete, whose name was Saul.
      59 And they stoned Steuen, calling vpon God, and saying, Lord Iesus receiue my spirit.
      60 And he kneeled downe, and cried with a loud voice, Lord lay not this sinne to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleepe.
  2. (transitive) To wall with stones.
  3. (transitive) To remove a stone from (fruit etc.).
  4. (intransitive) To form a stone during growth, with reference to fruit etc.
  5. (transitive, slang) To intoxicate, especially with narcotics. (Usually in passive)
  6. (intransitive, Singapore, slang) To do nothing, to stare blankly into space and not pay attention when relaxing or when bored.
  7. (transitive) To lap with an abrasive stone to remove surface irregularities.
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Adjective

stone (not comparable)

  1. Constructed of stone.
    Synonyms: stonen
    stone walls
  2. Having the appearance of stone.
    stone pot
  3. Of a dull light grey or beige, like that of some stones.
  4. (AAVE) Used as an intensifier.
    She is one stone fox.
  5. (LGBT, slang) Willing to give sexual pleasure but not to receive it.
    Antonyms: pillow princess
    stone butch
    stone femme
Translations 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.
Stone
Etymology Proper noun
  1. (countable) Surname, for someone who lived near a stone worked with stone, from Old English stan.
  2. (countable) A male given name
  3. A placename:
    1. A locale in England:
      1. A village in Stone with Bishopstone and Hartwell, Buckinghamshire (OS grid ref SP7811).
      2. A village in Ham and Stone, Stroud (OS grid ref ST6895).
      3. A village/and/cpar in Dartford (OS grid ref TQ5774).
      4. A hamlet in Maltby, Rotherham (OS grid ref SK5589).
      5. A market town/and/cpar with a town council in Stafford (OS grid ref SJ9034).
      6. A village/and/cpar in Wyre Forest (OS grid ref SO8575).
    2. A locale in US.
      1. An unincorporated community in California.
      2. An unincorporated community in Indiana.
      3. An unincorporated community in Kentucky, ;.
      4. An unincorporated community in Wisconsin.
    3. Ellipsis of Stone County
Translations

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