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n.1. the hard substance, formed of mineral matter, of which rocks consist.2. a rock or particular piece or kind of rock, as a boulder or piece of agate.3. a piece of rock quarried and worked into a specific size and shape for a particular purpose: paving stone; building stone.4. a small piece of rock, as a pebble.5. See precious stone.6. one of various units of weight, esp. the British unit equivalent to 14 pounds (6.4 kg).7. something resembling a small piece of rock in size, shape, or hardness.8. any small, hard seed, as of a date; pit.9. Bot. the hard endocarp of a drupe, as of a peach.10. Pathol.a. a calculous concretion in the body, as in the kidney, gallbladder, or urinary bladder.b. a disease arising from such a concretion.11. a gravestone or tombstone.12. a grindstone.13. a millstone.14. a hailstone.15. Building Trades. any of various artificial materials imitating cut stone or rubble.16. Print. a table with a smooth surface, formerly made of stone, on which page forms are composed.17. (in lithography) any surface on which an artist draws or etches a picture or design from which a lithograph is made.18. a playing piece in the game of dominoes, checkers, or backgammon.19. Usually, stones. testes.20. cast the first stone, to be the first to condemn or blame a wrongdoer; be hasty in one's judgment: What right has she to cast the first stone?21. leave no stone unturned, to exhaust every possibility in attempting to achieve one's goal; spare no effort: We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to find the culprit.adj.22. made of or pertaining to stone.23. made of stoneware: a stone mug or bottle.24. stonelike; stony; obdurate: a stone killer; stone strength.adv.25. completely; totally (usually used in combination): stone cold.v.t.26. to throw stones at; drive by pelting with stones.27. to put to death by pelting with stones.28. to provide, fit, pave, line, face or fortify with stones.29. to rub (something) with or on a stone, as to sharpen, polish, or smooth.30. to remove stones from, as fruit.31. Obs. to make insensitive or unfeeling.[bef. 900; (n.) ME stan, sto(o)n, OE stan; c. D steen, G Stein, ON steinn, Goth stains; akin to Gk stía pebble, L stiria icicle; (v.) ME stanen, stonen, deriv. of the n.; (adj. and adv.) ME, deriv. of the n.]
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IIn building construction, rock cut into blocks and slabs or broken into pieces.It comes as hard as granite and as soft as limestone or sandstone. Where available, stone has generally been the preferred material for monumental structures. Its advantages are durability, adaptability to sculpting, and the fact that it can be used in its natural state. But it is difficult to quarry, transport, and cut, and its weakness in tension limits its use. The simplest stonework is rubble, roughly broken stones bound in mortar. Ashlar work consists of regularly cut blocks with squared edges. Building stone is quarried by sawing if it is soft, and split apart with wedges or by blasting if hard. Many devices are used to shape and dress stone, from handheld tools to circular saws, surfacing machines, and lathes. Some stones are strong enough to act as monolithic (one-piece) supports and beams; and in some styles (e.g., ancient Egyptian temples) stone slabs are employed even for roofing, supported by many closely spaced columns. Before the arch, builders were handicapped by the tendency of stone to break under its own weight. But stone in compression has great strength, and the Romans built huge stone bridges and aqueducts. Though stone has generally been abandoned for structural use in the 20th century, it is widely used as a thin, nonbearing surface cladding. See also masonry.II(as used in expressions)Scone Stone ofStone Edward DurellStone Harlan FiskeStone Isidor FeinsteinStone LucyStone OliverStone Robert Anthonystone tool industry* * *
▪ unit of weightBritish unit of weight for dry products generally equivalent to 14 pounds avoirdupois (pound) (6.35 kg), though it varied from 4 to 32 pounds (1.814 to 14.515 kg) for various items over time. Originally any good-sized rock chosen as a local standard, the stone came to be widely used as a unit of weight in trade, its value fluctuating with the commodity and region. In the 14th century England's exportation of raw wool to Florence necessitated a fixed standard. In 1389 a royal statute fixed the stone of wool at 14 pounds and the sack of wool at 26 stones. Trade stones of variant weights persist, such as the glass stone of 5 pounds. The stone is still commonly used in Britain to designate the weights of people and large animals.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
