stone

Less common meanings

11. 11
    grave markernouncountable or uncountable

    A marker or monument placed over a grave; a gravestone or tombstone.

    In the churchyard, wind and rain had worn the inscription on his great-grandfather's stone almost smooth.

    The family gathered around the stone on the anniversary of his death.

    Similarheadstone, gravestone, tombstone, marker

12. 12
    fruit pitnouncountable or uncountable

    The hard central part of certain fruits, such as peaches and plums, that encloses the seed.

    He spat the cherry stone neatly into his hand.

    The flesh clung stubbornly to the stone of the unripe apricot.

    UsagePit means the same. A pip is a small seed, as in an apple or orange.

    Similarpit

    Note

    Botany's stone is more than a seed. It is the seed plus the hard endocarp, the innermost layer of the fruit wall, as in a peach stone. Two verbs grow from it: removing the stone from fruit, and fruit forming its stone as it grows. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • A botanical stone can comprise the seed together with its hard endocarp. db.koreascholar.com
    • The endocarp is the innermost layer of the fruit wall. en.wikipedia.org
13. 13
    remove pitverbtransitive

    To remove the hard central stone from a fruit.

    Stone the dates and chop them finely for the cake.

    He stoned the peaches and laid the halves on a baking tray.

    UsageCommon in recipes: stone the dates. Pit is used the same way.

    Similarpit, destone

14. 14
    a gray-beige shadenouncountable or uncountable

    A dull, light gray or beige color, resembling that of some stones.

    The whole collection was built around stone, with a few brighter accents.

    He repainted the hallway in stone, finding it calmer than the old white.

15. 15
    gray-beige coloredadjective

    Of a dull, light gray or beige color, resembling that of some stones.

    He wore stone pants with a navy blazer.

    We chose stone curtains so the bedroom would feel calm and light.

16. 16
    curlingnouncountable or uncountable

    A heavy, polished granite stone with a handle, weighing about 38 to 44 pounds, slid down the ice in curling.

    He released the stone smoothly and let the sweepers guide it.

    Each team delivers eight stones in every end.

    UsagePlayers throw or deliver a stone, though it slides along the ice.

    Similarrock

    Note

    Curlers say they throw or deliver a stone, but it slides rather than flies. The player slides it down the ice by its handle, and teammates sweep ahead of it to steer its path. In the standard game each team sends down eight stones in an end, the sport's unit of play. Unlike most uses of the word, this one names a precisely made object whose weight is set by the rules. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • Some deliveries lift the stone off the ice during the backswing. specialolympics.ca
    • Players grip the stone's handle to deliver it. curling.ca
    • Teammates sweep ahead of the stone to influence its path. worldcurling.org
    • Each team delivers eight stones per end, a unit of play. worldcurling.org
    • Curling stones have precisely regulated physical specifications, including weight. curling.ca
17. 17
    adverb

    Completely or utterly; used informally to intensify certain adjectives, as in stone cold, stone deaf, or stone broke.

    The engine sat stone cold in the garage all winter.

    The fox lay stone dead at the edge of the road.

    Similarcompletely, utterly, totally

    Note

    In some pairs the comparison is still alive: stone cold means cold as a stone, and stone deaf means as unhearing as one. In others, such as stone broke, the likeness has faded and stone simply means completely. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Stone cold and stone deaf express comparisons with a stone. en.wiktionary.org
    • In stone broke, stone functions as an intensifier meaning completely. en.wiktionary.org
18. 18
    completelyadjectiveslangUS

    Complete or absolute; used before a noun to intensify it.

    In her review she called the new album a stone masterpiece.

    The detectives knew they were dealing with a stone killer.

    Similarabsolute, complete, total, utter, true

    Note

    African-American Vernacular English places it between an article and a noun to make a label total: one stone fox, a stone bigot, a stone professional. Andrew Vachss's Born Bad (1994) sets it beside strong profanity, and it carries that blunt force. The adverb does similar work before adjectives; this one modifies the noun itself. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Andrew Vachss wrote Born Bad. vachss.com
    • Born Bad was first published in 1994. openlibrary.org
    • Born Bad uses stone directly before a profane noun. en.wiktionary.org
19. 19
    game piecenouncountable or uncountable

    A playing piece made of hard material, used in board games such as go and backgammon.

    She set down her final stone to seal off the corner.

    The two players cleared the captured stones from the board.

    UsagePlayers place, move and capture stones.

    Similarpiece, counter

    Note

    Board games keep the name for any hard counter, whether or not it ever came from a quarry. It is the ordinary word for the pieces of go and backgammon, and players speak of placing, moving and capturing stones. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

    • Playing pieces called stones can be made from hard materials other than natural stone. en.wikipedia.org
20. 20
    form pitverbintransitive

    Of fruit, to develop a hard stone or pit during growth.
21. 21
    wall upverbtransitive

    To line, face or wall up with stones, as a well, a bank or an unwanted opening.

    Similarblock, seal, wall

    Oppositeopen, unblock

    Note

    Builders use it for lining as well as sealing. In Mathias Peter Harpin's Prophets in the Wilderness (1974), an advance guard may have "dug and stoned the well," facing its shaft with stone rather than closing it. Stean is an alternative verb for the same work. Context decides the meaning: a stoned well is lined, a stoned doorway shut. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • Mathias Peter Harpin wrote Prophets in the Wilderness. en.wiktionary.org
    • The quoted words are accurate, but Harpin presents the advance guard's involvement as a possibility, not an established event. en.wiktionary.org
22. 22
    polish smoothverbtransitive

    To smooth a surface by lapping it with an abrasive stone to remove minor irregularities.

    Before clamping the part down, the machinist stoned the table to knock off any burrs and dings.

    Before assembly, technicians stone every mating surface by hand.

    Similarhone, lap, polish, smooth, grind

23. 23
    giver in sexadjectiveslang

    Of a person, willing to give sexual pleasure to a partner but not to receive it in return.

    For years she identified as stone, a label that fit her sense of herself.

    Being stone, he found pleasure in pleasing his partner rather than in being touched.

    UsageMost often in compounds: stone butch, stone femme.

    Note

    Leslie Feinberg's Stone Butch Blues (1993) takes its title from it. Its opposite in the same slang is pillow princess, someone who prefers to receive. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Leslie Feinberg wrote Stone Butch Blues. en.wikipedia.org
    • Stone Butch Blues was first published in 1993. lesliefeinberg.net
    • The title refers to the stone-butch identity described in the note. en.wikipedia.org
24. 24
    zone outverbslangSingaporeintransitive

    To do nothing and stare blankly into space, not paying attention, while bored or relaxed.

    Teenagers stone for hours when there is nothing to do.

    During the long meeting, he just stoned and didn't hear a word.

    UsageOften appears in the -ing form: I was stoning the whole day.

    Similarvegetate, veg, daydream, idle, laze

    Note

    Singlish slang for switching off, whether out of boredom or simply idling somewhere pleasant. Becky Osawa's 2015 piece on the Marina Barrage explains stoning as "hanging out and chilling," so it need not be a complaint. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Becky Osawa wrote a 2015 piece about stoning at the Marina Barrage. en.wiktionary.org
    • Osawa explains stoning as “hanging out and chilling,” supporting a relaxed, pleasant interpretation. en.wiktionary.org
25. 25
    printing tablenounhistoricalcountable or uncountable

    A stand or table with a smooth, flat top of stone, often marble, on which pages were arranged before printing.

    The compositor laid the locked-up forme on the stone and checked the margins.

    The Chief called the makeup editor to the stone, pointed to the story which had caught his eye, and suggested a fairly simple remake.

    1965, George Murray, The Madhouse on Madison Street

    Note

    Printers and newspaper editors used it as shorthand for the imposing stone, the surface where pages were made up. Last-minute changes happened at the stone. In George Murray's The Madhouse on Madison Street (1965), the chief calls the makeup editor there to suggest a remake. The sense now belongs to the history of printing. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Printers and newspaper editors used stone for the imposing stone where pages were arranged. en.wiktionary.org
    • The stone was associated with changes made before a newspaper was finalized for printing. en.wikipedia.org
    • George Murray wrote The Madhouse on Madison Street. guides.chicagocollections.org
    • The passage says the Chief suggested a fairly simple remake. en.wiktionary.org
26. 26
    nounobsoletecountable or uncountable

    A mirror, or the glass that forms it.

    She's dead as earth: Lend me a Looking-glaſſe; / If that her breath will miſt or ſtaine the ſtone, / Why then ſhe liues.

    c. 1603, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”

    Note

    Shakespeare's King Lear (1608) puts this sense in a single breath with its plain synonym: Lear calls for a looking-glass, then asks whether her breath will "mist or stain the stone." In older verse, take stone as the mirror's glass, not a rock. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • William Shakespeare wrote King Lear. shakespearedocumented.folger.edu
    • Lear requests a looking-glass and immediately speaks of Cordelia's breath misting or staining the stone. folger.edu
    • Stone means the mirror or its glass in this passage. en.wiktionary.org
27. 27
    nounobsoletecountable or uncountable

    A testicle, in earlier English.

    Hee that is wounded in the ſtones, or hath his priuie member cut off, ſhall not enter into the Congregation of the Lord.

    1611, The Holy Bible, King James Version

    Note

    In its day this was plain working vocabulary. The King James Bible of 1611 bars from the congregation anyone "wounded in the stones." William Ellis's The Country Housewife's Family Companion (1750) uses it in instructions for caponizing cocks. The plain sense now survives in older texts, while the plural stones lives on only as slang, both for testicles and for courage, as in nobody else had the stones to say it. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

    • The King James Bible was first published in 1611. en.wikipedia.org
    • The King James Bible excludes someone wounded in the testicles from the congregation and uses the quoted wording. en.wikisource.org
    • William Ellis wrote The Country Housewife's Family Companion. prospectbooks.co.uk
    • The Country Housewife's Family Companion was first published in 1750. soilandhealth.org
    • Ellis uses stones for testicles in instructions for caponizing cocks. soilandhealth.org