stone (stones plural & 3rd person present) (stoning present participle) (stoned past tense & past participle )
The plural is usually stone in meaning 10.
1 n-mass Stone is a hard solid substance found in the ground and often used for building houses.
He could not tell whether the floor was wood or stone..., People often don't appreciate that marble is a natural stone., ...stone walls.
2 n-count A stone is a small piece of rock that is found on the ground.
He removed a stone from his shoe..., The crowd began throwing stones.
3 n-count A stone is a large piece of stone put somewhere in memory of a person or event, or as a religious symbol.
The monument consists of a circle of gigantic stones.
4 n-uncount Stone is used in expressions such as set in stone and tablets of stone to suggest that an idea or rule is firm and fixed, and cannot be changed.
oft with brd-neg
Scientific opinions are not carved on tablets of stone; they change over the years.
5 n-count You can refer to a jewel as a stone.
...a diamond ring with three stones.
6 n-count A stone is a small hard ball of minerals and other substances which sometimes forms in a person's kidneys or gall bladder.
usu n N
He had kidney stones.
7 n-count The stone in a plum, cherry, or other fruit is the large hard seed in the middle of it.
(mainly BRIT)
in AM, usually use pit
8 verb If you stone a fruit, you remove its stone.
(mainly BRIT)
Then stone the fruit and process the plums to a puree. V n
in AM, usually use pit
9 verb If people stone someone or something, they throw stones at them.
A post office was set on fire and vehicles were stoned by looters. V n
10 n-count A stone is a measurement of weight, especially the weight of a person, equal to 14 pounds or 6.35 kilograms.
(BRIT) usu num N
I weighed around 16 stone.
11
→
stoned
→
foundation stone
→
paving stone
→
precious stone
→
stepping stone
12 If you say that one place is a stone's throwfrom another, you mean that the places are close to each other.
a stone's throw phrase PHR prep/adv
...a two-bedroom apartment just a stone's throw from the beach..., Just a stone's throw away is the City Art Gallery.
13 If you say that you will leave no stone unturned, you are emphasizing that you will try every way you can think of in order to achieve what you want.
leave no stone unturned phrase V inflects (emphasis)
He said he would leave no stone unturned in the search for peace.
14 →
kill two birds with one stone →
bird
dry-stone wall (dry-stone walls plural )
in AM, use dry wall A dry-stone wall is a wall that has been built by fitting stones together without using any cement. n-count
foundation stone (foundation stones plural )
1 n-count A foundation stone is a large block of stone built into a large public building near the bottom. It is often involved in a ceremony for the opening of the building, and has writing on it recording this.
(mainly BRIT) oft with poss
The Princess of Wales laid the foundation stone for the extension to the Cathedral.
in AM, use cornerstone
2 n-count The foundation stoneof something is the basic, important thing which its existence or success depends on.
usu N of n
...these foundation stones of the future: education, training, research, development.
paving stone (paving stones plural )Paving stones are flat pieces of stone or concrete, usually square in shape, that are put on the ground, for example to make a path.
(mainly BRIT) n-count
precious stone (precious stones plural )A precious stone is a valuable stone, such as a diamond or a ruby, that is used for making jewellery. n-count
(=gem)
pumice stone (pumice stones plural )
1 n-count A pumice stone is a piece of pumice that you rub over your skin in order to clean the skin or make it smoother.
2 n-uncount Pumice stone is the same as pumice.
stepping stone (stepping stones plural ), stepping-stone
1 n-count You can describe a job or event as a stepping stone when it helps you to make progress, especially in your career.
oft N to n
Many students now see university as a stepping stone to a good job.
2 n-count Stepping stones are a line of large stones which you can walk on in order to cross a shallow stream or river.
usu pl
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a very early period of human history, when people used tools and weapons made of stone, not metal. n-proper the N
stone-cold
1 adj If something that should be warm is stone-cold, it is very cold.
Hillsden took a sip of tea, but it was stone cold.
2 If someone is stone-cold sober, they are not drunk at all.
INFORMAL
stone-cold sober phrase v-link PHR
stone-dead
If you kill something such as an idea or emotion stone-dead, you completely destroy it.
kill sth stone-dead phrase V inflects (emphasis)
The prospect of having to pay a graduate tax until retirement would kill the students' enthusiasm stone dead.
stone deaf , stone-deaf
Someone who is stone deaf cannot hear at all. adj usu v-link ADJ
stone-ground , stoneground
Stone-ground flour or bread is made from grain that has been crushed between two large, heavy pieces of stone. adj usu ADJ n
stone-washed , stonewashed
Stone-washed jeans are jeans which have been specially washed with small pieces of stone so that when you buy them they are fairly pale and soft. adj
