Definition

1. Noun:

   • A hard, solid, non-metallic mineral material: A naturally occurring substance forming part of the earth's crust, often used as a building material.
   • A small piece of rock: A fragment or a single piece of this material, typically of a size that can be thrown or held.
   • A gem or jewel: A precious or semi-precious stone, especially one cut and polished for use in jewelry.
   • The hard central seed of some fruits: The hard, inedible part inside fruits like peaches, plums, or cherries; a pit.
   • A unit of weight: A British unit of weight equal to 14 pounds (approximately 6.35 kilograms), used especially for measuring human body weight.
   • A lack of feeling or emotion: Used metaphorically to describe a hard, unfeeling, or unyielding nature.
   • A medical concretion: A hard, abnormal mass formed in the body, such as a kidney stone or gallstone.

2. Verb:

   • To throw stones at someone or something: To pelt with stones as a form of attack or punishment.
   • To remove the stone (pit) from a fruit: To take the hard seed out of a fruit.

3. Adjective:

   • Made of or resembling stone: Constructed from or having the qualities of stone.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:

  • The ancient temple was built of solid stone.
  • He picked up a smooth stone from the riverbank.
  • She wore a beautiful ring with a blue stone.
  • Be careful not to swallow the stone in the plum.
  • He lost over a stone in weight after his diet.
  • Her expression was cold, her heart a stone.

• Verb:

  • The angry mob threatened to stone the criminal.
  • Can you help me stone these cherries for the pie?

• Adjective:

  • They lived in a stone cottage by the lake.

Advanced Usage

• "A heart of stone": A metaphorical idiom describing a person who is very cold, unfeeling, or without compassion.

  • The cruel landlord seemed to have a heart of stone.

• "Leave no stone unturned": An idiom meaning to try every possible course of action in order to achieve something.

  • The detectives left no stone unturned in their search for the truth.

• "Kill two birds with one stone": An idiom meaning to achieve two objectives with a single action.

  • By cycling to work, I get exercise and save money on transport—I kill two birds with one stone.

Variants and Related Words

• Stony (adj): Resembling or full of stones; also, cold and unfeeling.

  • The stony path was difficult to walk on.
  • He gave me a stony look.

• Stoneware (n): A type of very hard, non-porous pottery made from clay and stone.

  • We ate from handmade stoneware plates.

Synonyms

• Rock: A large mass of stone or a similar hard mineral matter.
• Pebble: A small, smooth, rounded stone.
• Gem / Jewel: A precious or ornamental stone.
• Pit: The hard seed inside a fruit (synonymous with 'stone' in this context).

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Stone for (archaic/idiomatic): To provide with stones or to pelt. (Note: This is not a common phrasal verb in modern English; the verb 'stone' is typically used transitively without a particle in this sense).

Related Idioms

• "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones": A proverb meaning you should not criticize others for faults that you yourself possess.

  • He's always complaining about laziness, but people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

• "Set in stone": Fixed, permanent, and unchangeable.

  • The schedule isn't set in stone yet; we can still make adjustments.

• "Rolling stone gathers no moss": A proverb suggesting that a person who does not settle in one place avoids responsibilities but also fails to accumulate wealth, status, or connections.

Adjective

1. of any of various dull tannish or grey colors

Verb

1. remove the pits from
   • pit plums and cherries
2. kill by throwing stones at
   • People wanted to stone the woman who had a child out of wedlock

Noun

1. a lack of feeling or expression or movement
   • he must have a heart of stone
   • her face was as hard as stone
2. United States architect (1902-1978)
3. United States jurist who served on the United States Supreme Court as chief justice (1872-1946)
4. United States journalist who advocated liberal causes (1907-1989)
5. United States feminist and suffragist (1818-1893)
6. United States filmmaker (born in 1946)
7. United States jurist who was named chief justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1941 by Franklin D. Roosevelt (1872-1946)
8. the hard inner (usually woody) layer of the pericarp of some fruits (as peaches or plums or cherries or olives) that contains the seed
   • you should remove the stones from prunes before cooking
9. an avoirdupois unit used to measure the weight of a human body; equal to 14 pounds
   • a heavy chap who must have weighed more than twenty stone
10. a crystalline rock that can be cut and polished for jewelry
    • he had the gem set in a ring for his wife
    • she had jewels made of all the rarest stones
11. material consisting of the aggregate of minerals like those making up the Earth's crust
    • that mountain is solid rock
    • stone is abundant in New England and there are many quarries
12. building material consisting of a piece of rock hewn in a definite shape for a special purpose
    • he wanted a special stone to mark the site
13. a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
    • he threw a rock at me