STONE


Meaning of STONE in English

I. stone 1 S2 W1 /stəʊn $ stoʊn/ BrE AmE noun

[ Word Family: adjective : ↑ stoned , ↑ stony ; verb : ↑ stone ; noun : ↑ stone ; adverb : ↑ stonily ]

[ Language: Old English ; Origin: stan ]

1 . ROCK [uncountable] a hard solid mineral substance:

a stone wall

stone steps

The floors are made of stone.

2 . PIECE OF ROCK [countable] a small piece of rock of any shape, found on the ground SYN rock American English :

A handful of protesters began throwing stones at the police.

3 . JEWELLERY [countable] a jewel SYN precious stone

4 . FRUIT [countable] British English the large hard part at the centre of some fruits, such as a ↑ peach or ↑ cherry , which contains the seed SYN pit American English

5 . MEDICAL [countable] a ball of hard material that can form in organs such as your ↑ bladder or ↑ kidney s

6 . WEIGHT ( plural stone ) [countable] ( written abbreviation st ) a British unit for measuring weight, equal to 14 pounds or 6.35 kilograms

7 . a stone’s throw from something/away (from something) very close to something:

The hotel is only a stone’s throw from the beach.

8 . be made of stone ( also have a heart of stone ) to not show any emotions or pity for someone

9 . not be carved/etched in stone used to say an idea or plan could change:

John has several new ideas for the show, but nothing is etched in stone yet.

10 . leave no stone unturned to do everything you can in order to find something or to solve a problem:

Jarvis left no stone unturned in his search to find the ring.

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THESAURUS

▪ rock a piece of the hard substance that forms the main surface of the Earth. In British English, rocks are too large to pick up, but in American English, they can either be large or small:

the rocks along the riverbanks

▪ stone a small piece of rock, found on the ground or near the surface of the ground. Speakers of American English are more likely to use the word rock than stone :

The children were throwing stones into the water.

▪ boulder a large round piece of rock:

She climbed over a few boulders at the edge of the sea.

▪ pebble a small smooth stone found especially on a beach or on the bottom of a river:

The beach was covered with smooth white pebbles.

▪ fossil a rock which has the shape of an animal or plant that lived many thousands of years ago:

fossils of early reptiles

II. stone 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]

[ Word Family: adjective : ↑ stoned , ↑ stony ; verb : ↑ stone ; noun : ↑ stone ; adverb : ↑ stonily ]

1 . to throw stones at someone or something:

Rioters blocked roads and stoned vehicles.

2 . stone somebody to death to kill someone by throwing stones at them, used as a punishment

3 . British English to take the stone out of fruit SYN pit American English :

stoned dates

4 . stone the crows! ( also stone me! ) British English old-fashioned used to express surprise or shock

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.