holystone

Etymology

Uncertain, but equivalent to holy + stone. As an amulet, probably from holey (“having a hole”). As a scouring stone, variously derived from holey, from the amulet, from its association with Sunday cleaning, from its users' adoption of a kneeling position similar to prayer, and (least likely) from their original provision by raiding graveyards for tombstones.

noun

1. (nautical) A piece of soft sandstone used for scouring the wooden decks of ships, usually with sand and seawater.
2. A stone with a naturally-formed hole, used by Yorkshiremen for good luck.

verb

1. (transitive) To use a holystone.
   Six days shalt thou labour and do all thou art able, And on the seventh—holystone the decks and scrape the cable. 1840, Richard Henry Dana, Two Years before the Mast, page 6
   The boils called sand boils, which form on the front of the knee, are generally produced by small particles of sand being rubbed beneath the skin when the men are kneeling to holystone the decks. Very troublesome sores are thus produced. Great care should, therefore, be taken never to kneel with the bare knees upon a sanded deck. 1861, Thomas Spencer Wells, “Boils”, in The Scale of Medicines with which Merchant Vessels Are to Be Furnished..., 2nd edition, London: John Churchill, New Burlington Street, page 92