stone

Etymology

From Middle English ston, stone, stan, from Old English stān, from Proto-West Germanic *stain, from Proto-Germanic *stainaz, from Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂- (“to stiffen”). See also Dutch steen, German Stein, Danish and Swedish sten, Norwegian stein; also Russian стена́ (stená, “wall”), Ancient Greek στία (stía, “pebble”), στέαρ (stéar, “tallow”), Albanian shtëng (“hardened or pressed matter”), Sanskrit स्त्यायते (styāyate, “it hardens”)). Doublet of stein.

noun

1. (uncountable) A hard earthen substance that can form large rocks.
   It is about 2,500 yards in circuit, is built of red stone, and, according to Von Orlich, is now " a bastioned quinquangle ; the ancient walls with semicircular bastions face the two streams ; the land side is quite regular, and consists of two bastions, and a half-bastion with three ravelins," and stands higher than any ground in face of it. 1858, Edward Thornton, A Gazetteer of the Territories Under the Government of the East India Company and of the Native States on the Continent of India, W. H. Allen & Co., page 22
   The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight. Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll. 2013-06-08, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55
2. A small piece of stone, a pebble.
3. A gemstone, a jewel, especially a diamond.
4. (Britain) A unit of mass equal to 14 pounds (≈6.3503 kilograms), formerly used for various commodities (wool, cheese, etc.), but now principally used for personal weight.
   Seven pounds make a clove, 2 cloves a stone, 2 stone a tod, 6+¹⁄₂ tods a wey, 2 weys a sack, 12 sacks a last. […] It is to be observed here that a sack is 13 tods, and a tod 28 pounds, so that the sack is 364 pounds. 1843, The Penny Cyclopaedia, page 202
   Generally, however, the stone or petra, almost always of 14 lbs., is used, the tod of 28 lbs., and the sack of thirteen stones. 1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume IV, page 209
   Weighed myself at the gym and have hit 10st 8lb, a sure sign of things getting out of control—so I can’t even console myself with a chocolate biscuit. October 3 1992, Edwina Currie, Diary
5. (botany) The central part of some fruits, particularly drupes; consisting of the seed and a hard endocarp layer.
   a peach stone
6. (medicine) A hard, stone-like deposit.
   The pain of passing a larger stone is often compared to child birth. 26 Sept 16, James Hamblin, “A Health Benefit of Roller Coasters”, in The Atlantic
7. (board games) A playing piece made of any hard material, used in various board games such as backgammon and go.
8. A dull light grey or beige, like that of some stones.
   stone:
9. (curling) A 42-pound, precisely shaped piece of granite with a handle attached, which is bowled down the ice.
10. A monument to the dead; a gravestone or tombstone.
    It seems to me that when I die / These words will be written on my stone[…] 25 November 2013, Zayn Malik, “Story of My Life”, in Midnight Memories, Columbia Records; Syco Music
11. (obsolete) A mirror, or its glass.
12. (obsolete) A testicle.
    To make Capons […] ſome for this Purpoſe make it their Buſineſs after Harveſt-time to go to Markets for buying up Chickens, and between Michaelmas and All-hollantide caponize the Cocks, when they have got large enough to have Stones of ſuch a Bigneſs that they may be pulled out; for if they are too little, it can't be done. 1750, W[illiam] Ellis, The Country Housewife's Family Companion[…], London: James Hodges; B. Collins, →OCLC, page 157
13. (printing, historical) A stand or table with a smooth, flat top of stone, commonly marble, on which to arrange the pages of a book, newspaper, etc. before printing.
    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, page 38

verb

1. (transitive) To pelt with stones, especially to kill by pelting with stones.
   She got stoned to death after they found her.
2. (transitive) To wall with stones.
   […] and since it was a rule of the French troops not to be a burden on the people along their route it could be that the advance guard dug and stoned the well for the troop's own special use. 1974, Mathias Peter Harpin, Prophets in the wilderness: a history of Coventry, Rhode Island
3. (transitive) To remove a stone from (fruit etc.).
4. (intransitive) To form a stone during growth, with reference to fruit etc.
5. (transitive, slang) To intoxicate, especially with narcotics. (Usually in passive)
6. (intransitive, Singapore, slang) To do nothing, to stare blankly into space and not pay attention when relaxing or when bored.
   I was stoning the whole of today. 2003, Roger, Joy, Vera and Amanda Loh, Facts about Singapore: Differences between Ohio and Singapore
   Resume writing class lesson 2, stoning. November 2, 2011, Shermaine Ong, (Please provide the book title or journal name)
   The Marina Barrage is a reservoir, but everyone goes there because the spacious greenery at the top is the perfect place for stoning, which is Singlish for hanging out and chilling. April 8, 2015, Becky Osawa, Trekking with Becky: Stoning at the Marina Barrage, Singapore
7. (transitive) To lap with an abrasive stone to remove surface irregularities.

adj

1. Constructed of stone.
   stone walls
2. Having the appearance of stone.
   stone pot
3. Of a dull light grey or beige, like that of some stones.
4. (African-American Vernacular) Used as an intensifier.
   She is one stone fox.
   Yeah, he's a stone fuck–up. But he's stand–up, too, don't forget that. 1994, Andrew H. Vachss, Born Bad: Stories
   Of course the Torah rejects (*some*) sexual acts between members of the same sex. And of course it doesn't condemn gays and lesbians. Someone who doesn't realize that is a stone bigot to begin with. 9 Sept 00, Lisa Beth, “Rabbi Shmuli Boteach Refuted”, in soc.culture.jewish.moderated (Usenet)
   “And I got the best metal man in the business going for me, too.” “This job's going to be a stone motherfucker,” Flacco said 2001, Andrew H. Vachss, Pain Management
   He might be a stone killer who simply doesn't care if his victim's alive or dead at the time of disfigurement. 2009, John Lutz, Night Victims, page 307
5. (LGBT, slang) Willing to give sexual pleasure but not to receive it.
   stone butch
   stone femme
   Lately I've read these stories by women who are so angry with stone lovers, even mocking their passion when they finally give way to trust, to being touched. 1993, Leslie Feinberg, Stone Butch Blues, Los Angeles: Alyson Books, published 2003, page 9
   My physical preference tends more to very masculine-bodied non-transitioning stone TG butches. c. 2000, Sonya, “Femme Identity: Stone-Butch/Femme Dynamic, FTM/Femme Dynamic”, in Transensual Femme, archived from the original on 2000-05-20

adv

1. As a stone (used with following adjective).
   My father is stone deaf. This soup is stone cold.
2. (slang) Absolutely, completely (used with following adjectives).
   I went stone crazy after she left.
   I said the medication made my vision temporarily blurry, it did not make me stone blind.