Good day to you!
Today’s offerings are from a Daily Writing Tips article that I received a couple of weeks ago. Some of you may find it odd, but I found it fascinating in this high-tech world we live in, that we have so many compound words (65!) that end in “stone.” Rather than throw them at you all at once, I’m going to skip these rocks gently to you over two days.
Dozens of compound words, all but a few closed, end with the word stone, though some of the terms have figurative senses stemming from the original meaning and a few do not refer to actual types of rock at all. Here’s a list of most if not all compound words in which stone is the second element, with accompanying definitions.
1. birthstone: a gem symbolically associated with the month of one’s birth
2. bloodstone: a type of quartz with red spots that resemble drops of blood
3. bluestone: a bluish stone used in building
4. bondstone: a stone whose length is equal to the thickness of a wall that is placed in the wall to help strengthen it
5. brimstone: a traditional word for sulfur, chiefly used in the phrase “fire and brimstone,” referring to sermons in which churchgoers are dramatically warned about hell
6. brownstone: a building stone, and a type of house commonly clad with a layer of the stone
7. capstone: a slanted stone used on the top layer of a wall to allow water to drain off the top; also, figuratively refers to a high point in one’s experience or life
8. cherrystone: a type of clam
9. clingstone: a type of fruit with flesh connected to the stone, or pit
10. cobblestone: a round stone used to pave streets
11. copestone: see capstone
12. cornerstone: a stone placed on the corner of a building, including one traditionally inscribed with the date the building was constructed; also, figuratively refers to something of fundamental importance
13. coverstone: an aggregate of minerals used to cover treated pavement
14. curbstone: a stone, or concrete, used to form a curb
15. dripstone: a stone that projects over a door or window as an awning, or a stalactite or stalagmite made of calcium carbonate
16. drystone: in British English, an adjective describing a wall constructed of stone without mortar
17. fieldstone: a stone found in a field and used for some purpose without alteration
18. firestone: another word for flint (a type of quartz once used to start fires by sparking), or any stone impervious to high heat
19. flagstone: a flat, hard stone used to make paths
20. flintstone: pieces of flint used in construction
21. flowstone: a deposit of calcite formed by water running along or over a cave’s walls or floor
22. footstone: a stone placed at the foot of a grave
23. freestone: a stone able to be cut without splitting, or a stone, or pit, of a fruit not attached to the flesh or fruit with such a pit
24. gallstone: a hard object that forms in the gallbladder
25. gemstone: a stone of such quality that it can be used in jewelry
26. gladstone: a type of suitcase
27. goldstone: a type of glass to which particles of gold-colored material are applied
28. gravestone: a stone that marks the location of a grave and is often engraved with information about that person
29. greenstone: any of various greenish stones, such as a type of jade
30. grindstone: a turning stone wheel against which hard objects such as tools are smoothed or sharpened
Kara Church
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