| 释义 |
▪ I. rock, n.1|rɒk|
Forms: 4–6 rokk(e, 4–7 rocke, 5 roc, 5–6 rok(e, 6 roocke, rough, Sc. roik, rolk, rouk, pl. rox; 4– rock.
[a. OF. roke, roque, rocque fem. (also roche roche n.1, and in later F. roc masc.), = Prov. roca, rocha, Pg. rocha, Sp. roca, It. rocca, roccia, med.L. rocca (767), rocha, of unknown origin. OE. stanrocc, glossing L. scopulus and obeliscus, appears to imply an earlier adoption of the Romanic word.]
I.
1. a. A large rugged mass of stone forming a cliff, crag, or natural prominence on land or in the sea.
the Rock is freq. used ellipt. for the Rock of Gibraltar.
13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2198 He romez vp to þe rokke of þo roȝ wonez. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 2193 Ariadne, The holwe rokkis answerden hire a-gayn. c1400Destr. Troy 5699 His shippes..rut on a Rocke, & rent all to peses. c1440Promp. Parv. 436/1 Rokke, yn þe see, idem quod roche. 1486Bk. St. Albans d iij b, Ther is a Fawken of the rock, And that is for a duke. 1538Starkey England i. ii. 65 Lyke as maryners..by neclygence run apon some roke. 1591Shakes. Two Gent. i. ii. 121 That, some whirle-winde beare Vnto a ragged, fearefull, hanging Rocke, And throw it thence into the raging Sea. 1606G. W[oodcocke] Hist. Ivstine xii. 53 He came to a maruellous rough and huge rocke, into which many people were fled. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 140 A pair of stairs cut out in the Rock. 1718Lady M. W. Montagu Lett. II. xlix. 61 We..came safe to Malta... It is a whole rock covered with very little earth. a1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) I. 156 Splitting the most solid rocks, and thus shattering the summits of the mountain. 1843Ruskin Mod. Paint. I. ii. i. §4 Every minor rock comes out from the soil about it as an island out of the sea. 1860Tyndall Glaciers i. vii. 49 We diverged from the snow to the adjacent rocks.
fig.1607Shakes. Cor. v. ii. 117 The worthy Fellow is our General. He's the Rock, The Oake not to be winde-shaken. c1665Mrs. Hutchinson Mem. Col. Hutchinson (1846) 29 He that was a rock to all assaults of might and violence.
b. A large detached mass of stone; a boulder; also (orig. U.S.), a stone of any size. Also freq., a stone used as a projectile.
1709Pope Ess. Crit. 370 When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw. 1712S. Sewall Diary 14 Apr., I lay'd a Rock in the North-east corner of the Foundation of the Meetinghouse. It was a stone I got out of the Common. 1793J. Hely tr. O'Flaherty's Ogygia II. 186 The sling..directed rocks nearly with as much violence as the onager. Ibid. 187 Stones and rocks were thrown from the crosbow. 1838S. Parker Explor. Tour (1846) 51 It is one of the peculiarities of the dialect of..the western states, to call small stones, rocks. a1862Thoreau Cape Cod x. (1894) 269, I saw one man underpinning a new house in Eastham with some ‘rocks’, as he called them. 1890Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang II. 183/2 Rocks (American), small stones or pebbles... The term is used in some parts of England. 1895Harper's Mag. Apr. 713/2 A stone-pile near at hand where they filled their pockets full of rocks. 1939J. Stuart in Esquire May 55/1, I pull a round rock from my pocket. I let th' rock go. I holler: ‘Rocks! Watch out!’ 1968New Society 29 Aug. 304/1 It is now frequent for British newspapers to record that during some riot or disturbance the crowd has thrown ‘rocks’ (= ‘stones’). 1969West Australian 5 July 1/1 Several policemen fell to the ground after they were hit with rocks. 1976Billings (Montana) Gaz. 17 June 1-f/5 Ambulance services were suspended when mobs hurled rocks at the vehicles, injuring drivers. 1979Observer 16 Sept. 1/1 The Belfast house of Mr Gerry Fitt, Social Democratic and Labour MP for East Belfast, was besieged by about 200 youths armed with rocks yesterday.
c. transf. A large mass or pile of something.
1766Stork Acc. E. Florida 52 The oysters are so plentiful here, that nothing is more common, than at low water, to see whole rocks of them. 1779Pallas in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 407 They were stopt by insurmountable rocks of Ice, and obliged to return.
d. Canad. = curling-stone.
1911R. E. Knowles Singer of Kootenay 296 Every man of them held his breath as the flying rock came to the port. 1963Times 25 Feb. (Canada Suppl.) p. xvi/1 The Scots melted cannon balls to fashion their ‘rocks’ and played the game on the frozen St. Lawrence river and ponds in the area. It is interesting that rocks made of iron were still being used in parts of Ontario and Quebec as late as 20 years ago. 1974Globe & Mail (Toronto) 20 Feb. 33/7 Dr. Will McTavish of Winnipeg and Ralph Smith of Noranda excelled at getting their draws into the centre of the house and knocking out opposition rocks.
2. In figurative or allusive uses:
a. A source of danger or destruction, usually with allusion to shipwreck.
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 240 b, The meditacyon of deth maketh man to eschewe y⊇ rockes and perylles of damnacyon. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 376 It is not unknowen unto you, how they stroke upon these rocks. 1606S. Gardiner Bk. Angling 8 If it dasheth against the rocke of sinne, it is in great ieopardie. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxxi. 186 To avoyd both these Rocks, it is necessary to know what are the Lawes Divine. 1683Temple Mem. Wks. 1720 I. 377 It would be a Rock upon which our firmest Alliances would be in danger to strike and to split. 1734Swift Reasons agst. Tythe of Hemp Wks. 1745 VIII. 96 A rock that many Corporations have split upon, to their..utter undoing. 1857Trollope Barchester T. II. xv, [He] will not be so shortsighted as to run against such a rock. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) II. 295 The rocks which lay concealed under the ambiguous terms, good, pleasure and the like.
b. Something which affords a sure foundation or support; something which gives shelter or protection; used esp. with reference to Christ.
1526Tindale Matt. xvi. 18, I saye..that thou arte Peter. And apon this roocke I wyll bylde my congregacion. 1535Coverdale Deut. xxxii. 37 Where are their goddes, their rocke wherin they trusted? 1571Satir. Poems Reform. xxviii. 102 Swa of this lyfe the Lord was miscontent, Seand my faith not foundit on ane Roik. 1606S. Gardiner Bk. Angling 8 So long as we cast our faith and hope vpon our rocke Christ Iesus. 1633P. Fletcher Purple Isl. xii. lii, Be thou my rock, though I poore changeling rove. 1738Wesley Hymns, ‘Praise by all to Christ be given’ xiii, Hell in vain against us rages; Can it shock Christ the Rock Of eternal Ages? 1780Cowper Progr. Error 143 Will not the sickliest sheep of every flock Resort to this example as a rock? 1809–10Coleridge Friend (1865) 31 The rock which is both their quarry and their foundation, from which and on which they are built. 1872O. W. Holmes Poet Breakf.-t. v, It is the material image of the Christian; his heart resting on the Rock of Ages.
c. In allusion to Numbers xx. 11.
1526Tindale 1 Cor. x. 4 They dronke off that spretuall rocke that folowed them, which rocke was Christ. 1850Tennyson In Mem. cxxxi, O living will.., Rise in the spiritual rock, Flow thro' our deeds and make them pure. 1880N. Smyth Old Faiths in New Lt. II. (1882) 45 The water of life will flow from the rock which the scholar strikes with his rod.
d. In various phrases. on the rocks, quite destitute of means; also (esp. of marriage, etc.), on the point of dissolution; finished.
1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) I. 78 His prayers and tears were cast to the winds and the rocks. 1829Lytton Devereux i. i, Six weeks after her confinement, she put this rock into motion—they eloped. 1889A. G. Murdoch Scot. Readings Ser. iii. 101 Fork out, for I'm fair on the rocks. 1958E. Wilson in N.Y. Post 1 June 2/3 [Roberto Rossellini's] headlined romance with Sonali Das Gupta is now reported on the rocks. 1975Globe & Mail (Toronto) 12 Sept. 12/6 Simply adding more ice to a marriage that's already on the rocks won't save the partnership, the Law Reform Commission of Canada says in a paper on divorce.
e. U.S. slang. A piece of money, spec. a dollar. to pile up the rocks, to make money. a pocketful of rocks, a large amount of money.
1840Picayune (New Orleans) 31 July 2/2 He was just on the eve of leaving town with his ‘pockets full of rocks’. 1846in D. Corcoran Pickings from New Orleans Picayune 143 Here I am in town without a rock in my pocket. 1847J. S. Robb Streaks of Squatter Life 165 If I had a ‘pocket full of rocks’, you should share them. a1848in Bartlett Dict. Amer. 277 Here I am in town without a rock in my pocket. 1849Saxe Poems, The Times 365 When out of the heaps of auriferous ore We can fill up his pockets with ‘rocks’ of his own. 1858J. R. Lowell Poet. Wks. II. 284 A pocket-full of rocks 'twould take To build a house of free-stone. 1897Kipling Capt. Cour. i, Old man's piling up the rocks. Don't want to be disturbed I guess. 1905Dialect Notes III. 17 Rocks, dollars. 1942Z. N. Hurston in A. Dundes Mother Wit (1973) 224/1, I don't bet, but I'll doubt you. Five rocks! 1949Cavalier Daily (Univ. of Va.) 22 Oct. 4/1 They got a campaign goin' around here to try to stick us students six rocks just to go..and listen to some old bag yell her fool head off.
f. slang (orig. U.S.). A precious stone, spec. a diamond. Cf. rock-diamond (sense 6 d).
1908H. Green Maison de Shine 83 ‘So that's his new wife, eh?’ said Goldie later. ‘Did you pipe the rocks she had on?’ 1926J. Black You can't Win xiii. 178 I'll unharness these ‘rocks’. 1929[see loogan]. 1936J. Curtis Gilt Kid v. 57 Some of the women present, he saw, were wearing goodish rocks. 1953‘S. Ransome’ Drag Dark (1954) vi. 60 Goodlee wrote his check..then walked out with the rock. 1968A. Diment Bang Bang Birds vii. 106 He..listened to my vague replies like my advice was worth its weight in sparkling rocks. 1973‘I. Drummond’ Jaws of Watchdog i. 12 ‘We will see some of the most beautiful jewellery in the world... The emeralds.’.. ‘Personally,’ said Jenny, ‘I call it vulgar, having all those rocks on a yacht.’
g. In U.S. colloq. phr. between a rock and a hard place: without a satisfactory alternative, in difficulty (see also quot. 1921).
1921Dialect Notes V. 113 To be between a rock and a hard place,..to be bankrupt. Common in Arizona in recent panics; sporadic in California. 1959L. Roberts Up Cutshin & Down Greasy v. 82 That was one time dad was between a rock and a hard place. 1963D. Ogilvy Confessions Advertising Man xi. 160 As a private person, I would gladly pay for the privilege of watching it without commercial interruptions. Morally, I find myself between the rock and the hard place. 1976T. Wolfe Mauve Gloves & Madmen 37 The dive brings you down so low, you are now down into the skeet range of that insidiously well-aimed flak! This, as they say, puts you between a rock and a hard place.
h. Usu. pl. An ice-cube or crushed ice for use in a drink. In phr. on the rocks, (of a spirituous liquor) served with ice. slang (orig. U.S.).
1946Amer. Speech XXI. 35 Rocks, ice. 1948F. Brown Murder can be Fun (1951) iii. 44 A slug or two of rock and rye won't hurt you. 1949Life 14 Nov. 63 Ordering a Scotch on the rocks at the bar. 1952N. Spain in C. Asquith Second Ghost Bk. 36, I..went in and fixed myself a Scotch on rocks, neat. 1955J. B. Priestley Journey down Rainbow 220 They all drank a lot of whisky-on-the-rocks. 1959‘J. Christopher’ Scent of White Poppies vi. 82 Rocks in your Scotch, Cam? I can get some from the fridge. 1966Listener 20 Oct. 573/2 For some reason, no one knows quite why, Americans insist on having ice, or ‘rocks’ as they call it, always in easy reach. 1978R. Ludlum Holcroft Covenant iii. 39 That was scotch on the rocks, wasn't it?
i. pl. slang. The testicles; = stone n. 11 a. In coarse phr. to get one's rocks off, to achieve sexual satisfaction, to ejaculate; also, in weakened sense, to obtain enjoyment.
1948Amer. Speech XXIII. 249/1 Get your rocks off, an expression used to denote extreme enjoyment. 1961Ibid. XXXVI. 150 Expressions using rocks and stones to mean testes are at least as old as the Renaissance, but in the mouths of today's teen-agers, hot rocks seems to imply only a warm romantic interest by a teen-ager of either sex in one of the opposite gender. 1971Frendz 5 Aug. 22/2 Get yer rocks off Seymour. OK. But there are limits. Surely. 1972Show Sept. 55/2 Unrelenting sequences of unsympathetic characters getting their rocks off. 1975J. Braine Pious Agent vi. 23 I'd get a swift kick in the rocks. 1975G. V. Higgins City on Hill vii. 195 I've been reduced to dressing up in order to get my rocks off. 1978Chicago June 90/3 This is a good film for getting your rocks off, but not the sort you will remember much about two weeks later. 1978J. Irving World according to Garp xi. 205, I don't get my rocks off by humiliating myself, you know.
j. U.S. Baseball slang. An error. In phr. to pull a rock, to make a mistake.
1939E. J. Nichols Hist. Dict. Baseball Terminol. (thesis, Pa. State College) 57 Pull a rock, see ‘boner’. Ibid. 9 Boner, an error in judgment. 1951Birmingham (Alabama) News 31 July 16/3 How does a guy who has been labeled ‘the perfect player’ feel after pulling his first ‘rock’ in a long and brilliant baseball career? 1952Philadelphia Even. Bull. 4 Oct. 13/2 Who deserved the rap for the ‘rock’ that cost the Yankees yesterday's World Series game? 1955Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 5 May 10/7 ‘Luckily, it didn't hurt us but I pulled a rock.’ Durocher then went on to explain his ‘rock’, which didn't prevent the Giants from winning... ‘Good strategy, my foot,’ mocked Durocher after the game. ‘It was a real rock.’ 1956Sun (Baltimore) 26 Apr. b 25/3 Bill changed his mind and lifted Rhodes out of the lineup... The criticism was that he had ‘pulled a rock’.
3. a. Without article, or in generalized use: Hard and massive stone. Also fig.
1590Spenser F.Q. i. vii. 33 But all of Diamond..It framed was, one massy entire mould, Hewen out of Adamant rocke with engines keene. 1603Shakes. Hen. VIII, i. i. 158 To th' King Ile say't, & make my vouch as strong As shore of Rocke. 1604E. G[rimstone] tr. D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. xvii. 173 In running, the water turnes to rocke. 1667Milton P.L. xi. 491 Sight so deform what heart of Rock could long Drie-ey'd behold? 1784Cowper Task v. 534 We build with what we deem eternal rock: A distant age asks where the fabric stood. 1842Tennyson Morte d'Arthur 50 Stepping down By zig-zig paths, and juts of pointed rock. 1888F. Hume Mme. Midas i. Prol., Their combined action had broken off great masses of rock.
†b. oil of the rock, = rock-oil. Obs.
1653.Walton Angler viii. 172 Oyl of Peter, called by some, Oyl of the Rock.
c. of the old, or new, rock, said of precious stones. Also transf.
An echo of French usage, de la vieille, or nouvelle, roche: see Littré s.v. Roche.
1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 34 Diamonds of both Rocks, the Old and New. 1728Chambers Cycl. s.v. Turcoise, There are Turcoises..of the new Rock and the old... Those of the old Rock are a deep blue, and those of the new Rock more whitish. 1763H. Walpole Let. to G. Montagu 12 Nov., Sir Michael Foster is dead, a Whig of the old rock.
d. spec. Sandstone. (See also quot. 1712.) local.
1712Morton Nat. Hist. Northants 265 Sand-stone, Lime-stone, and others Kind of Stone, that are usually dispos'd into Strata, a Pile, or Parcel of which is here called a Rock. 1863J. Sleigh Hist. Leek 259 The ‘Rough Rock’, or upper beds of Millstone Grit are not very fossiliferous. 1883Gresley Gloss. Coal-mining, Rock generally means sandstone. Ibid., Rock and Rig,..a sandstone full of little patches and shreds of coal.
e. Agric. (See quot. 1844.)
1765Museum Rust. IV. 307 The soil is light and stoney, with a rock of gravel about ten or twelve inches deep. 1844Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. VII. 72/1 The different strata give rise to what are usually called the different rocks, the term ‘rock’ being usually applied in agriculture to the base on which the sub-soil immediately lies.
f. Geol. One of the stratified or igneous mineral constituents of which the earth's crust is composed, including sands, clays, etc.
1789John Williams Nat. Hist. Min. Kingd. I. 3 Lime⁓stone, whinstone, basaltes, and many other hard rocks, continue firm..quite up to the superficies of the strata. 1819Pantologia s.v. Sienite, This rock is composed essentially of crystals of felspar and hornblende. 1834J. Phillips Geol. in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VI. 537 The series of stratified rocks in the North of England. 1878Huxley Physiogr. 169 The rocks are comparatively soft, consisting for the most part of sands, clays and chalk.
g. Mineral ore. U.S.
1830Workingman's Gaz. (Woodstock, Vermont) 28 Oct. 38/1 The surface is almost covered with rock, all which contains gold..which is obtained by breaking or pounding the rock. 1896C. H. Shinn Story of Mine 78 The quartz prospector..only pans out a few ounces of powdered rock. 1902O. Wister Virginian xv. 172 Are they taking much mineral out? Have yu' seen any of the rock? 1948Los Angeles Times 12 Jan. ii. 8/3 (heading) Ruby mine runs into rich rock.
4. transf.
a. A hard confection of candied sugar variously flavoured; dial. sweetstuff. Also with qualifying words, as almond rock, peppermint rock.
App. ellipt. for rock-candy or -sugar: see 9 below.
1736Bailey Household Dict. s.v. Rock-Sugar, All the rock will slip out, and fall most of it in small pieces. 1843[see nonpareil 3]. 1857Kingsley Two Years Ago xv, Promising them rock and bullseyes. 1878Meredith Teeth 20 Biting into rock and other hard candies is certainly a very reprehensible practice. 1897M. Kingsley W. Africa 227 Its appearance is that of almond rock, and it is cut easily with a knife.
b. An insoluble soap formed by the blending of calcium stearate and oleate of tallow dissolved through lime.
1856Orr's Circle Sci., Pract. Chem. 455 The soap thus formed is very hard, and is generally called rock. 1885W. L. Carpenter Soap & Candles 254 These salts,..when mixed together, constitute an insoluble soap, technically called ‘rock’.
c. ellipt. (See quot.)
1811Trans. Geol. Soc. I. 53 The rock-salt obtained from it, being principally exported to the Baltic, obtains the name of Prussia Rock.
d. ellipt. A rock-cake.
1892F. Davies Cakes & Biscuits 101 This quantity should make fifty rocks.
e. A crystallized form of cocaine which is smoked for its stimulating effect; = crack n. 20. slang (orig. U.S. West Coast).
1973Smith & Wesson Uppers & Downers 150 Rock, cocaine in rock form. 1985Los Angeles Times 11 Jan. i. 2/6 An Inglewood ‘rock house’, where cocaine in hardened form was being sold. 1985Daily Tel. 1 Mar. 15/4 The ‘rock’ is..put in a pipe and smoked, with far more potent effects than inhaling the powder. 1986Observer 17 Aug. 12/2 ‘Rock’ or ‘Crack’ cocaine is a potent, purified, smokable form of the drug which can be lethal.
5. a. = rock-fish 1.
1698G. Thomas Pennsilvania (1848) 14 There are..Salmon, Trout, Sturgeon, Rock, Oysters. 1776Carroll Jrnl. (1845) 52 Lake George abounds with perch, trout, rock, and eels. 1872Schele de Vere Americanisms 383 The Rock is beautifully marked with seven or eight black lines on a silver-bright ground. 1888Goode Amer. Fishes 22 In the North it is called the ‘Striped Bass’, in the South the ‘Rock Fish’, or the ‘Rock’. 1977Grimsby Even. Tel. 5 May 18/2 Principal sorts were: Cod 1,712 kits, haddock 1,059,..rocks 23, skate 58,..monk 16.
b. The rock-dove or rock-pigeon (Columba livia). Usually blue rock.
1863[see blue a. 12]. 1882‘Ouida’ Maremma I. v. 116 The blue-rock was carrying dry twigs and grass to his home. 1885Field 4 Apr. (Cassell), Being a bit slow in firing a fast rock escaped him.
c. ellipt. = Plymouth Rock.
1908Daily Chron. 10 Jan. 3/4 The order of merit now stands as follows:—First, White Wyandottes; second, La Bresse; third, buff rocks.
II. attrib. and Comb.
6. Attrib. or appositive:
a. With words denoting something which consists of, or is formed by, rock, as rock-abode, rock-altar, rock-arch, rock-barrier, rock-bluff, rock-cavern, rock-chamber, rock-chimney, rock-cliff, rock-crust, rock-drift, rock-dwelling, rock-flat, rock-floor, rock-fortress, rock-hill, rock ledge, rock-point, rock-pool, rock-rampart, rock-shelter, rock-shrine, rock-stack, rock-terrace, rock-wall, etc.
The number of these is practically unlimited; many examples occur in recent geological works.
1887Morris Odyssey xii. 255 So they were lifted gasping into that *rock-abode.
1832in Archaeologia (1834) XXV. 204 A *Rock Altar on the heights on the eastern side of the lake of La Trinité.
1936H. Nicolson Let. 28 Sept. (1966) 274 The precipices,..the *rock-arches..roared back at us.
1940C. Day Lewis tr. Virgil's Georgics iv. 90 Proteus shelters within behind a huge *rock-barrier.
1886A. Winchell Walks & Talks in Geol. Field 53 We have seen..the *rock-bluffs bounding..the basins of the great lakes.
1847Singer Wayland Smith p. xxix, The Swedes..show a *rock-cavern..as having been his workshop.
1954J. R. R. Tolkien Fellowship of Ring 217 There was a cave or *rock-chamber behind.
Ibid. 401 There were many birds about the cliffs and the *rock-chimneys. 1972Shooting Times & Country Mag. 1 July 17/3 A rock ‘chimney’ up which I was none too happy in ascending.
1856W. L. Lindsay Brit. Lichens 13 The *rock-clefts and gullies of our Highland mountains.
1952S. Spender Learning Laughter 9 From the ship we saw houses on a green shelf above a *rock-cliff.
a1963C. S. Lewis Poems (1964) 45 Down far under his *rock⁓crust.
1951W. de la Mare Winged Chariot 16 Sweet salt-tanged air, birds, *rock-drift. 1959Blunden Hong Kong House 2 It was no garden—so adust, red-dry the rock-drift soil was.
1860Pusey Min. Proph. 145 Edom.., its ancient capital, its *rock-dwellings, have been..anew revealed.
1855Leifchild Cornwall 87 A fissure filled by basaltic or other rocks, would be called a *rock dyke.
1883Gresley Gloss. Coal-mining, *Rock Fault, a replacement of a coal seam over a greater or less area, by some other rock, usually sandstone.
1967Oceanogr. & Marine Biol. V. 483 In the most subtropical areas,..the fauna living between the algae covering these *rock-flats may be greatly impoverished.
1905Jrnl. Geol. XIII. 393 The desert plain may be reduced to a lower level than that of the deepest initial basin; and then a *rock-floor,..unrelated to normal baselevel, will prevail throughout. 1946F. E. Zeuner Dating Past vii. 223 Resting on an irregular rock-floor at about 7·5 metres above low sea-level, a beach conglomerate is found.
1831M. Russell Egypt xi. §1 The relative positions of the great *rock-formations.
1934W. S. Churchill Marlborough II. xv. 331 Coblenz..stands opposite the majestic *rock-fortress of Ehrenbreitstein. 1946R. Campbell Talking Bronco 41 Rock-fortress of your sex and gender!
a1862Thoreau Maine Woods (1864) 262 Being struck with the perfect parallelism of these singular *rock-hills,..I took out my compass.
1754Borlase Antiq. Cornwall 161 Of *Rock Idols. 1763J. Hutchins in Mem. W. Stukeley (Surtees) II. 128, I am apt to think it was a rock idol.
1963D. W. & E. E. Humphries tr. Termier's Erosion & Sedimentation xiii. 260 This type of coastal cornice, or *rock ledge, is thus a phenomenon of marine abrasion.
a1700Evelyn Diary (1644) 7 Oct., An high and steepe mountainous ground consisting all of *rock marble.
1863A. C. Ramsay Phys. Geogr. 15 The whole *rock-masses of the outer world.
1849D. G. Rossetti Let. 18 Oct. (1965) I. 74 One *rock-point standing buffeted alone, vexed at its base with a foul beast unknown. 1948L. MacNeice Holes in Sky 31 Foam-quoits on rock-points.
1853Zoologist II. 4059 Its own selected hole in the *rock-pool. 1907E. Gosse Father & Son vi. 156 The antiquity of these rock-pools..used to occupy my Father's fancy. 1955V. Palmer in B. James Austral. Short Stories (1963) 32 He stared into rock-pools.
1924R. Campbell Flaming Terrapin vi. 94 The brink of the abyss, Where into space the sharp *rock-rampart drops.
1886Kipling Departm. Ditties, Overland Mail, From rice-field to *rock-ridge, from rock-ridge to spur.
1821Scott Pirate xxvii, A native of Zetland familiar..with every variety of *rock-scenery.
1865Lubbock Preh. Times 245 A number of small caves and *rock-shelters in the Dordogne. 1927Peake & Fleure Hunters & Artists 40 A small rock-shelter, now quarried away. 1971World Archaeol. III. 147 Puntutjarpa is a minor sacred site about 150 ft west of the rockshelter.
1933Burlington Mag. June 290/2 A small seated Buddha-image,..cut out of a *rock-shrine at Yiin-Kang. 1969Tanzania Notes & Rec. July 3 The great rock-shrine of Tita, in southern Turu near Puma, is in the eyes of the Turu themselves less powerful than similar shrines in the mountains of Sandawe country and in Isanzu.
1586W. Webbe Eng. Poetrie (Arb.) 75 Vnder a *Rock side here will proyner chaunt merrie ditties.
1877Squier Peru (1878) 493 These *rockslips are frequent among the Andes.
1969G. M. Brown Orkney Tapestry i. 17 There among them, standing out to sea a little, is the *rock-stack called The Old Man of Hoy.
1877Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 126 The great changes..wrought in the underlying *rock-strata.
1850Sir G. Wilkinson Archit. Anc. Egypt 92 *Rock Temples may be classified under three heads.
1892Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. III. 65 Raised marine deposits with an arctic fauna occur over the latest moraines in Scandinavia... Bravais, half a century ago came to the conclusion that two elevated *rock-terraces in northern Norway examined by him are not horizontal but descend toward the north. 1968R. W. Fairbridge Encycl. Geomorphol. 1184/2 [River] terraces may be cut into the solid rock or consist of a rock bench veneered with a comparatively small thickness of alluvium (rock terrace).
1850Sir G. Wilkinson Archit. Anc. Egypt 109 The *rock tombs at Thebes.
1904W. M. Ramsay Lett. Seven Churches xxv. 360 At times an oblique crack develops in the *rock-wall. 1954J. R. R. Tolkien Two Towers 73 At the far end the rock-wall was sheer.
b. With ns. denoting markings upon rocks, as rock art, rock-carving, rock drawing, rock-engraving, rock-inscription, rock-painting, rock-picture, etc.
1959J. D. Clark Prehist. S. Afr. ix. 248 The *rock art tells us little for certain about marriage customs. 1974B. & R. Hill Spirit in Stone 11 With very few exceptions most rock art sites are located near villages.
1907H. M. Chadwick Origin Eng. Nation xii. 306 The *rock-carvings at Tegneby. 1950H. L. Lorimer Homes & Monuments vi. 354 The well-known rock-carving of Ivriz on which a King appears before the god of vegetation.
1938H. A. Winkler Rock-Drawings of Southern Upper Egypt I. 26 The discovery of *rock-drawings showing boats of a type foreign to Egypt. 1977H. Innes Big Footprints i. i. 33 The location of the rock drawings.
1920H. G. Wells Outl. Hist. I. xvii. 126/1 From *rock engravings we may deduce the theory that the desert was crossed from oasis to oasis. 1959J. D. Clark Prehist. S. Afr. ii. 29 The first European in Rhodesia to see rock engravings was probably Thomas Leask who saw those near Wankie in 1869 when on a hunting trip to the Zambezi.
1874Deutsch Rem. 177 The long *rock-inscription of Hamamât.
1908Encycl. Relig. & Ethics I. 822/2 The *rock-paintings..are either stencilled..or painted in outline. 1977Times 23 Apr. 14/1, I read of a Bushman woman wearing a circle of beads..‘exactly like that of her ancient prototype’ in an early rock painting.
1939Man No. 119. 178/2 On one of the stalactite pillars..was found a big round stone with..traces of red paint on its surface, as used in the *rock-pictures. 1952V. G. Childe New Light Most Anc. East (ed. 4) ii. 17 The rock-pictures..demonstrate the survival of the ‘Rhodesian fauna’.
1861G. Moore (title-p.), The Lost Tribes and the Saxons of the East,..with..translations of *Rock-Records in India.
1865Tylor Early Hist. Man. v. 88 *Rock-sculptures may often be..symbolic boundary marks.
c. With abstract ns., as rock-accumulation, rock-arrangement, rock-disintegration, rock-movement, rock porosity, rock-type, etc.
1874Geikie Gt. Ice Age (1894) 220 The direction of the streams never being in any degree influenced by the rock-dislocations. 1881Judd Volcanoes 283 This work of rock-disintegration. 1886A. Winchell Walks Geol. Field 71 During the long history of rock-accumulation. Ibid. 78 We catch sight of a general method in rock-arrangements. 1907Bull. Geol. Survey N.Z. No. 3. 95 Differential rock-movement is recorded by the well-slickensided faces and the plastic finely comminuted rock-material occurring in the plane of contact. 1946Nature 6 July 31/1 G. A. Maximovich.., after making a compilation of several thousands of determination[s] of rock-porosity,..has calculated the average porosities of different types of rocks. Ibid. 3 Aug. 172/1 The commonest rock-type [on Heard Island] is trachybasalt.
d. In miscellaneous uses, as rock-cut, rock-cutting, rock-demon, rock-diamond, rock-fishing, rock-flower, rock-herb, rock-land, rock-spring, rock-tackle, rock-top, rock-vine, rock-wilderness.
1873J. H. Beadle Undevel. West 139 A long *rock-cut. 1965G. McInnes Road to Gundagai ix. 134 Each rattling rock-cut, each looping embankment and low trestle bridge carried us further into an unbelievable land.
1873‘Mark Twain’ & Warner Gilded Age 420 There is Newark,..then marshes, then long *rock cuttings, devoted to the advertisements of patent medicines.
1871Tylor Prim. Cult. II. 189 An early missionary account of a *rock-demon worshipped by the Huron Indians.
1836Furness Astrologer i. 66 Jacinth, *rock-diamond, crystal, sapphires blue.
1740R. Brookes (title), The Art of Angling, *Rock and Sea-Fishing.
c1820S. Rogers Italy (1839) 32 Every where gathering *rock-flowers.
1626Bacon Sylva §570 There be likewise *Rock-Herbs; But I suppose those are where there is some Mould or Earth.
1891M. E. Ryan Pagan of Alleghanies 96 The rest of that *rock-land is going to break away sometime. 1946W. de la Mare Traveller 17 He..had wakened to the rock-land. 1960Wall St. Jrnl. 30 Nov. 7/3 The technique of ‘rockland’ farming was developed a few years ago in south Florida... Growers use the rockland in preference to more fertile soil partly because..rocklands are on higher ground and are less subject to flooding.
1712Morton Nat. Hist. Northants 265 This County..abounds with those called *Rock-Springs, that is, the lasting or perennial ones, whose Ducts or Chanels are in the Fissures or Intervalls of those Rocks. 188419th Cent. Feb. 325 The pure outflow of a rock-spring.
1793Smeaton Edystone L. §261 The shears, the windlass, and all the *rock tackle.
1927D. H. Lawrence Mornings in Mexico 135 High on a narrow *rock-top.
1927Joyce Pomes Penyeach, Gold-brown upon the sated flood The *rockvine clusters lift and sway.
1927D. H. Lawrence Mornings in Mexico 162 The great, hollow, *rock-wilderness space of that part of Arizona.
e. Placed after the words qualified. rare.
1562Legh Armory A j, The fourth is a Iugge and cuppe of Ruby rocke, in a field siluer. 1575Laneham Let. (1871) 51 Great Diamons, Emerauds, Rubyes, and Saphyres: poynted, tabld, rok, and roound.
7. Objective or objective genitive:
a. With pres. pples., as rock-battering, rock-boring, rock-crushing, rock-forming, rock-infesting, rock-loving, rock-rolling, etc.
1605Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. Lawe 13 *Rock-batt'ring Bumbards, Valour-murdering Guns.
1875Encycl. Brit. III. 808 A good *rock-boring machine..ensures considerable economy in time and labour.
1966A. Battersby Math. in Managem. i. 16 This *rock-crushing argument may well be used to suppress a bright boy.
1893J. W. Gregory (title), Tables for the determination of the *Rock-Forming Minerals, compiled by F. Lawinson-Lessing.
1850R. G. Cumming Hunter's Life S. Afr. (1902) 38/1 Even the *rock-frequenting koodoos themselves made bad weather of it.
1940A. H. Gardiner Theory of Proper Names i. 7 The *rock-infesting monsters.
1847Emerson Poems 230 A wild-rose, or *rock-loving columbine, Salve my worst wounds. 1850R. G. Cumming Hunter's Life S. Afr. (1902) 37/2 It was just the country to suit the taste of the rock-loving koodoos.
1886Winchell Walks Geol. Field 99 A *rock-melting temperature.
1876L. Stephen Eng. Th. 18th C. I. v. 281 Like some mass of *rockpiercing strata of a different formation.
1608Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. Decay 656 O Arm that Kings dis-thrones: O Army-shaving Sword! *Rock-razing Hands!
1957R. Campbell Coll. Poems II. 106 But now the longed-for sound, As of *rock-rolling torrents underground, Approaches.
b. With vbl. ns., as rock-blasting, rock-boring, rock-climbing, rock-folding, rock-painting, etc.
1838Darwin in Life & Lett. (1887) I. 292 The good science of rock-breaking. 1877Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 366 The great improvements in mining machinery, in rock-drilling, in explosives. 1886Winchell Walks Geol. Field 64 A similar process to rock-making. 1892Pall Mall G. 25 Feb. 2/1 Putting to an end rock-climbing for some..time. 1923G. D. Abraham First Steps to Climbing iv. 45 It is a well-considered opinion that rock climbing is the most important branch of mountaineering. 1965G. J. Williams Econ. Geol. N.Z. iii. 20/1 It is very clear that there is a general parallelism between rock-folding and the trend of the lodes. 1965R. & D. Morris Men & Snakes i. 17 Australia is the only continent where rock painting is still practised regularly today. 1977Times 19 Jan. 14/1 Wasdale Head proclaims itself as the birth⁓place of rock climbing.
c. With agent-nouns (also forming names of machines), as rock beater, rock-breaker, rock-builder, rock climber, rock-hopper, rock-hunter, rock-painter, etc.
1935Discovery July 203/2 The rock is..crushed in *rock beaters.
1874Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 409 The fine ore and clay,..without sending them through the *rock-breakers, which the clay tends to choke up. 1881― Mining Gloss., Rock-breaker, usually applied to a class of machines..in which the rock is crushed between two jaws.
1876Page Adv. Text-bk. Geol. iii. 67 The principal *rock-builders among these microscopic organisms.
1896Westm. Gaz. 13 Nov. 2/1 Accustomed to the *rock-climbers of the Tyrol, we found our guides slow. 1940F. Smythe Adventures of Mountaineer vii. 75, I knew my companion to be a magnificent rock climber, as agile and as active as a cat. 1977R.A.F. News 27 Apr.-10 May 20/6 St Athan's mountain rescue team..were asked to help rescue a rock climber who had fallen in the Brecon Beacons.
1959S. J. Baker Drum 140 *Rock-hopper, a person who fishes from rocks on a sea⁓coast. 1969Man (Austral.) Mar. 12/2 Many rock-hoppers are experienced rock climbers, of a breed who, for sport, crawl like flies over the granite.
1971R. Purvis Treasure Hunting in Brit. Columbia ii. 47 The first *rockhunter to emerge in the early stone age wasn't interested in the beauty or gem quality of stones.
1919H. G. Wells Outl. Hist. xii. 77/2 The simplicity, directness, and detachment of a later Palæolithic *rock-painter appeal more to modern sympathies than does the state of mind of these Neolithic men. 1961L. van der Post Heart of Hunter 9, I gave a brief account of the tragic extermination of this little hunter and rock-painter by the Black and the White invaders of his ancient country.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 1960/2 *Rock-pulverizer, a machine or mill for breaking stone.
1887Pall Mall G. 12 Feb. 11/1 Receiving a few bruises from vagrant *rock-throwers.
8. a. Instrumental and locative, as rock-begirdled, rock-bestudded , rock-born, rock-bound, rock-bred, rock-bristled, rock-cut, rock-girt, rock-guarded, rock-living, rock-nurtured, rock-perched, rock-rooted, rock-staked, etc.
1813Scott Rokeby ii. i, *Rock-begirdled Gilmanscar.
1828Wordsw. Power of Sound iii, From rocky steep and *rock-bestudded meadows.
1635Quarles Embl. iii. xi. 28 O shall my *Rock-bethreatned Soul be drown'd?
1849J. R. Lowell in National Anti-Slavery Standard 23 Aug. 50/6 Taghkanic's *rockborn child Dares gloriously the dangerous leap. 1913W. B. Yeats in Brit. Rev. Apr. 89, I have kept my faith though faith was tried To that rock-born, rock-wandering foot.
1840Longfellow Wreck Hesperus x, 'Tis a fog-bell on a *rock-bound coast! 1937De la Mare & Jones This year: Next Year 12/2 The lovely sirens sing..in their rock-bound solitude. 1978Amer. Poetry Rev. Nov./Dec. 20/3 Along the stormy, rockbound Ligurian coast.
1830Scott Auchindrane i. i, As the *rock-bred eaglet soars Up to her nest. 1920W. B. Yeats in Dial Nov. 462 She seemed to have grown clean and sweet Like any rock-bred, sea borne bird. 1941L. B. Lyon Tomorrow is Revealing 22 Encounter The rock-bred wolf or risk the valley road.
1847J. R. Lowell Summer Storm in Poems 2nd Ser. 66 Like the toothless sea mumbling A *rock-bristled shore.
1856Kane Arctic Expl. I. xviii. 220 The glaciers descend..from an interior of lofty *rock-clad hills.
Ibid. ix. 96 The same frowning cliffs and *rock-covered ice-belt.
1834Penny Cycl. II. 283/1 The *rock-cut tombs or temples in Nubia. 1933Burlington Mag. Nov. 237/1 The paintings in the rock-cut Chapels of Cappadocia. 1979London Rev. Bks. 25 Oct. 14/2 (Advt.), Two hundred years ago..Buddhist rock-cut shrines, the mosques of Moslems,..were all but unknown to Europeans.
1820Shelley Prometh. Unb. i. 120 Oh, *rock-embosomed lawns, and snow-fed streams.
1807Wordsw. White Doe vii. 253 The grassy *rock-encircled Pound.
1770W. Hodson Dedic. Temple of Solomon 12 Down whose *Rock-encumber'd Side..roll'd the chrystal Stream.
1839Talfourd Glencoe iii. ii, With grief For *rock-enthroned Scotland.
1598Sylvester Du Bartas I. Eden 548 *Rock-fal'n spowts, congealed by colder air.
1649Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V, clv, They cleave *Rocke-firmed Towers.
a1847Eliza Cook There would I be ii, The *rock-girded ocean.
1845E. A. Poe in Graham's Mag. Dec. 251/1 No billow breaking into foam Upon the *rock-girt shore of Time. 1860Pusey Min. Proph. 236 The rock-girt Petra.., a gem in its mountain-setting.
1929C. E. Robinson Hist. Greece vi. 63 One great advantage indeed the Attic folk possessed in the admirable *rock-guarded harbours adjacent to their capital.
1923D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers 41 A *rock-living, sweet-fleshed sea-anemone.
1913W. B. Yeats in Brit. Rev. Apr. 87 *Rock-nurtured Aoife took a pin.
1913W. de la Mare Peacock Pie 64, I long to watch the sea-mew wheel Back to her *rock-perched mate.
1627Drayton Agincourt, etc. 110 Comming next to *Rocke⁓reard Nottingham.
1815Shelley Alastor 562 A pine, *Rock-rooted, stretched athwart the vacancy Its swinging boughs. 1890Congress. Rec. 7 June 5802/1, Every rock-rooted advocate of the gold standard is in favor of [this provision]. 1930W. B. Yeats Wild Apples 1 Unsheltered by steading, Rock-rooted and grown, A great tree of Erin, It stands up alone.
1860G. H. K. Vac. Tour 165 The little *rock-set basin not ten yards across.
1894Kipling Seven Seas (1896) 131 Thou hast not toiled at the fishing..Nor worked the war-boats outward through the rush of the *rock-staked seas.
1891Kipling Light that Failed ii. (1900) 24 The *rock-strewn ridges were alive with armed men.
1842A. de Vere Song of Faith 253 High in her cloudy court The *rock-throned osprey.
1833Tennyson Pal. Art 71 You seem'd to hear them [sc. waves]..roar *rock-thwarted under bellowing caves.
a1847Eliza Cook Stanzas vi, The *rock-torn plank and shattered spar.
b. Parasynthetic, as rock-arched, rock-based, rock-browed, rock-chested, rock-crested, rock-faced, rock-floored, rock-roofed, rock-scarped, rock-walled, rock-wombed.
1833J. G. Whittier Poet. Wks. (1898) 559/2 Through *rock-arched Winooski the salmon leaps free.
1877L. Morris Epic of Hades ii. 100 To a wild headland, *rockbased in the sea.
1944Blunden Shells by Stream 19 Above the *rock-browed shag-haired weir.
1939Dylan Thomas Map of Love 4 If the dead starve, their stomachs turn to tumble An upright man in the antipodes Or spray-based and *rock-chested sea.
1837A. Tennent Vis. Glencoe 10 The *rock-crested Ailsa begirt with the wave.
1840Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. III. 84/1 The substructure is a stylobate, or continuous pedestal, resting upon a deep *rock-faced plinth. 1889Cath. Househ. 30 Nov. 3 It is faced with coursed rock-faced ashlar.
1905W. M. Davis in Jrnl. Geol. XIII. 388 The initial relief will be extinguished even under the slow processes of desert erosion, and there will appear instead large, *rock-floored plains sloping toward large waste-floored plains.
1777Potter æschylus, Prometheus 22 Thy *rock-roof'd grottos arch'd by nature's hand. 1819Shelley Cyclops 74 The gathered flocks into the rock-roofed cave.
1852Mundy Antipodes (1857) 2 A *rock-scarped table-land covered with a stunted shrub-like gorse.
1879J. G. Whittier Poet. Wks. (1898) 257/1 Church that..Saw within the *rock-walled bay Treville's lilied pennons play.
1798W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. V. 208 For gain to dig the *rock-womb'd gold. 1954W. Faulkner Fable 260 The rock-wombed powder magazines under the Gates of Hercules.
c. Similative, as rock-fast, rock-firm, rock-footed, rock-hard, rock-hearted, rock-solid, rock-steady, rock-still, rock-white; also rock-blackness, rock-heart.
1968R. P. Warren Incarnations (1970) 11 The moon, eastward and over The ridge and *rock-blackness, rears.
1898Meredith Odes Fr. Hist. 23 What he constructed held *rock-fast.
1891Hardy Tess (1900) 38/1 When..malignant possibilities stand *rock-firm as facts.
1911Beerbohm Zuleika D. xxii. 317 Sole and splendid survivor he stood, *rock-footed, before her.
1935‘L. Luard’ Conquering Seas v. 69 Plenty of *rock-hard, shelf cod. 1978S. Sheldon Bloodline xxii. 250 The man was fully aroused now, rock-hard.
1647W. Fenner Wks. (1658) 225 Can any *rock-heart hold out and not be broken with the blowes of it?
1647Cowley Mistr., Innocent Ill iii, Though savage, and *rock-hearted those Appear, that weep not ev'n Romances woes.
1972Ulster (Sunday Times Insight Team) xvi. 273 They had seen their support in the area—once *rock-solid—steadily and severely eroded. 1976A. Price War Game i. ix. 175 He'll never sit for this seat... It's rock-solid Conservative.
1928Outlook 26 May 650/1 Consols were *rock-steady at 112. 1976J. Wainwright Who goes Next? 151 The killer held the rifle rock-steady.
1976J. B. Hilton Gamekeeper's Gallows ii. 20 He cocked his eye up to the pressure-dial. The needle was *rock still, not even trembling.
1916Blunden Pastorals 21 Through the bindweed's *rock-white mesh.
d. Misc., as rock-free, rock-rushing adjs.
1605Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. Captains 623 Rock-rushing Tempests do retreat, or charge. 1615Chapman Odyssey vii. 391 A flood, Whose shores..on good aduantage stood, For my receit, rock-free, and fenc't from wind.
9. a. Special combs., as rock-apostle, St. Peter (in allusion to Matt. xvi. 18); rock bar Physical Geogr. = riegel; rock-berg, a mass of rock resembling an iceberg; rock-bind(ers), sandy shale (Gresley, 1883); rock biscuit, a hard variety of fancy biscuit; rock bit Oil Industry, a drilling bit for use in hard formations; rock bolt Mining, a tensioned rod passing through a bed of rock and anchoring it to the body of rock behind; so rock bolting, the practice or technique of using rock bolts; rock-bone (see quots.); rock-bottom, bed-rock; also fig., the fundamental or lowest possible level, nadir (see also quot. 1866); also attrib. or as adj., lowest possible, unbeatable (of prices, etc.); fundamental, firmly grounded, honest, sound; rock-bun, = rock-cake; rock butter (see butter n.1 3); rock cake, a small cake or bun with a rugged surface; rock candy (see sense 4 a); also in Big Rock Candy Mountain(s), a song about a mythical earthly paradise, used allusively in sense ‘utopia’; rock climb, the ascent of a rock-face; also as v. intr.; rock coal U.S., anthracite; rock cocoa (see quot.); rock coral, ? coral of a massive form; rock cork, a light variety of asbestos; pilolite; rock cotton, ? mineral cotton (see cotton n.1 7); rock-craft, skill in climbing, or moving among, rocks; rock creep, the creep (creep n. 7 a) of rock, boulders, etc.; rock-crusher, (a) a machine used to break down rocks; (b) fig. in Bridge, a superlative hand; also attrib.; rock-drill, a rock-boring instrument or machine; rock-dust N. Amer., pulverized stone used to prevent explosions in coal mines; so rock-dusting vbl. n.; hence rock-dust v. trans., to treat (a mine) with pulverized stone; rock-duster (see quot. 1975); rock English, the mixed English of Gibraltar; rock-face, a vertical expanse of natural rock; also transf. and fig.; also rock-faced a.; rockfall, the descent of loose rocks; a mass of fallen rock; rock fan Physical Geogr., an eroded rock surface similar in shape to an alluvial fan, with a convex profile in transverse section; rock fence chiefly Southern U.S., a stone wall; rock fever, an enteric fever common at Gibraltar; Malta or Mediterranean fever; rock-fill Engin., large rock fragments used to form the bulk of the material of a dam; freq. attrib.; rock-fire (see quot.); rock-flesh, a spongy variety of asbestos; rock-flint, impure flint; chert; rock-flour, finely powdered rock, esp. that formed as a result of glacial erosion; rock-froth, fused lava much inflated by bubbles of steam or gas; rock-garden, a garden consisting of rocks and rock-plants; so rock-gardener, -gardening; rock gas, natural gas obtained by boring through rock; rock glacier, a large mass of rock debris, in some cases mingled with ice, which moves gradually downhill in the manner of a glacier; rock gong Archæol. (see quots.); rock-hammer, a hammer used for rock-breaking; rock happy U.S. Mil. slang, mentally disturbed through serving too long on a (Pacific) island; rock harmonicon, -head, (see quots.); rock-hog, a labourer engaged in tunnelling through rock; rock hole, (a) a tunnel; (b) Austral., a natural depression in a rock that catches water; rock-honey, hopping (see quots.); rock hound colloq. (orig. U.S.), (a) a geologist; (b) an amateur mineralogist; hence rock-hounding vbl. n., the hobby or activity of an amateur mineralogist; rock-house, (a) a house built of stone or quarried rock; (b) a shady place under over-hanging rocks providing a suitable habitat for ferns; rock-isinglass (see gypsine a.); rock leather, a variety of asbestos, mountain leather; rock lizard, -marl, -marrow, -meal, -milk, -mine, -nosing (see quots.); rock mechanics, the branch of science and engineering concerned with the mechanical properties and behaviour of rock; rock of ages Rhyming slang, wages; rock-paper, a very thin and flexible variety of asbestos; rock-peg Mountaineering, a nail-like device hammered into rock to assist climbing; rock phosphate, a sedimentary rock containing phosphates in high proportion; phosphorite; rock pile U.S. slang, (a) a heap of stones; (b) a jail or prison, in allusion to the convict's task of breaking stones; also transf. and fig.; rock pitch Mountaineering, an expanse of rock between belay points; rock piton Mountaineering, a piton used to assist climbing of rock; † rock-ray, a line or reef of rocks; rock river = rock glacier above; rock scorpion = rock lizard; rock silk, a silky variety of asbestos; rock-slide orig. U.S., a slippage of rock; a rough mass of rock that has subsided thus; also fig.; rocksman Sc. = rockman 1; rock-soap, a kind of bole; mountain soap; rock stream = rock glacier above; rock sugar (see sense 4 a); rock tar, petroleum; rock waste, fragments of rock produced by weathering; rock well, an oil well drilled through superficial deposits of clay, sand, or the like into underlying rock; rock-wood, a compact variety of asbestos; rock wool, a material such as limestone, slag, or the like, made into the form of a fine, matted fibre, esp. for use in thermal insulation or soundproofing.
1865Ruskin Sesame i. §24 The strong angels of whom the *rock-apostle is the image.
1912W. H. Hobbs Earth Features xxvi. 377 When the backward grades upon the valley floor are especially steep, the rock step becomes a *rock bar, or riegel, of which nearly every Alpine valley has its example. 1954,1957[see riegel]. 1963D. W. & E. E. Humphries tr. Termier's Erosion & Sedimentation v. 121 Special characteristics such as cirques..and rock bars can always be recognized.
1865Burritt Walk Land's End 242 The tors looked like *rockbergs, once floating on the great revolving drift.
1862Ramsay Rock Spec. 71 Argillaceous sandstones..which pass under the name of ‘rock’ or ‘*rock binds’.
1861Mrs. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. 852 (heading) *Rock biscuits. 1893Emile Hérissé Pastry Making 84 Raspberry Rock Biscuits. Proceed as in making Almond Rock Biscuits.
1920Engin. & Mining Jrnl. 7 Feb. 404/1 The invention and development of rotary *rock bits lagged behind the introduction and successful application of the rotary method of drilling. 1974R. D. Grace in P. L. Moore et al. Drilling Practices Man. iv. 66 Rock bits should be economical in the shale.
1955L. A. Panek in Rep. Investigations U.S. Bureau of Mines (1956) No. 5154. 1 The practice of roof bolting or *rock bolting to stabilize rock surrounding underground excavations has increased..within a few years.
1957Q. Colorado School of Mines July 235 Because of their increasingly extensive use in non-coal mines, we prefer to call these devices ‘*rock’ rather than ‘roof’ *bolts and will refer to them as such. 1973L. J. Thomas Introd. Mining viii. 310 Rock bolts, sometimes called roof bolts, are the first line of defence in many mining and civil engineering applications.
1701Grew Cosm. Sacra i. v. §6 Among many varieties both in the Inner and the Outer Ear, those which appear in the Passage into the *Rock-bone, are remarkable. 1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) I. 390 In..the os petrosum or rock-bone of the ear, they grow into a substance hard as steel.
[1856‘Old Colonist’ How to Farm & Settle in Austral. 56 This lowest bottom, ‘the rock’ as it is emphatically termed, in reference to its character as a bar to further digging for gold.] 1866Oregon State Jrnl. 24 Nov. 2/2 A sound democrat, or ‘*rock bottom’, never shrinks from the requirements of his master. 1884Lisbon (Dakota) Star 10 Oct., Boots, shoes and rubbers in great variety and at rock-bottom prices. 1890in Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang II. 183/1 Other freight wars, covering much less territory than the present, have gone to rock bottom before any attempt has been made to restore rates. 1902W. N. Harben Abner Daniel 273 See here, I've got a rock-bottom proposal to make to your people. 1904― Georgians 200 Now cool off, an' let's git down to rock-bottom. 1923D. L. Sayers Whose Body? vii. 167 There aren't many men who wouldn't be nice—to her, and even then, if they aren't rock-bottom she can see through them. 1930Sat. Even. Post 26 July 14/1 ‘Pay you?.. How much, Angelo?’ ‘The rock bottom is half a million.’ 1935H. Edib Clown & his Daughter xlv. 258 By the time she had touched the rock-bottom of misery she had also reached a decision. 1955D. Davie Articulate Energy vii. 69 We are sobered and shocked when the mood reaches rock-bottom. 1977Belfast Tel. 19 Jan. 7/8 Builders engaged in this work were rapidly reaching ‘rock bottom’. 1980Daily Tel. 16 Jan. 23/4 In this way, the service can be offered at rock-bottom prices.
1889J. Whitehead Steward's Handbk. iv. 420/2 *Rock buns, rough rocky looking cakes made of 3/4 lb. each butter, sugar and currants, [etc.]. 1893Emile Hérissé Pastry Making 140 Finish as in making the preceding Rock Buns.
1805Jameson Syst. Min. II. 30 *Rock Butter..appears to have nearly the same constituent parts as alum.
1868M. Jewry Warne's Model Cookery 613/1 *Rock cakes,..butter..flour..sugar..lemon..eggs..brandy. 1883Mrs. Clarke Plain Cookery 71 Rock Cakes. 1886Confectioner's Receipt Bk. 26 Rock Cakes..when baked..will have a rough, irregular surface.
1723J. Nott Cook's & Confectioner's Dict. sig. U6, To candy Nutmegs... Pour your Candy to them,..set them in a warm Place for about three Weeks, and they will be of a *Rock Candy. 1769Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekeeper (1778) 203 Garnish with rock candy sweetmeats. 1815M. Edgeworth Love & Law. iii. xliii, A knot of rock-candy. 1906M. P. W. Locke (song-title) Big Rock Candy Mountains. Ibid., Come to the Big Rock Candy Mountains, And I'll show you the bees and the cigarette trees And the soda water fountains. 1930G. Milburn Hobo's Hornbk. 61 To homeguards ‘The Big Rock Candy Mountains’ may appear a nonsense song, but to all pied pipers in on the know it is an amusing exaggeration of the ghost stories used [by jockers] in recruiting kids. Ibid., Said the bum to the son, ‘O, will you come To the Big Rock Candy Mountains.’ 1949C. Himes Black on Black (1973) 278 He set up all the boys in the neighbourhood to peanut brittle and icecream and rock candy. 1961Life Treas. Amer. Folklore 294 The Hobo Special climbs Big Rock Candy Mountain. 1975Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 16 Apr. 4/4 The goal is their 20th century version of the big rock candy mountain.
1895W. M. Conway Alps from End to End 402/2 (Index), *Rock Climbs, Where to find. 1929F. S. Smythe Climbs & Ski Runs iii. 14 My first rock climb was the Little Gully. 1934Webster, Rock climb v. 1960Guardian 11 July 1/4 He had intended to rock-climb with a companion. 1976G. Moffat Over Sea to Death v. 52 She would be even happier were she to reach the top by way of a rock climb.
1858Southern Lit. Messenger XXVI. 189/2 Ef thar had bin..a fier-plais instid uv a great to burn *rock cole, the thing would uv bin kumpleat. 1913O. A. Rothert Hist. Muhlenberg County 389 The early blacksmiths called this fuel ‘rock coal’, thus distinguishing it from charcoal.
1891Daily News 24 Dec. 7/2 That *rock cocoa was a recognised article of commerce, manufactured of cocoa, starch, and sugar in such quantities as to be easily soluble in water.
1705Phil. Trans. XXV. 2217 It very much resembles a piece of white unpolished *Rock Coral.
1804Jameson Syst. Min. I. 439 *Rock Cork..occurs some⁓times massive, sometimes in plates and with impressions. 1855Orr's Circ. Sci., Elem. Chem. 174 Asbestos, rock cork, and other minerals.
1875Dawson Dawn of Life ii. 21 A vein of fibrous serpentine, yielding ‘*rock cotton’, for packing steam pistons.
1892Pall Mall G. 19 July 3/1 The difference between snowcraft and *rockcraft.
1938C. F. S. Sharpe Landslides iii. 31 *Rock-creep.—It is sometimes observed that although creeping masses of rock have moved many feet their original relation to the bedrock can still be recognized. 1960[see creep n. 7 a]. 1968R. W. Fairbridge Encycl. Geomorphol. 275/2 Such movement of rock debris induced by gravity as talus creep, rock creep, and debris slides all transport rock fragments to lower elevations.
1897Outing XXX. 136/1 The men do their own work without the use of a *rock crusher, but they seem to like the life. 1952I. Macleod Bridge iv. 39 The Two Club bid..has the double advantage of freeing the other bids of Two of a suit for specialized use, and coping with the rockcrusher hands which do not qualify for a Strong Two opening. 1965Times 9 Jan. 9/7 Her bidding was cautious to a degree, requiring a positive rock crusher for anything above the level of one. 1973Country Life 24 May 1503/1 A first-class collection of hands... 5 [Clubs]..shows a rock-crusher, asking partner to choose the suit.
1877Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 37 Had it not been for the Burleigh *rock-drill the work would have been abandoned long since.
1938Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch 7 Nov. 6/2 Sprinkling of the *rock-dust through the mines allays the highly explosive coal dust. Ibid., The Bureau of Mines has a new argument in support of its plea that all coal mines be rock-dusted to prevent explosions. 1947Sun (Baltimore) 27 Mar. 1/2 Reports of the State Inspection said the mine was ‘not adequately rock-dusted’. 1977Transatlantic Rev. lx. 80 Inside, [there is] the rockdust rumble of grinding teeth, molar on molar.
1975Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. 1973 lix. 48 *Rock duster,..1, a mechanical blower, often caterpillar track or train wheel mounted, which forces rock dust against the dangerously dusty areas of the mine... 2, a worker in charge of distributing rock dust throughout the mine, by hand or machine.
1926Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 20 July 12/4 By *rock dusting is meant the spreading of incombustible dust throughout a mine in sufficient amount to cool and extinguish the flame of an incipient explosion. 1932Durant (Okla.) Daily Democrat 10 Mar. 4/5 By rock dusting, a practice made mandatory by the 1929 legislature, this coal dust is mixed with an equal amount of rock dust, the latter lowering the ignition point of the mixture. 1938Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch 7 Nov. 6/2 Rock-dusting also is advocated as a means of increasing visibility in the mines and preventing minor accidents.
1842Borrow Bible in Spain (1843) III. xiv. 272 They were..conversing in the rock Spanish, or *rock English, as the fit took them.
1855Kingsley Glaucus (1878) 16 It was the crawling of a glacier which polished that *rock-face. 1931C. Day Lewis Coll. Poems (1935) 76 As one who wanders into old workings Dazed by the noonday, desiring coolness, Has found retreat barred by fall of rockface. 1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 728/2 Rockface, (Masonry) the form of face given to a building-stone which has been quarry-faced. 1968Amer. Speech 1967 XLII. 295 Rock-face stone,..slabs of stone sawed on the top and bottom surface (up to five surfaces), which are then placed in a machine exerting pressure and cracking the stone. This leaves a pleasing rough surface toward the outside. 1972Times 29 Nov. 28/8 (Advt.), The..appeal is to the younger person who really wants a vital and interesting job as a change agent at the ‘rock face’.
1944K. Levis in Murdoch & Drake-Brockman Austral. Short Stories (1951) 427 The men were separated in bunches cut off by *rock-faced water-beds. 1970H. Braun Parish Churches xviii. 216 The face of the stone is left ‘rock-faced’ and not worked at all except along its margins.
1930Times Educ. Suppl. 24 May p. i/2 Crossing the débris of a huge *rockfall which apparently came down recently. 1967M. J. Coe Ecol. Alpine Zone Mt. Kenya 87 The Tarn..is enclosed at its lower edge by the rock fall. 1971World Archaeol. III. 150 The rockfall layers at Puntutjarpa were of considerable archaeological interest.
1900W. M. Davis in Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. XI. 210 Near the base of the mountain front nearly all of the ravines broaden and their floors become distinctly convex, thus imitating the form well known in alluvial fans, though rarely matched in an eroded surface of solid rock. These convex floors will be called *rock fans. 1932Amer. Jrnl. Sci. CCXXIII. 392 The alluvial fan is the expression of that form where deposition alone has occurred, or where considerable deposition has accompanied erosion of bedrock. The ‘rock fan’..is the same form..where erosion has exceeded deposition. Ibid. 393 Rock fans must be carved by streams, and cannot be produced by simple weathering back of the mountain front. 1968R. W. Fairbridge Encycl. Geomorphol. 965/1 The rock fans described range in area from several acres when steep, 20–26°, to one or more square miles when gentle, ½–7°. 1970R. J. Small Study of Landforms ix. 310 The existence of rock fans..has been disputed by many geomorphologists, who have claimed that such fans are in reality no more than the alluvial fans that they are supposed to resemble so closely.
1896Dialect Notes I. 423 *Rock fence, a stone wall. 1949H. Kurath Word Geogr. Eastern U.S. 31/2 For a fence built of loose stone the North Midland uses stone fence as against the Northern stone wall and the Southern rock fence. 1974Amer. Speech 1971 XLVI. 60 Rock fence appears in southern Illinois (a South Midland settlement area) as expected.
1897Hughes Mediterranean Fever 21 The idea of a specifically distinct ‘*Rock Fever’ cannot be entertained.
1911Sci. Amer. 17 June 592 (caption) Characteristic *rockfill across a creek. 1960Times 7 Mar. 8/3 It is hoped..to save the Temples from inundation by means of an earth and rock-fill dam. 1969E. W. Morse Fur Trade Canoe Routes ii. v. 55 The dam and its rockfill now obscure the upper portion of the portage. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 19 June 4/1 The Interior Department's Bureau of Reclamation has been building dams, including 250 out of rock-fill and earth.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 1960/1 *Rock-fire, an incendiary composition which burns slowly and is difficult to extinguish.
1804Jameson Syst. Min. I. 439 note, *Rock flesh. 1822P. Cleaveland Min. & Geol. (ed. 2) I. 407 When in thick, spongy plates, it has been called rock or fossil flesh.
1883Science I. 404/1 Much *rock-flour, washed away by the sub-glacial streams. 1937Geogr. Jrnl. LXXXIX. 43 Great angular blocks of rock are embedded in a jumble of fragments from the size of dust upwards, it is, in fact, a loose breccia of large pieces associated with smaller ones grading down to the finest rock-flour. 1963G. L. Pickard Descriptive Physical Oceanogr. iii. 23 In fjords fed by rivers from glaciers, the surface low-salinity layer may be a milky white from the finely divided ‘rock flour’. 1975J. G. Evans Environment Early Man Brit. Isles ii. 44 A prerequisite of the formation of wind-blown deposits is a dry land surface from which frost-shattered rock flour can be whipped up and transported.
1878Le Conte Elem. Geol. iii. 84 The whole liquid mass may swell into a *rock-froth, which rises to the lip of the crater.
1836Furness Astrologer i. note, Poet. Wks. (1858) 132 The grotto, *rock-gardens, and fossils of the late Thomas Birds. 1962R. Page Education of Gardener viii. 231 By the end of the nineteenth century rock-gardens had become a lasting feature of British gardens.
1942E. Waugh Put out More Flags iii. 172 The word ‘Colonel’ for Basil had connoted an elderly *rock-gardener.
1849Florist 229 A more appropriate ornament for *rock-gardening could hardly be met with.
1905W. Cross Silverton Folio (U.S. Geol. Survey. Geol. Atlas of U.S. No. 120) 25/2 All the accumulations..just described impress one with the sense of motion..So noticeable was this that in the field they were spoken of as ‘*rock-glaciers’ and upon the map receive the name ‘rock streams’. 1910S. R. Capps in Jnrl. Geol. XVIII. 360 The special agents of degradation with which I wish to deal at present..I have called rock glaciers... In material the rock glaciers are composed of angular talus. 1954W. D. Thornbury Princ. Geomorphol. iv. 85 Kesseli concluded that the rock glaciers of the Sierra Nevada were essentially fossil glaciers. 1968R. W. Fairbridge Encycl. Geomorphol. 711/1 If the surface of the ice is densely covered with blocks, one may speak of a rock glacier, but, in North America, ‘rock glacier’ does not necessarily involve ice.
1955B. E. B. Fagg in 3rd Pan-Afr. Congr. Prehist. (1957) xlvii. 310 Very extensive exploration of the granite hills revealed the existence of large numbers of these hammered rocks, which I think can best be described as *rock gongs. They consist of huge natural spalls or exfoliations of rock which happen to rest or be wedged in a position favourable to the production of musical notes. 1959S. Afr. Archaeol. Bull. XIV. 112/2 Rock gongs should be described as ‘ringing rocks’ or ‘sounding stones’. 1961K. P. Wachsmann in A. Baines Mus. Instruments through Ages i. 30 Recent studies have revealed many instances of slabs of rock being used as if they were drums. These ‘rock gongs’, as their discoverers called them, occur in Africa north of the equator, in Europe, and in Asia.
1874Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 408 In preparing ore for the stamps,..I used merely *rock-hammers.
1945Yank 15 June 2/2 The set routine can drive a man nuts wherever he is... Out here [sc. the Marianas] the expression is *rock happy... In the Pacific there is no escape from places like Kwajalein. 1946Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch 9 May 12/1 GI's..were growing rock happy from too long internment on a coral island.
1876Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. Terms, *Rock harmonicon, an instrument, the sounds of which are produced by striking graduated lengths of rock-crystal with a hammer. 1885[see harmonicon].
1839Ure Dict. Arts 960 The outcrop or basset edge of the strata, called by miners the *rock-head. 1875J. Croll Climate & T. xxix. 467 It is seldom that the geologist has an opportunity of seeing a complete section down to the rock-head in such a place.
1909Chambers's Jrnl. Dec. 828/2 The *rock-hogs had not proceeded far before they pierced a large pocket. 1954V. Lysenko Yellow Boots 190 They spoke of dynamite and flying rock responsible for the death of many a ‘rock-hog’.
1895M. Pemberton Impregnable City ii. xiv. 285 Darkness of the *rock-hole. 1936I. L. Idriess Cattle King iv. 30 He learned probabilities and signs by means of which waterholes may be located in apparently dry creeks, and in rock-holes in valley or gorge. 1944Living off Land iii. 50 Locating water in the form of soaks, springs and rock-holes.
1815Kirby & Sp. Entomol. x. (1818) I. 332 What is called *rock honey in some parts of America,..is the produce of wild bees, which suspend their clusters..to a rock.
1887Goode Fisheries & Fish. Indust. U.S. II. 437 The end of the rope is thrown to a boat just outside the breakers, and the raft of blubber is towed to the tender or vessel. This rafting process is called by the sealers ‘*rock-hopping’.
1922Daily Ardmoreite (Ardmore, Okla.) 10 Jan. 6/2 (heading) Interesting tale of work in Africa told by Texas *rock hound. 1940Fortune Mar. 83 Drillers consider themselves a superior breed, look with scorn upon ‘rockhounds’ (geologists), ‘chemicos,’ pipemen, roughnecks, etc. 1949Natural Hist. LVIII. 220/1 There are numerous semiprecious stones to interest the ‘rock hound’. 1962E. Lucia Klondike Kate viii. 175 Kate was central Oregon's first serious rock hound, of which there are thousands today. 1970Nature 4 Apr. 45/2 Its bias is naturally towards the United States, where ‘rock hounds’ and geological societies are much more common than in the United Kingdom. 1979N.Y. Times Mag. 30 Sept. 88/2 (Advt.), Exclusive metal ratchet device permits shovel to be locked into any position... A necessity, too, for sportsmen,..fishermen, hikers, rockhounds.
1949Desert Mag. June 31/1 In all my *rockhounding I have never seen sand fly so fast. 1973Daily Tel. 25 Aug. 16/1 The objects of his search might be coins, lost jewellery, Victorian ceramics, or if he feels like a change a spot of rockhounding—searching for semi-precious stones—or gold-panning in Scotland. 1976Globe & Mail (Toronto) 3 July 35 (heading) Go rock-hounding or trail riding, for everything goes in Ontario.
1818E. P. Fordham Jrnl. 26 Jan. in Personal Narr. Trav. (1906) 154 They had a strong *rock house among the hills. 1883E. A. Smith Rep. Geol. Survey Alabama 1881–82 438 Underneath the overhanging cliffs, or ‘rock houses’, as they are termed, grow abundantly some of our rarest and most beautiful ferns. 1889Harper's Mag. Dec. 120/1 Thet thar rock house o' his'n, which he hev quayried the rock an' put up hisse'f, I 'low it's the beatenes' house in creation. 1901C. Mohr Plant Life Alabama 17 The..fern, Trichomanes petersii,..with others like it hidden in the dark recesses of rocky defiles and the so-called ‘rock houses’. 1948E. N. Dick Dixie Frontier 26 Along the rivers in certain places the rocks projected out over the banks. Hunters and early settlers sometimes lived in the shelter of these for months. They were known as rock houses.
1695Phil. Trans. XIX. 151 Built of Gypsine Stone, or *Rock-Ising-glass, resembling Alabaster, but not so hard.
1804Jameson Syst. Min. I. 439 note, The plate-shaped variety is named *rock leather. 1822P. Cleaveland Min. & Geol. (ed. 2) I. 407 Its plates have also received the trivial names of rock or mountain leather, rock paper, &c., according to the..thickness and flexibility, which they possess.
1842Borrow Bible in Spain (1843) III. xiv. 269 He was..what is called a *rock lizard, that is, a person born at Gibraltar of English parents.
1832H. T. De la Beche Geol. Man. (ed. 2) 147 Shell-marl, containing in parts tufaceous limestone, provincially termed ‘*rock-marl’. 1876Page Adv. Text-bk. Geol. xx. 411 Where solidified by the subsequent percolation of calcareous waters, it is known as rock-marl.
1837Proc. Berw. Nat. Club I. 158 It..answers to the description of Lithomarge or *rock-marrow.
1887Cassell's Dict., *Rock-meal, a white cotton-like variety of carbonate of lime, occurring as an efflorescence, falling into a powder when touched.
1956Q. Colorado School of Mines LI. iii. (title-page) Symposium on rock mechanics. Papers and discussion from the first annual symposium on *rock mechanics. 1966McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. XI. 599/2 An understanding of rock mechanics is essential to elucidate the processes which mold the face of the earth. 1977A. Hallam Planet Earth 104/2 The engineering geologist works with experts in the related fields of soil mechanics and rock mechanics.
1804Jameson Syst. Min. I. 471 *Rock Milk. Its colour is yellowish white. 1845Encycl. Metrop. VI. 503/1 Rock milk is an absurd name for a variety of carbonate of lime which occurs in the form of a fine white powder in the crevices of calcareous rocks.
a1650Boate Ireland's Nat. Hist. (1652) 126 Of the second sort of Iron-mine, called *Rock-mine. 1886Cheshire Gloss., Rock mine, salt-mining term; the local name for a rock salt mine.
1888Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 527/1 Only the larger individuals, however,..come close down along the land of the west side. These the ships send their boats out to intercept, and this forms the inshore fishing or ‘*rock-nosing’.
1937Partridge Dict. Slang 702/2 *Rock of ages, wages. 1974P. Wright Lang. Brit. Industry x. 89 If there's no rock of ages (wages), there may well be a bull an' cow (row).
1822*Rock-paper [see rock-leather above].
1971C. Bonington Annapurna South Face x. 118 He put in a couple of ice-screws, then, having run out of these, hammered in ordinary *rock-pegs, which are much shorter than ice-screws and not nearly as secure.
1868Chem. News 13 Nov. 238/2 (heading) *Rock phosphates. 1900[see phosphatizing vbl. n. s.v. phosphatize v.]. 1936[see phosphate 1 b]. 1949Thorpe's Dict. Appl. Chem. (ed. 4) IX. 482 Sedimentary rock phosphate, or phosphorite, occurs in two forms: in thick beds, usually of high phosphatic content; and in layers of nodules, commonly of lower phosphatic grade. 1965G. J. Williams Econ. Geol. N.Z. xvi. 250/2 Free went on to suggest the possibility of fusing rock-phosphate with greensands and dolomite to give a mixed fertilizer.
1888Congress. Rec. 1 May 3571/1 If this were a police court, the Senator from Indiana would be sent to the *rock-pile for being drunk and disorderly. 1927K. Eubank Horse & Buggy Days 127 We were..given 30 days on the rock pile or the privilege of leaving town on the first rattler out, which took us into Memphis. 1945Seafarers' Log 13 Apr. 6/3 Had one of the Bull Line rock piles [i.e. a ship on board which work is hard] in. 1945L. Shelly Jive Talk Dict. 16/2 Rockpile, a very tall building. 1947Sat. Even. Post 23 Oct. 132/3 Everybody was dead-pan and silent. But disciplined—like convicts on a rock pile. 1949W. Stevens Let. 12 Dec. (1967) 659 We call the office the rockpile, yet so large a rockpile is a good deal more than that. 1970C. Major Dict. Afro-Amer. Slang 98 Rock pile, any tall building.
1929*Rock pitch [see ice-ridge s.v. ice n. 7 b]. 1955[see etrier].
1934Canad. Alpine Jrnl. XXII. 128 These analogs of *rock pitons..have now definitely passed their test for usefulness. 1972D. Haston In High Places i. 12 It should be noted that ice overhangs can be tackled on ice-pitons in the same way as rock overhangs on rock-pitons.
1582Stanyhurst æneis iii. (Arb.) 93 Then we grate on *rockrayes [L. cautes], and bancks of stoanye Pachynus.
1920Natural Hist. XX. 172/1 In rate of flow these *rock rivers are probably slower than the ice rivers, or glaciers. 1954W. D. Thornbury Princ. Geomorphol. iv. 85 Striking examples of rock glaciers, rock streams, or rock rivers have been described..in the Sierra Nevada of California.
1818‘A. Burton’ Adventures J. Newcome iv. 239 Fagged he was in every limb, And the *Rock Scorpions laughed at him. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Rock-Scorpion, a name applied to persons born at Gibraltar. 1916‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin viii. 145 They arrived at Gibraltar, where the ships went alongside the Mole..to take in coal. But here..the fuel was carried on board in small baskets on the backs of nondescript, garlic-scented aliens known as ‘rock scorpions’. 1976Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 10 June 4/1 The 29,000 Gibraltarians—affectionately known to generations of British seafarers as Rockscorpions—have been eyeing Madrid hopefully.
1878Heddle in Mineral. Mag. II. 215 One side of these veins is sheathed with a variety of this mineral [i.e. pilolite], which may be well described under the name of *rock silk.
1851H. Melville Moby Dick II. xiv. 123 Some mossy *rock-slide from the Patagonian cliffs. 1921Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 29 Mar. 13/5 Owing to a big rockslide west of Terrace, B.C., the G.T.P. passenger train from Prince Rupert is now twenty-four hours late. 1959R. Campbell I would do It Again xviii. 127 We took saddle horses across the flat as far as the mountain slope, which was covered by a rockslide. 1970R. Lowell Notebk. 203 Is it my imagination or..Pound's Cantos lost in the rockslide of history? 1971Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 13 June 2/4 The pica and ground squirrel may be seen around the rock slides on the edge of the meadow. 1980Beautiful Brit. Columbia Summer 33 The main trail to Eva Lake..across rock slides.
1852W. Macgillivray Hist. Brit. Birds V. 434 The dexterity of these *rocksmen is truly astonishing.
1804Jameson Syst. Min. I. 395 *Rock Soap..is massive and disseminated. 1856Orr's Circ. Sci., Pract. Chem. 456 The ground rock-soap is placed in wooden vats.
1905*Rock stream [see rock glacier above]. 1909Prof. Papers U.S. Geol. Survey No. 67. 31 The name ‘rock stream’, which has been found a convenient descriptive term, was suggested by the peculiar streamlike appearance of the deposits, which look as if they had moved down the cirques or valleys after the manner of glaciers. 1964W. C. Putnam Geol. x. 238/1 (caption) A rock steam or rock glacier is composed of frost- and ice-shattered rock filled with interstitial ice which slowly moves downslope. 1970R. J. Small Study of Landforms x. 333 Fossil rock streams exist in many temperate lands today.
1736Bailey Household Dict. s.v., To make *Rock-sugar. 1889J. Whitehead Steward's Handbk. iv. 420/2 Rock sugar,..candy rock work used to build up ornamental pieces of confectionery and to sell as sponge candy.
1854R. D. Thomson Cycl. Chem. 441 *Rock..Tar, or Mineral Naphtha.
1907Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. XVIII. 358 If the moist epoch last long, the mountains of arid countries, such as Persia,..must lose their naked character and become well shrouded with *rock waste. 1946F. E. Zeuner Dating Past vii. 220 This cave, the Grotta Gualtari..was completely sealed by rock-waste.
1865A. Gesner Pract. Treat. Coal, Petroleum, & Other Distilled Oils (ed. 2) ii. 40 The *rock wells, as they are termed, are those deeper borings which resemble those of Pennsylvania. 1867Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 6) III. 404 The rock-wells are of two characters, namely, ‘pumping’ and ‘flowing’.
1804Jameson Syst. Min. I. 449 *Rock Wood. 1821Ure Dict. Chem., Rock-wood: see Asbestus.
1928E. R. Powell U.S. Pat. 1,656,828 2/1 It is to be understood that so-called *rock wool is made directly from the rock which contains only the slight trace of sulphur; while so-called mineral wool is made from the slag which contains the higher percentages of sulphur. 1936[see plasterboard]. 1959House & Garden Dec.–Jan. 57 The outer walls of the house are constructed of two brick skins with a cavity between filled with rock wool for insulation. 1975G. J. King Audio Handbk. vi. 136 A material..which possesses a high value of acoustical absorbitivity; some commonly used materials being rockwool..and polyurethane foam.
b. In names of animals, as rock badger, the Cape hyrax (see badger n.2 1 c); rock barnacle, a cirriped of the genus Balanus; rock borer, a bivalve mollusc of the superfamily Saxicavacea; † rock buck, the ibex; rock cavy, a Brazilian species of cavy (Cavia rupestris); rock chuck, the North American yellow-bellied marmot, Marmota flaviventris; rock crab, a crab frequenting rocky coasts, esp. the American Cancer irroratus; † rock doe, the female ibex; rock goat, the ibex; rock hare, a variety of hare native to the Cape; rock hyrax = rock rabbit (a), dassie 1; rock kangaroo (see kangaroo n. 2); rock limpet, the common limpet; rock lizard, an African or Australian dragon lizard belonging to the family Agamidæ; (see also sense 9 a); rock lobster, a crustacean of the family Palinuridæ, to which the crayfish belongs; esp. the marine crayfish, Palinurus vulgaris; † rock marder, the stone-marten (G. steinmarder); rock mouse (see quot.); rock-noser, the right whale; rock oyster (see quot. a 1774); rock-piercer, a worm of the genus Terebella; rock python, one of several large snakes of the family Boidæ, esp. the African Python sebæ; rock rabbit, (a) a hyrax belonging to the genus Procavia or Dendrohyrax, esp. the African P. capensis; (b) = pika; rock rat, (a) = rock mouse; (b) a South African rodent (Petromys typicus); (c) a South American rodent, Aconæmys fuscus; (d) an Australian thick-tailed rat belonging to the genus Zyzomys; rock scorpion, a southern African scorpion, Hadogenes lawrencei; (see also sense 9 a); rock seal, the common seal (Phoca vitulina); rock serpent, (a) = rock snake; (b) a poisonous Indian snake of the genus Bungarus; rock shell (see quot. 1848); rock slater, a wood-louse of the genus Ligia; rock snail (see quots.); rock snake, a python, esp. P. reticulatus or molurus; rock squid (see quot.); rock squirrel, a variety of squirrel native to Sri Lanka (Ceylon); rock wallaby = rock kangaroo; rock whelk (see quot.); rock whistler, the Alpine marmot; rock worm, a marine polychæte worm belonging to the family Eunicidæ.
1792Kerr Anim. Kingd. 285 Bastard African Marmot, or *Rock Badger. 1824[see badger n.2 1 c].
1884Goode, etc. Nat. Hist. Aquatic Anim. 828 The *Rock Barnacle inhabits the entire North Atlantic coasts of both continents.
1854A. Adams, etc. Man. Nat. Hist. 149 *Rock-Borers. 1928Russell & Yonge Seas vi. 148 The largest and most efficient rock borers are bivalve Molluscs. 1971Oxf. Bk. Invertebr. 86/1 Hiatella is a rock-borer (if the rock is soft enough).
1681Grew Musæum i. ii. ii. 25 A very great Horn of the *Rock-Buck, or of the Ibex mas.
1771Pennant Synops. Quadrup. 244 *Rock Cavy. 1801Shaw Gen. Zool. II. 29 The Rock Cavy is considered as an excellent article of food, and is even superior to the rabbet. 1876Encycl. Brit. V. 277/2 The Rock Cavy, distinguished by its short, blunt nails, is found in rocky situations throughout Brazil.
1913Outing Jan. 451 (caption) Not a woodchuck, but a ‘*rockchuck’. 1947B. A. De Voto Across Wide Missouri 162 Robes..were made from..beaver,..wolf, or even rockchuck. 1968National Observer (U.S.) 22 July 6/5 Bones of such small mammals as the rock chuck, rock squirrel, northern pocket gopher, and pygmy rabbit, were found in the Altithermal strata.
1837J. L. Williams Territory of FLorida 105 The *Rock Crab is common on the Atlantic coast. 1871–2in Goode Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim. 766 The common ‘Rock Crab’, Cancer irroratus, is generally common under the large rocks near low-water mark. 1887in Goode Fisheries & Fish. Indust. U.S. II. 658 The large red rock crab (Echidnoceros setimanus) of the Farallone Islands.
1681Grew Musæum i. ii. ii. 24 The *Rock-Doe, Ibex fæmina, a kind of wild Goat.
1607Topsell Foure-f. Beasts 244 (heading) The Helvetian Alpian wilde or *Rocke-Goat. 1635Swan Spec. M. (1643) 475 There is another Goat called the Rock-goat, differing from the rest. 1731Medley Kolben's Cape G. Hope II. 116 The Rock-goat is as well known in the Cape countries as he is in Europe. 1811Pinkerton Mod. Geogr. Switzerland 282 Among the animals peculiar to the Alps may be first named the ibex, or rock goat. 1820J. Campbell Trav. S. Afr. I. ii. 29 The rock-goat..had found its way to a place, which no human foot had ever yet trod.
1848G. R. Waterhouse Nat. Hist. Mamm. II. 93 The *Rock Hare..is about equal in size to the Common Hare.
1954G. Durrell Bafut Beagles iii. 59 ‘*Rock hyrax.’.. ‘Yes. How you de call um for Bafut?’ ‘Here we call um N'eer.’ 1966C. Sweeney Scurrying Bush iii. 36 Although the rock hyrax is only about sixteen inches long and weighs little more than eight pounds when adult, it is not an animal to trifle with.
1835Penny Cycl. III. 127/2 The *rock kangaroo (Macropus rupestris), remarkable for its bushy fox-like tail. 1846,1863[see kangaroo 2]. 1884Cassell's Fam. Mag. Apr. 272/1 The rock-wallabies, or rock-kangaroos belong to these mountains.
1859–62Richardson, etc. Mus. Nat. Hist. II. 346/2 These shells are usually found fixed upon rocks on the shore, hence their name of *Rock limpets.
1937Discovery May 137/2 The *Rock Lizard can be met with all over the [Nullarbor] plains. 1947J. Stevenson-Hamilton Wild Life S. Afr. xxxv. 318 There are nine species of so-called Rock Lizards (Agama) known as koggelmannetjies in South Africa.
1884Goode, etc. Nat. Hist. Aquatic Anim. 780 The Spiny Lobster or *Rock Lobster—Palinurus interruptus. 1928Russell & Yonge Seas xiv. 316 The handsome Spiny or Rock Lobster or Crawfish..differs from the lobster in its larger size. 1953Sun (Baltimore) 9 Sept. 10/7 The name of the South African crawfish was changed by law to ‘rock lobster’. 1961[see crawfish n. 1 b]. 1969N.Z. News 17 Dec. 5/3 Under the [new] regulations crayfish are referred to as rock lobster. The change is necessary to promote the labelling of crayfish as rock lobster in marketing in overseas countries. 1974Times 9 Dec. 12/4 A notice outside advertised baby rock lobster tails with two veg.
1607Topsell Four-footed Beasts 386 They come sometimes to houses and to rocks; for which..it is called a House-marder and *Rock-marder.
1792Kerr Anim. Kingd. 234 *Rock Mouse,..Mus saxatilis... Inhabits the eastern parts of Siberia.
1898Nat. Sci. June 411 From their habit of hugging the shore..these whales are known as ‘*rock-nosers’.
1716Petiveriana i. 130 This resembles the Virginia *Rock-Oyster. a1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 51 The oysters..found sticking to rocks at the bottom of the sea, and usually called rock-oysters. 1852Mundy Antipodes (1857) 17 The small rock-oyster of New South Wales is excellent in its way, although inferior to the Carlingford.
1783J. Barbut Vermes 63, 10th Genus. The *Rock Piercer... The body is filiform.
1910R. L. Ditmars Reptiles of World iv. 227 Another big serpent is the African *Rock Python. 1934A. Russell Tramp-Royal in Wild Austral. xxxviii. 251 We rode almost on top of a rock python one day... He was ten feet long. 1965R. & D. Morris Men & Snakes i. 16 Bushmen will eat snakes when available and especially prize the large rock python.
1840B. Shaw Memorials S. Afr. xii. 147 There were numerous traces of *rock rabbits. 1846[see dassy]. 1849Craig s.v. Rock, Rock-rabbit, the Hyrax syriacus,..is a small rabbit-like animal, both in point of colour and size, but has no tail. 1878J. H. Beadle Western Wilds 457 The rock rabbits..ran from covert to covert with a peculiar low moaning cry. 1892Haggard Nada 211 The sides of it were sheer, offering no foothold except to the rock-rabbits and the lizards. 1927A. Philip Painted Cliff 69 Rock-rabbits shrilled, darting amongst the rubble. 1931,1952[see dassie 1]. 1962Field, Horse & Rodeo (Calgary) Nov. 15/3 THe Pika (or Rock Rabbit) spends most of the daylight hours cutting and gathering vegetation. 1972J. McClure Caterpillar Cop iv. 46 Danny was going up and down those stairs like a rock rabbit. 1976T. Walker Spatsizi vii. 68 A rock rabbit had been busy storing dried leaves and grasses for winter.
1781Pennant Hist. Quadrup. II. 450 *Rock Rat, Mus Saxatilis. 1801Shaw Gen. Zool. II. 72 The Mus Saxatilis or Rock Rat was first described by Dr. Pallas. 1964E. P. Walker et al. Mammals of World II. 1045/2 Rock rats are active beneath the snow in winter. 1970W. D. L. Ride Guide Native Mammals Austral. ix. 148 Adults of these rock-rats are easily recognized because they have thick tails. 1971L. H. Matthews Life Mammals II. vii. 216 The rock rat, Aconæmys fuscus, the only species of the genus, with short, hairy, but untufted tail is about the size of a common rat. 1976Nature 24 June 639/2 Many surveys produce novelties; animals considered very rare or extinct are discovered in some numbers (for example..the rock rat, Zyzomys woodwardi).
1789W. Paterson Narr. Four Journeys Country of Hottentots 165 The Black, or *Rock Scorpion, is nearly as venomous as any of the serpent tribe. 1973Stand. Encycl. S. Afr. IX. 544/2 The rock-scorpion, Hadogenes, is extraordinarily flattened, being adapted for living in narrow fissures between rocks.
1884Goode, etc. Nat. Hist. Aquatic Anim. 62 The Harbor Seal..is also often termed Bay Seal,..and also *Rock Seal (Steen-Kobbe).
a1801Pulteney View Writ. Linnæus (1805) 229 *Rock-shell. Aperture terminating in a straight spout. 1819W. Turton Conchol. Dict. 87 The fishermen of the northern coasts of Ireland occasionally saw, what they called the great rock-shell. 1849Craig s.v. Rock, In Conchology, Rock-shells, the common name of certain univalves, characterized by the long straight canal which terminates the mouths of their shells.
1877Encycl. Brit. VI. 646/2 In the ‘*rock-slater’, Ligia.., the embryo is bent upwards within the egg.
1777Pennant Brit. Zool. IV. 115 Helix Lapicida, *Rock Snail..: a land shell. Inhabits clefts of rocks. 1819W. Turton Conchol. Dict. 44 Helix lapicida, Rock Snail-shell.
1850R. G. Cumming Hunter's Life S. Afr. (1902) 119/1, I suddenly detected an enormous old *rock-snake stealing in beneath a mass of rock beside me. 1859Tennent Ceylon II. 127 A rock-snake, python reticulatus,..a beautiful specimen at least ten feet long.
1839Beale Nat. Hist. Sperm Whale 68 It was that species of sepia, which is called by whalers ‘*rock-squid’.
1852E. F. Kelaart Prodr. Faunæ Zeylanicæ 49 The common *Rock Squirrel.
1841J. Gould Monograph Macropodidæ i. pl. 5 The Great *Rock Wallaby..inhabits summits of sterile and rocky mountains. 1884‘R. Boldrewood’ Melb. Mem. viii. 58 A light active chap, spinning over the stones like a rock-wallaby.
1819W. Turton Conchol. Dict. 14 Buccinum Lapillus, *Rock Whelk.
1865Intellect. Obs. 113 The *Rock-whistler (Arctomys).
1883Fish. Exhib. Catal. 289 Baits, natural... These include..*rockworms, prawns, ‘red bait’, small fish. 1963R. P. Dales Annelids 14 Some relatives of the eunicid rockworms..are surprisingly like earthworms. 1971Oxf. Bk. Invertebr. 98 The eunicids (rock worms and palolos) form a large and varied family of rock-dwellers and mud-burrowers.
c. In names of birds, as rock babbler, a South African bird of the genus Chætops; rock bunting (see quot.); rock-cock, a bird of the genus Rupicola, a ‘cock of the rock’; † rock cormorant, ? the shag; rock crow = rock-thrush; rock duck, the harlequin duck, Histrionicus histrionicus; rock fowl, a bird that haunts rocks; rock goose, the kelp goose (kelp1 4); rock grouse, (a) = rock ptarmigan; (b) the ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus); rock-hawk, the merlin; rock-hopper (penguin), a species of crested penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome); rock lark = rock pipit; rock manakin, the crested manakin (see quots. and manikin 3); rock martin (see quots.); † rock martinet (see martinet1 1, quot. 1544); rock parakeet, an Australian grass-parakeet (Euphema petrophila); rock partridge, (a) the white grouse or ptarmigan; (b) the Greek or Barbary partridge (partridge B. 2); rock pebbler (see quot.); rock pipit, the sea-lark (Anthus obscurus) of the British Islands; rock plover local U.S., the purple sandpiper; rock ptarmigan, the American species, Lagopus rupestris; rock sandpiper, the purple sandpiper, Erolia maritima, or a similar bird, E. ptilocnemis, of the Pacific coast of North America; rock shrike (see quot.); rock snipe = rock sandpiper; rock sparrow, a bird of the genus Petronia; rock swallow, a swallow that builds its nest upon a cliff, esp. Cotile or Hirundo rupestris; rock swift, the white-throated swift of N.W. America (Panyptila saxatilis); rock warbler (see quot. 1848); rock wren, (a) one of several wrens belonging to the genus Salpinctes, found in parts of western North America; (b) a New Zealand wren, Xenicus gilviventris.
1875–84Sharpe Layard's Birds S. Afr. 217 Chætops Aurantius, Orange-breasted *Rock-Babbler. Ibid. 218 Chætops Pycnopygius, Damara Rock-Babbler.
Ibid. 490 Fringillaria Tahapisi, *Rock Bunting.
1838Encycl. Metrop. (1845) XXIV. 192/2 Guianan, or Orange *Rockcock. Rather larger than a Wood Pigeon.
a1682Sir T. Browne Norf. Birds Wks. (Bohn) III. 315 The *rock cormorant..breedeth in the rocks, in northern counties.
1785Pennant Arct. Zool. II. 252 *Rock crow... Breeds in crevices of rocks.
1704Churchill's Voy. II. 185/2 This Country [the Cape]..abounds in..*Rock-ducks with yellow necks, Teal [etc.]. 1965E. Richardson Living Island 185 The handsomest duck I have seen..the male harlequin or rock-duck.
1902Cornish Naturalist Thames 150 Of the *rock-fowl, the puffins fly away to the Mediterranean.
1876Proc. Zool. Soc. 369 It [Bernicla antarctica] lives exclusively on rocky parts of the sea-coast; hence the name ‘*Rock-Goose’, given to it by sailors.
1785Pennant Arct. Zool. II. 312 *Rock Gr[ouse]... Never takes shelter in the woods, but sits on the rocks, or burrows in the snow. 1831Richardson in Wilson's Amer. Ornith. IV. 330 The rock grouse, in its manners and mode of living, resembles the willow grouse. 1862C. A. Johns Brit. Birds Index, Rock-Grouse, the Ptarmigan.
1840Macgillivray Brit. Birds III. 317 Falco æsalon, the Merlin Falcon. Stone Falcon. *Rock Hawk.
1875J. H. Kidder Nat. Hist. Kerguelen Isl. i. 46 The whaler's epithet ‘*rock-hopper’ is in this case particularly well applied, since they are the most agile of all penguins, skipping from rock to rock. Ibid. 9, I discovered a lot of nests, near a rookery of ‘rock-hopper’ penguins.
1802Montagu Ornith. Dict. (1831) 427 We discovered these birds in great plenty on the coast of South Wales, where it was known by some of the natives by the name of *rock lark. 1888Saxby Lads of Lunda 259 I'll never kill a rock-lark while I live.
1783Latham Gen. Synop. Birds II. ii. 518 *Rock Manakin, Pipra rupicola,..inhabits various parts of Surinam, Cayenne, & Guiana, in rocky situations. 1852Th. Ross tr. Humboldt's Trav. II. xix. 210 The rock-manakin with gilded plumage (Pipra rupicola), one of the most beautiful birds of the tropics.
1842Penny Cycl. XXIII. 363/1 The European species of this family are the Swift..; the *Rock-Martin [etc.]. 1883Newton in Encycl. Brit. XV. 581/2 The Rock-Martin of Europe, Hirundo or Biblis rupestris. 1888Sclater & Hudson Argentine Ornith. I. 30 Petrochelidon pyrrhonota, Red-backed Rock-martin.
1865Gould Handbk. Birds Austral. II. 76 *Rock-Parraket.
1787Latham Gen. Synop. Birds Suppl. I. 217 This is called by the natives Uscathachish, by the English, *Rock-Partridge. 1893E. H. Barker Wand. S. Waters 267 The rock-partridge, or bartavelle, is also found, but is rare.
1898Morris Austral Engl., *Rock-Pebbler, another name for the black-tailed Parrakeet.
1831Rennie Montagu's Ornith. Dict. 427 *Rock Pipit (Anthus rupestris). 1862C. A. Johns Brit. Birds 175 The Rock Pipit is very similar in form and colour to the last species [i.e. the Meadow Pipit].
1888Trumbull Names Birds 182 It is the Rock-bird, *Rock-Plover, and Rock Snipe at Rowley and Salem, Mass.
1819Shaw's Gen. Zool. XI. 290 *Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus rupestris). 1872Coues N. Amer. Birds 235 Rock Ptarmigan. Tail black,..with a black transocular stripe.
1862C. A. Johns Brit. Birds Index, *Rock Sandpiper, the Purple Sandpiper. 1903E. Coues Key to N. Amer. Birds (ed. 5) II. 817 Feather-leg Sandpipers. Rock Sandpipers. 1961R. T. Peterson Field Guide Western Birds (ed. 2) 112 Rock Sandpiper... In winter, very similar to Purple Sandpiper of Atlantic.
1809Shaw Gen. Zool. VII. 302 *Rock shrike, Lanius infaustus. 1888*Rock snipe [see rock-plover above].
1835J. J. Audubon Ornith. Biogr. III. 558 Their marked predilection for rocky shores has caused them to be named ‘Rock Snipes’ by the gunners of our eastern coast. 1917T. G. Pearson Birds Amer. I. 232 Purple Sandpiper... Other Names.—Rock Sandpiper; Rock Snipe.
1879Newton in Encycl. Brit. IX. 192 The Mountain-Finches..may be regarded as pointing first to the *Rock Sparrows (Petronia) and then to the true Sparrows (Passer).
1783Latham Gen. Synop. Birds II. ii. 569 Hirundo rupestris,..*Rock Sw[allow]. 1880L. Wallace Ben-Hur 7 Lark and chat and rock-swallow leaped to wing.
1874Coues Birds N.W. 265 White-throated or *Rock Swift.
1848Gould Birds Austr. III. pl. 69 Origma Rubricata, *Rock-Warbler. 1864–5Wood Homes without H. xii. (1868) 215 The bird..is called indifferently the Rock Warbler, or the Cataract Bird.
1858S. F. Baird Birds Pacific Railway Routes 357 *Rock Wren... High central plains through the Rocky mountains. 1869[see cactus wren]. 1872Coues N. Amer. Birds 85 Rock Wren. Brownish gray,..everywhere speckled with black and white dots. 1882Buller Man. Birds N. Zeal. 15 Xenicus Gilviventris, Rock-wren. 1946D. C. Peattie Road of Naturalist iii. 39 The rock wrens and the canyon wrens..watered the air with rapture. 1966R. A. Falla et al. Field Guide Birds N.Z. 194 Rock Wren... Habitat is distinctive, mainly open screes, moraines and fell-fields of mountains above the bushline. 1973R. D. Symons Where Wagon Led I. v. 77 All around us rose the bubbling songs of the rock wrens.
d. In names of fishes, as rock bass, a name given to several American fishes, as the red-eye or goggle-eye (Amboplites rupestris), the striped bass, and black sea-bass; † rock-beard, some American fish; rock beauty, a small, dark brown and yellow, Caribbean reef fish, Holacanthus tricolor; rock blackfish (see quot.); rock codling, a North American species of cod; rock cook, a species of wrasse; rock eel, (a) (see quot. 1876); (b) = rock salmon (c); rock flounder (see quot. 1867); rock goby, the black goby; rock grenadier (see quot.); rock gurnard, (a) the French gurnard; (b) an Australian fish of the genus Centropogon; rock hind (see quot. 1867); rock ling, an Australian sea-fish (see quot.); rock native (see native n. 8 b); rock perch, † (a) some American fish; (b) an Australian coral-fish; rock podler, the whiting pollack; rock pouter = pouter n.1 3; † rock ray, the thornback; rock salmon, (a) the coalfish; (b) an American fish of the genus Seriola; (c) a commercial name for the catfish, Anarhichas lupus, or a dogfish, Scyliorhinus stellaris or S. caniculus; cf. huss; rock shark, sparus (see quots.); rock skipper, a small marine fish belonging to the family Gobiidæ, able to survive out of water for a limited time; rock sole, a flatfish, Lepidopsetta bilineata, found in the Pacific Ocean off the western coast of North America; rock sturgeon, the American lake-sturgeon, Acipenser fulvescens; rock-sucker, the sea-lamprey; rock toadfish, trout, whiting (see quots.).
1811Lesueur Hist. Poissons iii. 88 Le centrarchus..sous le nom anglais de ‘*rock basse’. 1892Daily News 14 July 5/5 Rock and strawberry bass abound in the Delaware and Schuykill Rivers after the successful planting of four years ago.
c1702in Dampier's Voy. (1729) III. 411 The *Rock-beard. Tis fat and good Meat, easily skinn'd.
1892T. D. A. Cockerell in Bull. Inst. Jamaica I. 9/1 *Rock Beauty. Head, anterior part of the trunk, caudal and margins of the soft dorsal and anal fins yellow: the remainder brownish-black. 1959R. P. L. Straughan Salt-Water Aquarium in Home iv. 85 Rock Beauties..need plenty of aeration. 1965Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 3 June (1970) 281 Rock beauties, yellow about half-way back and yellow tails, and the rest of them brown. 1977D. J. Coffey Encycl. Aquarium Fish 141/1 Rock Beauty... From the Caribbean, this yellow fish has a black patch that expands with age.
1884Goode, etc. Nat. Hist. Aquatic Anim. 410 There is a small species (Serranus trifurcus) resembling the Sea Bass which has been found only in the vicinity of Charleston.., where it is called the *Rock Black fish.
1836J. Richardson Fauna Bor. Amer. iii. Fishes 246 The *rock codling.., which they take near Cape Isabella.
1859–62Richardson, etc. Mus. Nat. Hist. II. 118/2 The British species are..the Sea-wife (Acantholabrus yarrellii); the *Rock-cook (Acantholabrus exoletus).
1876Goode Fishes Bermudas 29 Their habits closely resembling those of the ‘*Rock-eel’ (Murænoides mucronatus). 1969A. Wheeler Fishes Brit. Isles & N.-W. Europe 46/1 The dogfish..is sold as rock eel and rock salmon.
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Craig-flook, the smear-dab, or *rock-flounder.
1863Couch Brit. Fishes II. 153 An example..which differed..greatly in appearance from what is usual with the *Rock Goby.
1836Richardson Fauna Bor. Amer. iii. 254 Macrourus rupestris, *Rock Grenadier.
1836Yarrell Brit. Fishes I. 41 French Gurnard, and *Rock gurnard. 1859–62Richardson, etc. Mus. Nat. Hist. II. 121/1 The British species are—the Red Gurnard,..or Gaverick (Trigla cuculus); the Rock Gurnard (Tr. lineata).
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Rock-Hind, a large fish of tropical regions, Serranus catus. 1883Fish. Exhib. Catal. (ed. 4) 179 Flying Fish and Jack Fish are good eating, and likewise the Rock Hind.
1898Morris Austral Engl. 392/1 The Australian *Rock-Ling is Genypterus australis,..family Ophidiidæ.
c1702in Dampier's Voy. (1729) III. 415 The *Rock-Pearch. 1898Morris Austral Engl., Rock-Perch, the name given in Melbourne to the..Coral-fishes. It is not a true Perch.
1769J. Wallis Nat. Hist. Northumb. I. 384 Whiting-Pollack.., *Rock Podler.
1889Pall Mall G. 16 Nov. 6/3 Small haddocks and *rock pouters—cheap, common fish—are often..sold at a high price for whiting.
1611Cotgr., Raye bouclée, the *Rock-Ray; the Ray whose backe is set thicke with little knurles, not vnlike vnto buckles.
1881Day Fishes Gt. Brit. I. 295 Gadus virens,..locally..*rock-salmon, saithe. 1882Bulletin U.S. Fish Commission I. 42 The ‘Rock Salmon’ of Pensacola. 1931J. R. Norman Hist. Fishes xix. 385 It has been found convenient to market this perfectly wholesome fish [sc. cat-fish] under a more pleasing name, and..it is sold as ‘Rock Salmon’. 1957R. Campbell Portugal iv. 65 In the [London] fried-fish shops..‘rock salmon’..is the trade name for shark. 1958Times 18 July 7/1 Rock salmon is in fact usually catfish. 1963[see huss n.]. 1969A. Wheeler Fishes Brit. Isles & N.-W. Europe 452/2 It [sc. the catfish] is sold with the related species under the names rock salmon and rockfish. 1977Times 8 Feb. 9/4 Rock salmon has had its name changed..by the trades description act, and is now called Huss.
1804Shaw Gen. Zool. V. 336 *Rock shark, Squalus stellaris... Native of the European seas.
1905D. S. Jordan Guide to Study of Fishes II. xxix. 510 The *rock-skippers..are herbivorous, with serrated teeth set loosely in their jaws. These live in rock-pools of the tropics and leap from rock to rock. 1966C. Sweeney Scurrying Bush xi. 154 There are perhaps a hundred or more kinds of rock skippers in tropical oceans, all able to shuffle and wriggle along on spray-soaked rocks. The kind that I found was as goggle-eyed as any and..resembled a small seal with a frog's head, the flipper-like pectoral fins supporting the front of the body.
1965A. J. McClane Stand. Fishing Encycl. 730/2 *Rock sole are only occasionally taken by hook and line. 1971Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 21 Mar. 2/3, I have taken in recent years..rock sole and sand sole.
1803Shaw Gen. Zool. IV. 448 *Rock Sparus, Sparus Rupestris... Native of the Northern seas, frequenting the shores.
1877C. Hallock Sportsman's Gazetteer i. 329 *Rock Sturgeon.—Acipenser rubicundus. This is the sturgeon of the great lakes. 1961E. S. Herald Living Fishes of World 67/2 The eastern American lake or rock sturgeon has been known to reach a weight of 300 pounds.
1884Goode, etc. Nat. Hist. Aquatic Anim. 258 There is also..a large, brilliantly colored form [of sculpin], known as the ‘Sea raven’, ‘*Rock Toad-fish’, or ‘Deep-water Sculpin’.
1844–8Richardson Ichthyol. 77/1 Galaxias alepidotus... New Zealand. Named..‘*Rock-trout’ by Cook's sailors. 1876Goode Anim. Res. U.S. 65 Rock trout (Chirus constellatus).
1883E. P. Ramsay Food Fishes N.S.W. 25 Odax semifasciatus, known locally as the ‘*rock-whiting’, ‘stranger,’ &c.
e. In names of plants, as rock alyssum, the gold-dust (Alyssum saxatile); rock beauty, an Alpine and Pyrenæan plant (Draba or Petrocallis pyrenaica) with lilac flowers; rock brake(s), the parsley fern; rock button-flower, a tropical flower of the genus Gomphia; rock candytuft (see quot.); rock cantaloup, a species of melon; rock chestnut-oak, a North American species of oak-tree (Quercus prinus); rock cist, cistus, = rock-rose; rock club-moss (see quot.); rock elm, one of several North American elms, esp. Ulmus thomasii or its timber; † rock germander, a species of veronica; rock hair (see quot. 1861); † rock herb (?); rock kelp = rock-weed; rock knotweed, various species of Polygonum; rock lily, (a) a cryptogamous plant of tropical America; (b) an Australian orchid (Dendrobium speciosum); rock lychnis, a lychnis of the sub-genus Viscaria; rock madwort = rock alyssum; rock maple, the sugar maple, Acer saccharum, or its timber; rock melon = cantaloup; rock mint (see mint n.2 2); rock moss, (a) the orchil lichen; (b) cudbear; rock oak = rock chestnut-oak; rock onion (see onion n. 2); rock parsley (see quots. and parsley 2); rock pine (see quot.); † rock rampion, a species of campanula, Campanula pyramidalis; † rock sage (see quot.); rock samphire, (a) common samphire or sea-fennel; (b) marsh samphire or glasswort; rock savory (see quot.); rock scorpion-grass, sedge, silk, speedwell, stone-crop (see quots. and these names); rock tripe (see quot.).
1870W. Robinson Alpine Flowers for Eng. Gardens ii. 272 Petrocallis Pyrenaica—Beauty of the Rocks... A ‘*rock beauty!’ as everybody must confess who sees its fresh light-green tufts, not more than an inch high, and cushioned snugly amidst the broken rocks. 1930H. Correvon Rock Garden & Alpine Plants xii. 249 D[raba] (Petrocallis) pyrenaica. Rock Beauty. 1964A. N. Griffith Collins Guide to Alpines 205 This very small genus [sc. Petrocallis] provides us with one charming little plant which well deserves its name of Rock Beauty.
1846–50A. Wood Class-bk. Bot. 632 Pteris atropurpurea, *Rock Brake. 1859T. Moore Brit. Ferns (1864) 33 The Rock Brakes is a mountain Fern, choosing to grow in stony situations. It is comparatively rare and local.
c1711Petiver Gazophyl. ix. §90 *Rock Button-Flower..growing luxuriently wild, about that Fertile Promontory the Cape of Good Hope.
1822Hortus Anglicus II. 149 Iberis Saxatilis, *Rock Candy Tuft.
1786Abercrombie Arr. in Gard. Assist. p. vii, Melons,..*Rock Cantaleupe, Black rock Cantaleupe. 1813Vancouver Agric. Devon 7 From two of these hills, which were occupied by three plants each, 6½ brace..of the rock-cantelope melon, were cut.
1810F. A. Michaux Hist. Arbres Forestiers de l'Amérique Septentrionale I. 23 *Rock chestnut oak..seul nom donné à cette espèce dans les Etats de New-York et de Vermont. 1832D. J. Browne Sylva Amer. 285 The rock chestnut oak is sometimes 3 feet in diameter, and more than 60 feet high. 1897G. B. Sudworth Nomencl. Arborescent Flora U.S. 156 Chestnut Oak..[also called] Rock Chestnut Oak.
1866Treas. Bot. 987/2 *Rockcist, Helianthemum. 1872Oliver Elem. Bot. ii. 141 Many species of Rockcist are commonly cultivated in shrubberies and on rock-work.
1836Furness Astrologer i. 14 Where the *rock-cistus scents the vernal morn. 1873[see cistus].
1771J. R. Forster Flora Amer. Septentr. 48 Lycopodium rupestre, *rock Club-moss.
1830Trans. Lit. & Hist. Soc. Quebec III. 84 The timber of this variety..is known by the name of *Rock Elm. 1843Holtzapffel Turning I. 85 Rock Elm..is extensively used for boat-building. 1853Moodie Life Clearings 26 Its rocky banks..are fringed with..rock-elm, that queen of the Canadian forest. 1955Bush News (Port Arthur, Ontario) Feb. 3/5 Southern Ontario..is sending..rock elm timbers to Britain. 1972Handbk. Hardwoods (Forest Prod. Res. Lab.) (ed. 2) 73 Rock elm may be distinguished from other commercial elms by the small size and sparse distribution of its early wood pores.
1760J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 324 *Rock Germander, Veronica.
1756Phil. Trans. XLIX. 858 Muscus corallinus saxatilis,..*Rock Hair. 1759B. Stillingfl. Misc. Tracts (1791) 180 The lichen jubatus, or rock-hair in exulcerations of the skin. 1861H. Macmillan Footnotes fr. Nature 94 A very curious lichen called rock-hair (Alectoria jubata), which covers with its beard-like tufts the trunks of almost every tree.
1694Acc. Sev. Late Voy. (1711) 73 The Leaves of the great *Rock Herb, are very like unto a Man's Tongue.
1846Lindley Veget. Kingd. 70 So also the *rock-lily, a name sometimes given to Selaginella convoluta. 1879H. N. Moseley Naturalist on Challenger 270 (N.S.W.), A luxuriant vegetation, with huge masses of Stagshorn Fern (Platycerium) and ‘rock-lilies’ (orchids).
1753Chambers Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Lychnis, The dwarf juniper leaved *rock lychnis.
1822Hortus Anglicus II. 150, 2. Alyssum Saxatile, *Rock Mad Wort, or Yellow Alyssum.
1775S. Thayer Jrnl. 30 Sept. in Rhode Island Hist. Soc. Coll. (1867) VI. 4 The timber [is] large and of various kinds, such as Pine, Oak, Hemlock and *Rock Maple. 1809A. Henry Trav. 68 A ridge..covered with the rock or sugar maple, or sugar-wood. 1866Whittier Prose Wks. (1889) I. 206 Two noble rock-maples arched over with their dense foliage the little red gate. 1949‘J. Nelson’ Backwoods Teacher xxvi. 265 Hi Slocum..had tapped a few rock maples he knew about—though this is not really maple syrup country. 1977New Yorker 27 June 30/3, I..fell over a rock-maple chair and skinned my knee. 1980Early Music Gaz. July 12/1 (Advt.), Made of impregnated rock maple and finished in dark color.
1871V. Lush Jrnl. 16 Mar. (1975) 105 Blanche bought 8 fine *rock melons for 4/0... Blanche has reduced 6 of them into jam. 1882[see pie-melon]. 1929[see cantaloup]. 1972J. S. Gunn in G. W. Turner Good Austral. Eng. iii. 60 Is there any difference at all between..rock melon/cantaloup and many other pairs?
1793–8Nemnich Polygl.-Lex. v. 957 *Rock moss, Lichen roccella. 1839Ure Dict. Arts 377 Most of which lichens are imported from Sweden and Norway, under the name of rock moss. 1887C. A. Moloney Forestry W. Afr. 527 Orchella weed, dyer's weed, rock moss.
1699Public Rec. Colony Connecticut (1868) IV. 304 Running eastward three hundred rod to a *rock-oak tree markt. 1773Connect. Col. Rec. (1887) XIV. 172 Resolved..that the rock-oak aforesaid with stones about it is the southwest corner of Midletown. 1852C. Morfit Tanning & Currying (1853) 99 It is known as the rock oak, from the situations in which it is found. 1949Collingwood & Brush Knowing your Trees 224 Sometimes this tree is called rock oak or mountain oak because it grows on high, rocky slopes.
1611Cotgr., Persil de Roc,..*Rocke Parseley, stone Parseley. 1744J. Wilson Synop. Brit. Pl. 72 Peucedanum, Rock Parsley. 1859Miss Pratt Brit. Grasses 168 Curled Rock-brake, Mountain Parsley, or Rock Parsley.
1889J. H. Maiden Useful Native Pl. 546 Frenela robusta..is known as ‘*Rock Pine’ in Western New South Wales.
1688Holme Armoury ii. 67/2 The *Rock Rampions, or the Steeple Bell-flower, the leaves grow in a bunch like Primroses, the Bells by multitudes hanging..one above another Pyramidically to the top..and a pointel in the middle.
1562Turner Herbal ii. 135 Thys kinde [of sideritis]..may be called in English Yronwurt or *Rock Sage.
1597Gerarde Herbal 427 *Rocke Sampier hath many fat and thicke leaues. 1744J. Wilson Synop. Brit. Pl. 13 Salt⁓wort is used for a pickle at Newcastle upon Tyne, where they call it Rock-sampire. 1802–3tr. Pallas' Trav. II. 449 Crithmum, the genuine rock-samphire of the English. 1877Holderness Gloss., Rock-semper,..rock samphire. A favourite dish with those living on the banks of the Humber.
1822Hortus Anglicus II. 96 Satureia Rupestris, *Rock Savory.
1855Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. IV. 47 *Rock Scorpion-grass... This beautiful species is a mountain plant.
1859― Brit. Grasses 25 *Rock Sedge,..a very rare plant, from 3–6 inches high.
1694Acc. Sev. Late Voy. iv. 74 The Herb was like Dodder, Wherefore it may be call'd Water or *Rock Silk.
1855Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. IV. 91 Blue *Rock Speedwell..is a mountain flower. 1882Garden 22 July 60/1 All the Rock Speedwells with which I am acquainted are beautiful.
1802Willich Domest. Encycl. IV. 143 The rupestre, or *Rock Stone⁓crop,..differs from the preceding species [i.e. yellow stone⁓crop] only in its smaller flowers.
1854Mayne Reid Young Voyageurs 384 *Rock-tripe..was a black, hard crumply substance that nearly covered the surface of the rock, and was evidently of a vegetable nature. 1866Treas. Bot. 1172/2 Tripe de Roche. This name, or that of Rock Tripe, is given in North America, in consequence of the blistered thallus, to several species of lichens belonging to Gyrophora and Umbilicaria, but especially to the latter. 1907St. Nicholas July 847/1 ‘Rock-tripe’, another lichen, has been eaten in the arctic regions in times of famine. 1952F. Mowat People of Deer 37 Sometimes she scrabbled through the drifts on hilltops and found..a handfull of rock-tripe, a kind of moss.
▪ II. rock, n.2|rɒk|
Forms: 4, 6 roc, 5–6 rok(k, 6– rock; 4–5 rokke, 4–7 rocke.
[Corresponds to MDu. rocke (Du. rok), also later rocken (Du. rokken), MLG. rocken, OHG. rocco, ro(c)cho (MHG. rocke, roche, G. rocken), ON. rokkr (Icel. rokkur, Norw. rokk, Sw. rock, Da. rok). It is not clear whether the word is native English, or a later adoption from the Continent. The Ital. rocca, Sp. rueca, Pg. roca are supposed to be of Teutonic origin.]
1. A distaff. Now arch. or Hist.
c1310Northern Poem in Rel. Ant. VII. 146 Hic am an ald quyne and a lam;..Wit my roc y me fede. c1340Nominale (Skeat) 535 Conoil, trahul, et ramoun, Rokke, reel, and besme. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 33 Sardanapallus..was founde..drawenge purpulle of a rocke. c1425Wyntoun Cron. iii. v. 721 His oysse was mare wiþe rok to spyn Þan landis to þe crowne to wyn. c1440Alph. Tales 290 He made his doghters to be clothe-makers, & for to lere at spyn on þe rokk. 1519W. Horman Vulg. 237 b, A rocke or a distaffe lade with flexe or wolle. 1553T. Wilson Rhet. 80 b, When wilt thou come to my house, swete wenche, with thy rocke and thy spindle? 1607B. Jonson Entertainm. at Theobalds 32 The three Parcæ,..the one holding the rock, the other the spindle, and the third the sheeres. a1687H. More Cont. Remark. Stories (1689) 424 Once as Alice sat spinning, the Rock or Distaff leapt several times out of the wheel. 1725Ramsay Gentle Sheph. iv. i, Speak that again, and trembling dread my rock. 1776Adam Smith W.N. i. xi. (1869) I. 260 The exchange of the rock and spindle for the spinning-wheel was the first capital improvement. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 405 The flax, rendered straight and smooth by hackling, is wrapped loosely round the rock, from which it is gradually drawn by the left hand. 1851Art Jrnl. Illustr. Catal. i **/2 The operation of spinning is carried on by drawing out the fibre from the rock, and supplying it regularly to the fly. 1870Morris Earthly Par. III. iv. 41 Coarse and brown The thread was that her rock gave forth.
fig.1737E. Erskine Serm. Wks. 1871 II. 241 It is easy for God to give wicked men another tow in their rock than to molest the Lord's people. 1826Scott Jrnl. 9 Feb., Perhaps she has no tow on her rock.
2. A distaff together with the wool or flax attached to it; the quantity of wool or flax placed on a distaff for spinning.
15..Wyfe of Auchtermuchty viii, Than hame he ran to an rok of tow, And he satt doun to say the spynning. 1615Chapman Odyssey vi. 77 Her mother..at [the] fire, who had to spin A rock, whose tincture with sea-purple shin'd. 1648Hexham ii, Een Rocke, ofte rocksel, a Rock of yarne, or the yarne hanging on the Rock. 1735in Heslop Northumbld. Gloss. s.v., Now it will be twelve o'clock And more; for I've spun off my rock. 1768A. Ross Songs, Rock & Wee Pickle Tow i, She louted her down, an' her rock took a low. 1827Carlyle Germ. Rom. I. 100 She had just spun off a rock of flax. 1856[see 3]. 1894Heslop Northumbld. Gloss. s.v., To ‘spin off a rock’—to finish off the quantity of material on the rock.
†b. fig. (See quot. and rocking n.) Obs.
1793Stat. Acc. Scotland, Muirkirk VII. 613 When one neighbour says to another,..‘I am coming over with my rock,’ he means no more than to tell him that he intends soon to spend an evening with him.
3. attrib. and Comb., as rock-spun adj.; rock-guards dial., young men escorting girls to or from a rocking; rock-stick dial. = sense 1.
1769Dubl. Mercury 16–19 Sept. 2/2 Superfine rockspun and common poplins. 1807J. Stagg Poems 64 Frae house to house the rock gairds went. 1856P. Thompson Hist. Boston 721 Rock, a portion of flax wrapped round a stick called the rock-stick, attached to a spinning-wheel.
b. Rock Day, Monday (see quots. 1841).
1589Warner Alb. Eng. v. xxiv. 108 Rock, & plow Mondaies gams sal gang, with Saint-feast & Kirk-sights. 1602–13[see hockey1 2]. 1838H. Nicolas Chronol. (ed. 2) 169 Rock Day, or St. Distaff's day, the day after Twelfth day, i.e. Jan. 7. 1841R. T. Hampson Medii Aevi Cal. I. 138 The day after Twelfth Day, was called Rock Day,..because women on that day resumed their spinning, which had been interrupted by the sports of Christmas. Ibid. 139 The Monday following Twelfth day, was for the same reason, denominated Rock Monday.
▪ III. rock, n.3|rɒk|
[f. rock v.1]
1. a. The action of the vb. rock1; a movement or swaying to and fro, or a spell of this.
1823Chalmers Mem. (1851) III. 4, I dislike the idea of him getting such a rock upon the occasion [of a voyage]. 1876Smiles Sc. Natur. iv. 61 Giving the cradle a final and heavy rock, he left the house. 1891Kipling Light that Failed xv. (1900) 284 Dick adjusted himself comfortably to the rock and pitch of the [camel's] pace.
b. Phr. rock of eye = rack of (the) eye s.v. rack n.1 4 f.
1890Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang II. 183/2 Rock of eye and rule of thumb (tailors), refers to doing anything which requires scientific treatment by guesswork. 1957N. Squire Theory of Bidding xlii. 216 Honour-tricks will be counted at their normal value as in the Table of Honour-tricks, but with additions found by rock-of-eye.
2. orig. U.S.
a. Musical rhythm characterized by a strong beat.
1946Mezzrow & Wolfe Really Blues vii. 90 The Cotton Pickers..came on with a steady rock that was really groovy. 1952H. Sinclair Music out of Dixie vi. 245 He played eight bars of a new introduction he had thought up and..[said] ‘I want that steady rock.’ 1952R. A. Waterman in S. Tax Acculturation in Americas 217 Musical terms like ‘rock’ and ‘swing’ express ideas of rhythm foreign to European folk tradition, and stem from African concepts. 1970P. Oliver Savannah Syncopators 36 Jazz developed a different kind of rhythmic feeling with a lifting movement between adjacent beats which the jazz musician identifies as ‘rock’ or ‘swing’.
b. = rock and roll. Now freq. used to encompass most modern popular music with a rocking or swinging beat. Also the last element in Combs., as acid rock, folk rock, etc.; see hard rock (c) s.v. hard a. 23 a, punk rock, raga rock s.v. raga 2.
1957Beat Sept. 7/1 ‘It's the answer to Rock,’ said one and all... But a new sound package of diluted Rock, Hill-Billy tunes and ersatz Blues assails our ears. 1959Daily Mail 17 Feb. 4/4 Yellow Dog Blues played in basic style by Joe Darensbourg's band..unexpectedly popped up among the rock. 1960M. Spark Ballad of Peckham Rye (1964) iv. 58 Findlater's rooms were not given to rowdy rock but concentrated instead upon a more cultivated jive, cha-cha, and variants. 1963J. T. Story Something for Nothing v. 166 ‘It's only folk singing,’ Albert told him. ‘Well, it makes a change from all this old rock,’ said Sid. 1965Time 17 Sept. 102/2 Folk rock owes its origins to Bob Dylan, 24, folk music's most celebrated contemporary composer. 1968National Observer (U.S.) 3 Nov. 24 It has been clear for some time that ‘rock’ is getting longer, more sophisticated, more ambitious, restless with chordal limitations and the three-minute format. 1969Britannica Bk. of Year (U.S.) 799/1 Acid rock, rock 'n' roll songs whose titles or lyrics make cryptic reference to drugs. 1969Rolling Stone 28 June 38/4 (Advt.), Two guitarists needed immediately... Booked for TV show in a few mos. Have material, underground & acidrock. 1972Saturday Night (Toronto) Sept. 42/2 Like light shows, psychedelic posters and acid rock, it seems to have emerged first in California. 1976New Statesman 17 Dec. 884/1 The whole of rock..had grown away from its roots, absorbing the influences of poetry, folk and protest music, and in the Sixties becoming central to the internal communications of a whole generation.
c. attrib. and Comb., as rock album, rock artist, rock band, rock beat, rock club, rock critic, rock criticism, rock culture, rock fan, rock festival, rock group, rock guitarist, rock history, rock idiom, rock lyric, rock movement, rock movie, rock music, rock musical, rock musician, rock number, rock opera, rock press, rock record, rock show, rock singer, rock singing, rock song, rock star, rock thing; also rock-dominated, rock-tinged adjs.
1979Yale Alumni Mag. Apr. 30/3 Many sociable Soviets turned out to be dealers on the thriving Soviet black market..interested primarily in acquiring American blue jeans.., *rock albums, dollars, or chewing gum.
1973Black World Nov. 45/2 Many *rock and soul *artists have retained their interest in..gospel music.
1968Listener 13 June 774/1 There was a *rock band that whooped it up all the louder, to drown the inevitable news. 1978G. Vidal Kalki vi. 154 A rock band deafened us.
1969Listener 20 Feb. 251/1 They..claim to have brought ‘the *rock beat, the now sound, to the American Musical Theatre’. 1972Jazz & Blues Sept. 4/2 A slashing rock beat.
1965M. Morse Unattached v. 177 A ‘*rock’ club was started for younger teenagers.
1977Rolling Stone 13 Jan. 8/3 If *rock critics recognize and understand this as a problem, why don't they do something about it?
1977N.Y. Rev. Bks. 14 Apr. 40/4 Mark Miller's ‘review’..of recent *rock criticism seriously distorts its subject.
1967Economist 8 Apr. 144/1 This is politics fashioned for the young: ‘the *rock culture’, it is being called.
1977Rolling Stone 24 Mar., His full-blown, upper-register style is ingeniously contrasted with Walden's simple, melodic, *rock-dominated charts.
1961Times 12 Aug. 7/6 More intelligent than the majority of ‘*rock’ fans.
1968Rolling Stone 12 Oct. 1/3 ‘The best freaking scene ever,’ said one musician. The Sky River *Rock Festival and Lighter Than Air Show was not dampened by the rain that fell over Labor Day weekend. 1971M. Smith Gypsy in Amber xix. 144 I've never seen a rock festival.
1967Listener 14 Sept. 350/2 *Rock groups..concentrated on achieving the authentic and personal expression. 1977It May 10/1 Perhaps there are also rock groups who would be prepared to perform at benefit concerts.
1977Gay News 24 Mar. 28/2 His cohorts perform well too especially Ray Russell, even if he is inclined to go in for circular solos, just like a *rock guitarist.
1976New Statesman 17 Dec. 884/2 It is this concern with *rock history which distinguishes them from others who have called for a return to the basic virtues of good ole rock-'n'roll.
1976Gramophone Dec. 952/2 The Amazing Rhythm Aces, a band from Tennessee..successfully combine country, rockabilly, swing and nostalgia into the *rock idiom.
1976Listener 18 Nov. 645/2 Most *rock lyrics are straight melodramas.
1975Ibid. 18 Sept. 370/2 The *rock movement saw our present crisis coming and died of shock.
1971It 4–18 Nov. 19/1 The financial success of cheap *rock movies.
1967Listener 23 Nov. 681/3 Is there an analogy between films and *rock music? 1978Hi-Fi News Sept. 7 Popular and rock music benefit from this performance.
1969L. Roxon Rock Encycl. 420 By the end of 1968, in spite of all the talk about rock and the new music, the big *rock musical had still to be done. 1977F. Weldon in Winter's Tales 23 192 Brian offers..Hugo a part in a new rock musical going on in the West End.
1968Listener 4 July 18/1 *Rock musicians can now sing anything that can be said by traditional forms of creative expression, and more besides. 1969L. Roxon Rock Encycl. 42 There is not a rock musician working today who has not consciously or unconsciously borrowed from his [sc. Chuck Berry's] sound.
1957Sat. Rev. (U.S.) 5 Oct. 6 You feel it in a beat—in jazz—real cool jazz or a good gutty *rock number.
1969Newsweek 9 June 95 It was almost inevitable that the British group The Who should write the first *rock opera. 1979Newsday 31 Dec. 26 Francis Coppola's dazzlingly beautiful, nightmarish Vietnam combat adventure, staged like a psychedelic rock opera, is a provocative drama flawed by a murky ending.
1977Zigzag Aug. 6/2 He's one of the only *rock press geezers worth reading. 1977Chainsaw Sept./Oct. 7/1 The national weekly rock press do have articles on new-wave groups.
1971B. Malamud Tenants 45 They danced to some *rock records Willie had brought along in a paper bag.
1960New Left Rev. May–June 33/1 He met Mr. Parnes at a Liverpool *rock show.
1959Punch 10 June 788/2 Richard, like most *rock singers, dances from the knees in a style borrowed from African warriors. 1973J. Jones Touch of Danger xxvii. 164, I met this boy and dropped out with him. He wanted to be a rock singer.
1977Rolling Stone 30 June 25/1 One good reason Elliman wants to remain with Clapton is that his band serves as a fine outlet for her *rock singing.
1960Times 26 Feb. 16/4 This song conforms to the pattern of the teenagers' acceptance to-day. It is a *rock song with a rock gimmick.
1976New Yorker 17 May 125/2 A *rock star with a limp feather boa draped around her shoulders. 1978G. Vidal Kalki vi. 153 Deafening was what H.V.W. would call the din from the rock stars' dressing rooms where electric guitars whined.
1959C. MacInnes Absolute Beginners 56 The days when the *Rock thing first broke.
1977Rolling Stone 7 Apr. 26/2 His first solo album, Solid, a fine mixture of love ballads with jazz- and *rock-tinged soul, has been selling short of hit status.
Add:[2.] c. rockfest U.S. colloq. [fest n.], a festival having performances by rock musicians as a central feature.
1969Milwaukee Jrnl. 30 Aug. a3/2 Another three day rock fest opened Saturday. 1973National Rev. (U.S.) 31 Aug. 922/3 N.Y. Public Health Department says Watkins Glen rockfest's 600,000 attendance made it ‘[the] largest public gathering ever recorded in the history of the U.S.’ 1989Chicago Tribune 28 May iii. 2/3 Saturday's $516,900 Grade II Illinois Derby was an acid rockfest.
▪ IV. † rock, n.4 Obs.—1
Some species of dog.
1719D'Urfey Pills (1872) II. 330 With deep mouth'd Jowlers too, and Rocks.
▪ V. rock
obs. form of roc, roke n.1
▪ VI. rock, v.1|rɒk|
Forms: 1 roccian, 3, 5 rocken, 5 rokken; 4 rocky, rokky, 4–5 rokk(e, 4–7 rocke, 5 roke, 5–6 Sc. rok, 6– rock.
[Late OE. roccian, app. f. the Teutonic stem rukk-, derivatives of which are cited under rich v.2 It is not clear whether MDu. and MHG. rocken (Da. rokke) are to be equated with OE. roccian, or are mere variants of the usual rucken.]
1. a. trans. To move (a child) gently to and fro in a cradle, in order to soothe or send it to sleep. Also in fig. contexts.
a1100in Kluge Ags. Lesebuch (ed. 2) 89 Heo hine baðede & beðede & smerede & bær & frefrede & swaðede & roccode. a1225Ancr. R. 82 Heo makeð of hire tunge cradel to þes deofles bearn, & rockeð hit ȝeorneliche ase nurice. c1340Nominale (Skeat) 402 Femme bercelet berce, Woman childe in cradul rokkith. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 159 Gentil men children beeþ i-tauȝt to speke Frensche from þe tyme þat þey beeþ i-rokked in here cradel. 14..W. Paris Cristine 318 (Horstm. 1878), Ther she laye als innocente In credylle rokkede. c1440Promp. Parv. 436/1 Rokke chylder, yn a cradyle, cunagito, motito. 1530Palsgr. 693/1 Go rocke the chylde, here you nat howe he cryeth. 1592Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 1186 Lo, in this hollow cradle take thy rest, My throbbing heart shall rock thee day and night. 1602Marston Antonio's Rev. ii. ii, That's not my native place, where I was rockt. 1656Cowley Pindar. Odes, 1st Nem. Ode vi, The big-limm'd Babe in his huge Cradle lay, Too weighty to be rockt by Nurses hands, Wrapt in purple swadling bands. 1796Grose's Vulgar T. (ed. 3) s.v., He was rocked in a stone kitchen; a saying meant to convey the idea that the person spoken of is a fool, his brains having been disordered by the jumbling of his cradle. 1820Shelley Vision of Sea 81 This pale bosom, thy cradle and bed, Will it rock thee not, infant? 1866G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. xxv. (1878) 437, I remember rocking you in your cradle.
b. transf. and fig. of the wind, sea, earth, sleep, etc.
1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. i. 19 Wilt thou..Seale vp the Ship-boyes Eyes, and rock his Braines In Cradle of the rude imperious Surge? 1602― Ham. iii. ii. 237 Sleepe rocke thy Braine. 1602Marston Antonio's Rev. iii. iv, To rock your baby thoughts in the cradle of sleepe. a1656Bp. Hall Serm. Wks. 1837 V. 433 Surely, he were a bold man, that could sleep, while the earth rocks him. 1673[R. Leigh] Transp. Reh. 141 A geographer born and bred,..rockt from his child-hood on the seas. 1784Cowper Tiroc. 44 Spring hangs her infant blossoms on the trees, Rock'd in the cradle of the western breeze. 1877Talmage Serm. 256 It was rocked in the cradle of the wind.
2. a. To bring into a state of slumber, rest, or peace by gentle motion to and fro. Const. to, into, or asleep. Also fig.
a1400Seven Sages in MS. Cott. Galba E. ix. fol. 26 b, Ye third wasshes ye shetes oft, And rokkes it on slepe soft. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 11 Resoun hadde reuthe on me, and rokked me aslepe. c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xvi. 376 We ben noo children for to be rokked a slepe. 1584Lyly Sappho iii. iv, I shoulde bee quickly rocked into a deepe rest. 1607Hieron Wks. I. 317 It is one of Sathans principall businesses to rocke men asleepe in it. 1635Quarles Embl. i. xiv. 5 Blow Ignorance; O thou, whose idle knee Rocks earth into a Lethargie. 1681–6J. Scott Chr. Life (1747) III. 87 To chase them from our Minds, and rock ourselves into a deep Security. 1784Cowper Task vi. 739 As the working of a sea Before a calm, that rocks itself to rest. 1819Shelley Cenci iv. ii. 39 Ye conscience-stricken cravens, rock to rest Your baby hearts.
b. To maintain in a lulling state of security, plenty, hope, etc.
1581Mulcaster Positions xxxvii. (1887) 149 While he was rockt in ease, and his state vnassailed by any miscontentment. 1583Babington Commandm. (1590) 66 Sometimes Sathan hath rocked this soule of mine in the chayer of securitie. 1633Ford Broken H. iv. iii, The favour of a princess Rock thee, brave man, in ever-crowned plenty. 1880McCarthy Own Times xliv. III. 333 Up to the last he had been rocked in the vainest hopes.
3. To move or sway (one) to and fro, esp. in a gentle or soothing manner. Also fig.
14..W. Paris Cristine 313 (Horstm. 1878), Foure mene rokede hire to & froo, To make hire payne more violente. a1586Sidney Arcadia iii. (1605) 343 He tooke her in his armes, and rocking her to and fro [etc.]. 1680Dryden Ovid's Ep. xi. 75 High in his hall, rock'd in a chair of state, The king with his tempestuous council sate. 1847De Quincey Sp. Mil. Nun v. Wks. 1853 III. 7 Our poor Kate, that had for fifteen years been so tenderly rocked in the arms of St. Sebastian and his daughters. 1891Kipling Light that Failed xi. (1900) 187 Torpenhow put his arm round Dick and began to rock him gently to and fro.
refl.1859Geo. Eliot A. Bede x, After Lisbeth had been rocking herself and moaning for some minutes, she suddenly paused. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. xv, She rocked herself upon her breast, and cried, and sobbed.
4. a. To make (a cradle) swing to and fro, in order to put a child to sleep. Also transf. and fig.
c1386Chaucer Reeve's T. 237 The Cradel at hir beddes feet is set, To rokken, and to yeue the child to sowke. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. x. 79 To ryse to þe ruel to rocke þe cradel. c1532G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 939 To rocke the cradel, berchér. 1590Spenser F.Q. iii. vi. 2 All the Graces rockt her cradle being borne. 1601Holland Pliny xxviii. iv. II. 303 To procure sleepe, by lying in some pretie bed that may be rocked too and fro. 1604Shakes. Oth. ii. iii. 136 He'le watch the Horologe a double set, If Drinke rocke not his Cradle. 1781Cowper Expost. 470 This island,..The cradle that receiv'd thee at thy birth, Was rock'd by many a rough Norwegian blast. 1864Tennyson En. Ard. 194 Lightly rocking baby's cradle. 1898Westm. Gaz. 20 Sept. 4/1 He has rocked the cradles of more than one fresh world.
b. transf. in gold-washing (see cradle n. 14). Hence absol., to use a rocker in gold-digging. Also trans., to work out with a rocker.
1849Illustr. Lond. News 17 Nov. 325/1 The one digging and carrying the earth in a bucket, and the other washing and rocking the cradle. 1884‘R. Boldrewood’ Melb. Mem. 168 Each man dug, or rocked, or bore, As if salvation with the ore Of the mine monarch lay. 1898Daily News 15 Aug. 7/2 Their efforts were confined to rocking out bars in the river-bed.
5. a. To cause to sway to and fro or from side to side; to move backwards and forwards. Also refl.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2179 Þe romeins..nolde..hor poer so sende Ne to rokky hom so in þe se. 1340Ayenb. 116 Þeruore bit sainte pawel his deciples þet hi by yzet ase tours, yroted ase trawes, in loue, zuo þet non uondinge him ne moȝe resye ne rocky. c1460Towneley Myst. xxi. 330 We shall so rok hym, and with buffettys knok hym. 1567Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 153, I was..as ane fule mockit, Euill tocheit and rockit. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. iv. i. 91 Come, my Queen, take hands with me, And rocke the ground whereon these sleepers be. 1598Chapman Iliad vi. 111 The blacke Buls hide..was with his gate so rockt, That (being large) it (both at once) his necke and ankles knockt. 1718Pope Iliad xiii. 68 The god whose earth⁓quakes rock the solid ground. 1786tr. Beckford's Vathek (1868) 52 A sudden hurricane blew out our lights and rocked our habitation. 1853Ure Dict. Arts (ed. 4) II. 5 This frame..is furnished with a handle, whereby it is rocked to bring down the types and discs upon the card. 1874J. W. Long Amer. Wild-fowl xii. 174 The boat should then be ‘rocked’ continually to break the ice as it goes.
†b. ? To clean by shaking. Obs. rare—1.
See the note on the word in the glossary to the poem. But the form ruokeden in Laȝamon 22287 makes it doubtful whether this is the true explanation.
13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2018 Þe ryngez rokked of þe roust, of his riche bruny.
c. colloq. (orig. U.S.). To cause to move with musical rhythm, esp. with the beat of rock n.3 2 b. Occas. (esp. in early use) with sexual connotations (see also sense 7 b).
1922T. Smith in Godrich & Dixon Blues & Gospel Records 1902–1942 (1969) 648 (song-title) My man rocks me (with one steady roll). 1938C. Calloway Hi de Ho in R. S. Gold Jazz Lexicon (1964) 256 Rock me, send me, kill me, move me with rhythm. 1939W. Hobson Amer. Jazz Music (1940) iii. 54 Albert Ammon's Boogie Woogie Stomp.., in jazz slang, might be said to ‘rock the joint’. Ibid. iv. 87 Simple jazz-rhythmic phrases..may be blasted out by players with enough lip and lung strength in a way that will ‘rock’ the crowd. 1951Davis & Hunter Rock Little Baby (song) 3 Some girls like men who are big and strong, You'll be my man, Just as long as you Rock little daddy, Work little daddy, Rock little daddy, Rock me all night long. 1956B. Holiday Lady sings Blues (1973) xi. 103 We used to rock that joint. 1961Jazz Notes Feb.–Mar. 39, I don't remember anyone who could ‘rock’ a Kenilworth audience before! 1972Even. Telegram (St. John's, Newfoundland) 24 June 10/4 Joan Morrissey and a group known as The Commanders Showband were ‘really rockin' 'er’ at the Staff Club. 1977Rolling Stone 7 Apr. 3/2 (Advt.), Boston, man. They really rock and roll. They rocked the place apart.
d. fig. To distress, perturb, upset; to surprise, startle, dumbfound. to rock the boat: see boat n. 1 d. colloq.
1940E. Pound Cantos lii. 11 Gold brokers made profit Rocked the exchange against gold. 1941Argus Weekend Mag. (Melbourne) 15 Nov. 1/3 Another universal favourite [in Australia] is still the famous ‘Wouldn't it ―!’ Never given the final words (the completed sentence has several variants on ‘Wouldn't it rock you!’ or ‘Wouldn't it rip you!’), the exclamation depends upon inflexion as to whether it conveys disgust, amazement, or pleasure. 1947N. Marsh Final Curtain ix. 139 Has Troy seen about the Will?... It'll rock them considerably. 1951Sun (Baltimore) 9 June b1/1 His diplomatic phrasing wrapped the punch in polite words, but Grady was nonetheless rocked. 1955‘N. Shute’ Requiem for Wren vii. 197 It turned out you were a Rhodes scholar, which rocked her a bit. 1960Sunday Express 24 July 1/3 It is not only from the Opposition that Mr. Macmillan can expect criticism. His decision will rock the Tory Party too. 1966[see off-broadway n.]. 1981Observer 22 Mar. 7 (heading) New sex scandals rock Washington.
6. a. intr. To sway to and fro under some impact or stress; to move or swing from side to side; to oscillate. Also dial., to stagger or reel in walking.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xx. (Bodl. MS.), Somtyme teeþ rokkeþ and waggeþ. a1460Lybeaus Disc. 1621 Syr Lambard..rokkede yn his sadell, As chyld doth yn a kradell. 1530Palsgr. 693/1, I love nat to lye in his house, for if there be any wynde styrryng, one shall rocke to and fro in his bedde. 1593Shakes. Lucr. 262 And how her hand, in my hand being lock'd, Forced it to tremble..and then it faster rock'd. 1600Heywood 1st Pt. Edw. IV, iv. iv, Thou hast two ploughs going, and ne'er a cradle rocking. 1695Blackmore Pr. Arth. iv. 224 He rocks with every Wind. 1718Ramsay Christ's Kirk Gr. iii. xiv, Some fell, and some gaed rockin. 1797–1805S. & Ht. Lee Cant. T. II. 145 The earth rocked beneath his feet. 1820Shelley Prometh. Unb. i. i. 68 As thunder, louder than your own, made rock The orbed world! 1850Tennyson In Mem. Concl. 63 The blind wall rocks, and on the trees The dead leaf trembles to the bells. 1898Daily News 24 Nov. 7/3 Sharkey..sent his right straight in Corbett's face, making his head rock.
fig.1861Sat. Rev. 23 Nov. 534 The rapid fluctuations of prevalent belief which this generation has witnessed, have necessarily set many minds rocking more or less. 1898Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 824 Not only does it..pacify the organ rocking under the tumult of its unbalanced parts [etc.].
b. Of vessels under the effect of waves.
1513Douglas æneis v. xiv. 77 Prince Enee persauit, by his rais, Quhow that the schip did rok and tailȝevey. 1807P. Gass Jrnl. 49 The waves ran very high and the boat rocked a great deal. 1873Black Pr. Thule xxiv. 406 The..vessel that scarcely rocked in the water below.
transf.1836Kingsley Lett. (1878) I. 35 The sea-birds played about over the sea, or sat rocking on its bosom.
c. To swing oneself to and fro, esp. while sitting in a rocking-chair.
1795Southey Joan of Arc i, Elves love to lie and rock upon its leaves, And bask in moonshine. 1844Dickens Mart. Chuz. xliv, During the whole dialogue, Jonas had been rocking on his chair. 1898Nat. Rev. Aug. 898 He is more likely to spend his summer holiday fishing with a male friend than rocking beside his wife on a hotel piazza.
d. Const. with preps. or advs.
1858Carlyle Fredk. Gt. ii. vii. (1872) I. 92 Germany was rocking down towards one saw not what. 1862Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 5993 This lever has teeth.., which when the bolt is shot by the key, rock upwards and fit into corresponding recesses. 1863J. Ingelow Songs of Seven, Seven times seven i, Lightly she rocked to her port remote. 1937I. Baird John ix. 103 Tiber rocked back on his heels.
e. to rock along, to continue in typical fashion. U.S. colloq.
1906J. W. Carr in Dialect Notes III. 153 Rock along, to continue unsettled... ‘So the matter rocked along and nothing was done.’ 1946Sun (Baltimore) 10 Oct. 2/1 The creation of a new board or administrator..would permit the program to rock along much as it is now. 1972J. S. Hall Sayings from Old Smoky 115 Rockin' along, going along as usual. ‘Everything is rockin' along just like when Lena was here.’
f. In Mountaineering: to work one's way up a chimney by a rocking movement.
1920G. W. Young Mountain Craft 168 The body is kept upright in the middle on the spring of the bent knees and supported by the pressure of the hands, placed like the feet one against each wall. In this fashion we can ‘rock’ up satisfactorily.
7. a. Of popular music: to possess a rocking rhythm (see rocking ppl. a. 1 c); to exhibit the characteristics of rock music.
1938Metronome July 21 Harry James' Lullaby in Rhythm really rocks. 1946R. Blesh Shining Trumpets xiii. 309 The music..jumps rather than rocks. 1977Rolling Stone 24 Mar., Waters has written six new tunes for the album, marking the end of a long dry spell, but his standards and one old Willie Dixon tune rock the hardest.
b. To perform, or dance vigorously and in an improvised way to, popular music with a strong beat (rock n.3 2 a); hence, to play or dance to rock music (rock n.3 2 b), to rock and roll. Occas. (esp. in early use) with sexual connotations (see sense 5 c).
[1934: see rock and roll.] 1948Moore & Reig (song-title) We're gonna rock. 1951Davis & Hunter (song-title) Rock little baby. 1953Freedman & De Knight (song-title) We're gonna rock around the clock. 1956Look 26 June 45 Elvis Presley. The hottest thing rockin', sings throbbing lyrics that sound almost unintelligible. c1956‘L. Slim’ Rooster Blues in P. Oliver Screening Blues (1968) vi. 193 We got to rock tonight baby, yes, we got to rock tonight. 1974Down Beat 18 July 38/2 The band now isn't together enough to play all that... I mean they try to rock and they don't. 1977Time 1 Aug. 16/2 In a Salisbury discothèque last week..‘troopies’ (soldiers) and their birds were rocking to a song about the country's bad news.
c. to rock out, to enjoy oneself enthusiastically, esp. by playing or dancing to rock music. Also as attrib. phr. colloq. (chiefly U.S.).
1968Surfer Mag. Jan. 47/3 Maria likes rock-out dancing and surfing. 1972B. Rodgers Queens' Vernacular 173 Rock out,..to enjoy oneself to the fullest. 1977Rolling Stone 5 May 74/3 Even on the Stones' ‘Happy’, Lofgren changes the rock-out showpiece of hero Keith into a more subdued and funky shuffle. 1977C. McFadden Serial (1978) lii. 110/2 Kate..went to find the Reverend Thurston on the dance floor, where he was rocking out with Marlene.
Add:[6.] g. To sway with (mirth etc.).
1921Glasgow Herald 22 Dec. 7 For nearly half an hour he kept the Dail rocking with laughter. 1922Joyce Ulysses 304 They both laughed heartily, all the spectators, including the venerable pastor, joining in the general merriment. That monster audience simply rocked with delight. 1979Washington Post 1 July d4/1 Tell that story to Peterson..and he rocks with laughter. 1988J. Heller Picture This v. 44 Socrates would have rocked with mirth at Aristotle's long face and ludicrous dress.
▸ trans.to rock (a person's) world: (a) to distress or upset (a person) greatly (cf. sense 5d); (b) colloq. to excite or delight (a person).
1934Ada (Okla.) Evening News 2 Feb. 8/1 The thought that Tom would deliberately deceive her rocked her world. 1988L. F. Sylvers (title of song) Rock my world. 1994Vibe Nov. 26/2 If you give the Boogiemonsters a chance, it'll rock your world. 1999Post Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) 19 Dec. b3 This has rocked my world. It has shaken the core of my very being. 2003N.Y. Times (National ed.) 8 May e1/4 Positive comments like ‘she rocks my world’.
▸ intr. slang (orig. U.S.). To be extremely vibrant and exciting; to be excellent.
1969Times-Bull. (Van Wert, Ohio) 3 Oct. 2 (advt.) Bored? Uptight? In a box? Weekend bowling really rocks! 1990Club 18–30 Summer Holiday Brochure 1990 (BNC) Right next door, the new town really rocks, with lots of modern shops (great for clothes) and really good, classy, energetic bars. 1998Frame of Reference Spring 21/2 Akira. This movie rocks. 2004N.Y. Times (National ed.) 26 Dec. v. 8/3 Nancy took one taste of her doughnut-holes-and-pudding combo and announced, ‘This rocks!’
▸ intr. colloq. (orig. S. Afr.). to rock up (also occas. in): to arrive, turn up, esp. casually, late, or unexpectedly. Cf. to roll up at roll v.2 13b.
Dict. S. Afr. Eng.(1996) 600/1 records an oral use from 1974.
1975Darling (Durban) 12 Feb. 119 There by the camping site the day we rock in, it's 95 in the shade. 1982Sunday Times (Johannesburg) 6 June (Mag.) 4/6 This taxi rocks up with two old toppies. 1996Women's Day (Sydney) 3 June 90/1 When the ballad beauty rocked up she was ushered swiftly to Jean-Claude's old suite. 2004Rugby World Feb. 29/1 As they slumbered in the departure lounge, the England squad rocked up with the Webb Ellis cup in tow.
▸ trans. slang (orig. U.S., esp. in the language of rap and hip-hop). To wear, esp. with panache.
1987‘Boogie Down Productions’ Elementary (transcript of song) in www.asklyrics.com (O.E.D. archive) Watchin all these females rock their pants too tight. 1993I. Butler & M. A. Vieira Rebirth of Slick (song, perf. ‘Digable Planets’) in Hip-hop & Rap (2003) 348 Hip-hop kept some drama. When Butterfly rocked his light blue suede Pumas. 1995Select Mar. 69/1 David Niven will totally rock the blazer and the turtleneck. Or he'd rock the cravat. 1999J. Morgan When Chickenheads come Home to Roost 17 It reminded me of New York in the seventies, with its sexy sistas..and those leotard and dance skirt sets they used to rock back in the day. 2004N.Y. Times (National ed.) 17 Oct. ix. 8/1 Cam was the first hard-core rapper to rock pink.
▪ VII. rock, v.2
[f. rock n.1]
†1. trans. To encompass or wall with or as with rocks. Obs. rare.
1600E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 309 Rocked rounde about, and seated in the most inconstant sea that is. 1634Rowlands Noble Soldier iv. i, The mother Stands rock'd so strong with friends ten thousand billowes Cannot..shake her.
2. U.S. slang. To throw stones at; to stone.
1836Public Ledger (Philadelphia) 30 Aug. 1/4 Rock him! rock him! cried the boys, rock him round the corner... The wearer was ‘rocked’ till he turned his cloak inside out. a1848in Bartlett Dict. Amer. 277 They commenced rocking the Clay Club House in June. 1872O. W. Holmes Poet Breakf.-t. xii, The boys would follow after him, crying, ‘Rock him! Rock him! He's got a long-tailed coat on!’ 1885Where Chineses Drive 127 On the whole it is simpler to rock him.
3. W. Country dial. To remove the calcareous deposit or ‘fur’ from the inside of (a kettle).
1880Hardy Trumpet-Major II. i. 4 The broken clock-line was mended, the kettles rocked, the creeper nailed up, and a new handle put to the warming-pan. 1905in Eng. Dial. Dict. V. 138/1 Kettle wants rocking. |