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单词 rock
释义

rockn.1

Brit. /rɒk/, U.S. /rɑk/
Forms: Old English rocc (in compounds), Middle English roc, Middle English roȝ, Middle English–1500s roke, Middle English–1500s rokk, Middle English–1500s rokke, Middle English–1600s rocke, Middle English–1600s rok, Middle English– rock, 1500s roocke, 1500s rough, 1600s rauke (English regional (Essex)); Scottish pre-1700 rocke, pre-1700 roik, pre-1700 rok, pre-1700 rolk, pre-1700 roque, pre-1700 rouk, pre-1700 roulk, pre-1700 rowk, pre-1700 rox (plural), pre-1700 royk, pre-1700 1700s– rock, 1800s roke.
Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Partly a borrowing from French. Etymons: Latin rocca; French rokke, roke.
Etymology: In Old English (apparently only in stānrocc stonerock n.) < post-classical Latin rocca (see below); subsequently reinforced by or reborrowed from Anglo-Norman rokke and Old French (chiefly northern) roke, Middle French (chiefly regional) roque, rocque (c1100; compare also Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French, French roche (end of the 10th cent.), feminine noun, and Middle French, French roc (c1370), masculine noun, probably showing influence from Old Occitan) large mass of stone, cliff, crag, etc., detached mass of stone (end of the 10th cent.), stone as a material for construction (1178), cave, cavern (c1210), fortress built on a rock, citadel (c1245), probably showing the reflex of a Romance base attested earliest in post-classical Latin rocca (from 8th cent., especially in French sources), roca (9th cent.), and also reflected by Old Occitan roca , rocha (mid 11th cent.), Catalan roca (9th cent.; also roc , masculine), Spanish roca (early 14th cent.), Portuguese roca (beginning of the 11th cent.), and also Italian rocca large mountain fortress situated in an isolated place (beginning of the 13th cent.); the word is also reflected by many place names in France and Italy; further etymology uncertain and disputed: a Celtic origin has been suggested (compare Breton roc'h ), but is not generally accepted; see further Französisches etymol. Wörterbuch at *rocca. Compare also ( < French) post-classical Latin rocha (12th cent.), Portuguese rocha (1156), Italian roccia (a1313), Middle Dutch roche , roke , roetse , rotse (Dutch rots ), Middle Low German rutse , rotse , Middle High German rosche , rotsche . Compare earlier stonerock n., and also roche n.1, roach n.2The occasional morphological double plural form rockses is attested in several varieties of regional English, e.g. in south-western England, northern Ireland, etc. In sense 5d probably short for rock sugar n. at Compounds 2a(a); compare earlier rock candy n. With the sense development in English compare also Middle French, French roche in the later senses: support, refuge (1553, in religious context), something firm or unshakeable (1587; compare coeur de roche , lit. ‘heart of rock’ (a1573)). Also attested early in the place name Rok' , Northumberland (1242; 1164 as Roch (see roche n.1); now Rock); compare also Rocke , Devon (1330; now Rock) and the place names listed at stonerock n.
I. Literal uses.
1. A large rugged mass of hard mineral material (see sense 2a) or stone forming a cliff, crag, or other natural feature on land or in the sea. Cf. stone n. 1b.Recorded earliest in stonerock n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > mass > [noun] > of rock
stonec825
rockOE
rockwork1705
rockery1856
OE Aldhelm Glosses (Brussels 1650) in L. Goossens Old Eng. Glosses of MS Brussels, Royal Libr. 1650 (1974) 278 Scopulorum : saxorum eminentium, stanrocca uel torra.
a1275 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 38 (MED) Iudas, go þou on þe roc, heie up-on þe ston, lei þin heued i my barm, slep þou þe anon.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Macc. x. 73 Hou shalt thou mowe susteyne rydyng, and so grete oost in the feeld, where is no stoon, ne rocke [L. saxum], nether place of fleeȝynge?
c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) l. 2193 The holwe rokkis answerden hire a-gayn.
1486 Bk. St. Albans sig. diiiv (MED) Ther is a Fawken of the rock, And that is for a duke.
a1500 in A. Zettersten Middle Eng. Lapidary (1968) 24 (MED) Other maner of Saphires there be founde faste by a grete rok þat men calle Paray.
a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 44 Lyke as maryners..by neclygence run apon some roke.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 5699 His shippes..rut on a Rocke & rent all to peses.
1606 G. W. tr. Justinus Hist. xii. 53 He came to a maruellous rough and huge rocke, into which many people were fled.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) i. ii. 122 That, some whirle-winde beare Vnto a ragged, fearefull, hanging Rocke, And throw it thence into the raging Sea. View more context for this quotation
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. 140 A pair of stairs cut out in the Rock.
1718 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. 31 July (1965) I. 424 We..came safe to Malta... It is a whole Rock cover'd with very little Earth.
1747 J. Hervey Medit. II. 85 The moon is of signal service..to the Mariner..to explore his way and under the influence of this beaming Sconce, to avoid the fatal rock.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth I. 156 Splitting the most solid rocks, and thus shattering the summits of the mountain.
1843 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters I. ii. i. §4 Every minor rock comes out from the soil about it as an island out of the sea.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. vii. 49 We diverged from the snow to the adjacent rocks.
1887 Longman's Mag. May 70 Halting there to explore and climb some jutting rock whose peak promises a wider view over all the surrounding little archipelagoes.
1921 Mariner's Mirror 7 28/1 A skerry..is a rock without grass as a rule, which is not covered with a flood.
1969 Times 23 Aug. (Saturday Review) p. viii/2 A castle with rounded turrets perched high upon a rock.
2003 Vibe Mar. 158/4 Built on a rock over Paradise Beach, this 3,000-square-meter theater-like club is glamorous and decadent.
2.
a. The solid mineral material forming much of the substance of the earth (or any similar planetary body), whether exposed on the surface or overlain by soil, sand, mud, etc. Also figurative and in figurative context, chiefly alluding to qualities of hardness, durability, or immobility. Cf. stone n. 2a.See note at sense 2b. alum-, garnet-, phosphate, red, sand-, soap-, whin-rock, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > [noun]
stone1154
rocka1398
roche1803
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvi. xxxvi. 844 Þe stoon of þe which bras is blew..brekeþ nought esilich but it be ybrend first wiþ strong fyre in þe rokke.
1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Love in W. W. Skeat Chaucerian & Other Pieces (1897) 135 So ofte falleth the lethy water on the harde rocke til it have thorow persed it.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. vii. sig. G3 But all of Diamond..It framed was, one massy entire mould, Hewen out of Adamant rocke with engines keene.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iii. xvii. 173 In running, the water turnes to rocke.
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII i. i. 158 To th' King Ile say't, & make my vouch as strong As shore of Rocke . View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 494 Sight so deform what heart of Rock could long Drie-ey'd behold? View more context for this quotation
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 50 What the Shore was, whether Rock or Sand, whether Steep or Shoal, we knew not.
1785 W. Cowper Task v. 534 We build with what we deem eternal rock: A distant age asks where the fabric stood.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Morte d'Arthur in Poems (new ed.) II. 6 Stepping down By zigzig paths, and juts of pointed rock.
1888 F. Hume Madame Midas i. Prol. 16 Their combined action had broken off great masses of rock.
1927 W. Cather Death comes for Archbishop Prol. 1 The hidden garden..was a mere shelf of rock, overhanging a steep declivity.
1960 L. D. Stamp Britain's Struct. & Scenery (ed. 5) ix. 79 Into these cracks molten rock forced its way so that dykes were formed.
1973 Daily Tel. 13 Mar. 19/4 The Lunokhod 2 robot mooncar has..resumed studies of Moon soil and rock and taking photographs.
1991 J. Levesque Rosseter's Memory iv. 58 In the winter..the horseshit in the street was hard as rock and good for road hockey.
2007 T. Friend Third Domain vi. 182 As water seeps through cracks in rock, it dissolves certain compounds.
b. A particular kind of such material. Cf. stone n. 2c.Rocks are distinguished by their composition and their physical properties, and consist of aggregates of minerals (very commonly silicates or calcium carbonate) and occasionally also organic matter (as in, for example, lignite and oil shale). They vary in hardness, and include soft materials such as clays. Rocks form the substance of the earth’s crust and mantle, down to the upper surface of the metallic core. Those occurring at the earth’s surface are broadly divided into three classes according to their process of formation: igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > [noun] > material of earth's crust
rock1671
mantle rock1896
sima1909
sial1922
asthenolith1929
pyrolite1962
1671 T. Tenison Let. 6 Apr. in H. Oldenburg Corr. (1970) VII. 553 This Rock abounds wth a Glassie matter of irregular figure, unlike to that of ye transparent stones wch, by & by, I shall speak of more largelie.
1753 S. Shuckford Creation & Fall of Man viii. 133 Little Particles..which have..in the Maturation of Ages, remained sandy and sabulous..or become Rocks or Minerals.
1789 J. Williams Nat. Hist. Mineral Kingdom I. 3 Lime~stone, whinstone, basaltes, and many other hard rocks, continue firm..quite up to the superficies of the strata.
1813 J. M. Good et al. Pantologia at Sienite This rock is composed essentially of crystals of felspar and hornblende.
1845 J. Phillips & C. G. B. Daubeny Geol. in Encycl. Metrop. VI. 537 The series of stratified rocks in the North of England.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) 169 The rocks are comparatively soft, consisting for the most part of sands, clays and chalk.
1923 L. D. Stamp Introd. Stratigr. iii. 36 The whole area of S.E. England consists of a blanket of Mesozoic Rocks resting on an eroded surface of Palæozoic rocks.
1957 H. S. Zim & P. R. Shaffer Rocks & Minerals 113 Peridotite is a dark, heavy intrusive rock composed mainly of olivine with pyroxene and tiny flecks of phlogopite mica or hornblende.
1993 Jrnl. Petrol. 34 293 This rock typically contains 1–2% chromite and 30% intercumulus plagioclase, bronzite, and augite.
2008 Oxf. Wine Company Mag. Summer 6 Its distinctiveness lies in the Périgord sand and gravels which derive from the slow transformations of granite rocks.
†c. English regional (Northamptonshire). A series of strata. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > sedimentary formation > [noun] > stratum
coursec1430
couch1661
stratum1671
dess1673
strata1676
bed1684
floor1692
flooring1697
stratificationa1703
rock1712
liea1728
lay-bed1728
post1794
1712 J. Morton 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.
1851 T. Sternberg Dial. & Folk-lore Northants. i. 87 Rock, this word is used by our quarriers in a slightly different sense to what is generally understood by the word. They apply it, as they did in Morton's time, to ‘a pile or parcel of any stone found disposed in strata’ .
d. Chiefly Agriculture. The surface or upper stratum of rock underlying the subsoil.In later use, esp. in phrase down to the rock, difficult to distinguish from sense 2a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > [noun] > bedrock
shelf1671
stone-head1708
rock1719
rock bed1794
rock-bottom1797
rock-head1820
bed-rock1850
reef1869
1719 Philos. Trans. 1717–19 (Royal Soc.) 30 969 The Surface in these parts is mostly a red Soyl, which under the first or second Spitt degenerates into Malm or Loam, and often yields a Rock of Reddish Firestone.
1765 Museum Rusticum 4 307 The soil is light and stoney, with a rock of gravel about ten or twelve inches deep.
1844 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 7 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.
1896 P. McConnell Elem. Farming ii. 9 At very various depths below this we come to the ‘brash’..and below this the rock proper itself.
1920 A. H. Unwin W. Afr. Forests & Forestry viii. 182 In these long forest rotations the mineral rock and subsoil have time to weather, and add further mineral matter to the enrichment of the soil.
1947 N. M. Comber et al. Introd. Soil Chem. i. 4 If a cutting is made to expose a face or ‘profile’ from the surface down to the rock, there is much variation.
1997 S. M. Haslam River Scene ii. 10 The effect of run-off thus varies with..rock, subsoil and soil type.
†e. Mining. = rock salt n. Cf. salt-rock n. at salt n.1 Compounds 2. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > additive > salt > [noun] > types of salt
salt-stonea1000
saltc1000
white saltOE
bay-salt1465
rock salt1562
salt upon salt1580
mineral salt1600
sea salt1601
French salt1617
verge-salt1656
table salt1670
pigeon salt1679
salt-cakec1702
tamarisk salt1712
cat-salt1724
butter salt1749
basket-salt1753
Sunday salt1756
rock1807
stoved salt1808
solar salt1861
fishery-salt1883
gros sel1917
1670 A. Martindale Let. 26 Nov. in H. Oldenburg Corr. (1970) VII. 290 The rocke of salt..is betweene 33 & 34 yards distant from the surface of the earth about 30 whereof they have digged alreadie and hope to be at the flagge which covereth the salt-rocke about 3 weekes hence.]
1807 Med. Repository 2nd Hexade 4 415 The salt-rock..is known to the trade by the name of Prussia rock.
1811 Trans. Geol. Soc. 1 49 In no other parts of the salt district, than at Northwich and Lawton, has the upper bed of rock been worked through.
1886 R. Holland Gloss. Words County of Chester Rock mine, salt-mining term; the local name for a rock salt mine.
f. U.S. Rock containing a desired metal or other substance; mineral ore.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > minerals > ore > [noun]
oreOE
metala1387
minea1425
mineralc1500
vein1601
spelter1661
ram1683
virgin ore1758
rock1830
manganomelane1934
1830 Workingman'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.
1863 Bankers' Mag. 12 898 The company lately purchased 16,000 tons of low grade rock of the Ophir Company for $20,000.
1902 O. Wister Virginian xv. 172 Are they taking much mineral out? Have yu' seen any of the rock?
1913 W. Lindgren Mineral Deposits i. 4 In Michigan the ore is called ‘rock’ and the concentrates are termed ‘mineral’.
1948 Los Angeles Times 12 Jan. ii. 8/3 (heading) Ruby mine runs into rich rock.
1991 L. Lankton Cradle to Grave ii. 29 Miners, in taking out copper rock, created large cavities underground.
g. Mining. English regional. Sandstone; sandy shale. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > sedimentary rock > [noun] > sandstone
sandstone1668
rock1852
1852 Rec. School Mines 1 122 The sandstone called ‘rock and rig’ came in in larger quantity in that direction.
1862 A. C. Ramsay et al. Descr. Catal. Rock Specim. 71 Argillaceous sandstones..which pass under the name of ‘rock’ or ‘rock binds’.
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining Rock generally means sandstone.
1953 W. J. Arkell & S. I. Tomkeieff Eng. Rock Terms 98/1 Rock and rig, (1) Sandstone full of little patches and shreds of coal, S. Staffs. (2) Fine-grained white sandstone in the form of thin beds and veins in coal, S. Staffs.
3.
a. A large detached mass of such material; a boulder or large stone.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > [noun] > a rock > boulder
stonerockeOE
rochec1300
rocka1413
calionc1459
outlier1610
boother1680
tumbler1789
boulder1815
lost stone1819
erratic blocka1828
erratic blocka1828
lost rock1831
gibber1834
tumbling stone1857
foundling-stone1892
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > [noun] > stone as missile
stonec1275
ashlar1370
brickbat1563
beggars' bolts1608
brick-brack1649
rock1711
Irish confetti1908
a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1881) ii. l. 1384 Whan þat þe sturdy ok..Receyued hath þe happy fallyng strok The grete sweigh doth it to come al at onys As doth þese rokkes or þese myl-stones.
c1450 King Ponthus (Digby) in Publ. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer. (1897) 12 128 (MED) Then they schitt the dore, and with barres of yrne, and bare vp rokkes and stones for to defende it.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1960) xii. ix. 76 Enee..bet hym doun..With a gret roik or quhirrand stane ourraucht.
1641 Rec. Colony & Plantation New Haven (1857) 49 The small lotts shall begin att the great rock on the farre side of the mill river.
1711 A. Pope Ess. Crit. 22 When Ajax strives, some Rock's vast Weight to throw.
1793 J. Hely tr. R. O'Flaherty Ogygia II. 187 Stones and rocks were thrown from the crosbow.
1822 Methodist Mag. May 176 Other rocks falling, have closed the interstices on the lower sides and left only a low and difficult entrance from above.
1879 I. L. Bird Lady's Life in Rocky Mountains ii. 18 Then I saw a lumberer taking his dinner on a rock in the river.
1941 J. M. Cain Mildred Pierce 176 The beach..was studded with rocks and was therefore unsuitable to swimming.
1954 W. Golding Lord of Flies vi. 131 Slowly the waters sank among the rocks, revealing pink tables of granite, strange growths of coral, polyp, and weed.
2005 New Yorker 25 Apr. 51/2 His trebuchets could hurl huge rocks, and small stones covered in flaming naphtha.
b. Originally North American. A stone of moderate size, esp. one used as a projectile. Cf. stone n. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > stone > a stone > [noun]
stonec888
honeeOE
flintc1300
rock1677
St. Stephen's loaf1694
dornick1840
1677 in Town Rec. Derby Connecticut (1901) 31 [The town] reserves the Stons of the rock and the rocks for the Use of the Town.
1712 S. Sewall Diary 14 Apr. (1973) II. 686 I lay'd a Rock in the Northeast corner of the Foundation of the Meetinghouse. It was a stone I got out of the Common.
1835 S. Parker Jrnl. Tour beyond Rocky Mountains 30 June (1838) iii. 48 It is one of the peculiarities of the dialect of the people in the westernmost states, to call small stones rocks.
a1862 H. D. Thoreau Cape Cod (1865) x. 207 I saw one man underpinning a new house in Eastham with some ‘rocks’, as he called them.
1895 Harper's Mag. Apr. 713/2 A stone-pile near at hand where they filled their pockets full of rocks.
1939 Esquire May 55/1 I pull a round rock from my pocket. I let th' rock go. I holler: ‘Rocks! Watch out!’
1969 West Australian 5 July 1/1 Several policemen fell to the ground after they were hit with rocks.
2001 K. Sampson Outlaws (2002) 244 Thud! A brick or a rock hits the wall of the main building, followed by delirious, put-on cackling.
c. Originally Scottish. A curling stone. Now chiefly Canadian.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > winter sports > curling > [noun] > curling-stone
quoiting stonea1400
curling-stone1638
stone1638
channel stone1789
rock1789
quoit1809
1789 D. Davidson Thoughts Seasons 162 Their rocks they hurled up the rink.
1886 St. Louis Globe-Democrat 5 Dec. 16/3 Instead of a pound and a half iron disk, or ring, we have a rock that must weigh at least thirty pounds, but may not exceed fifty.
1911 R. E. Knowles Singer of Kootenay 296 Every man of them held his breath as the flying rock came to the port.
1963 Times 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.
2002 D. B. Mason Men with Brooms ii. iv. 182 The minute he released the rock, he knew he'd hit the broom: he'd sent a perfect stone out.
d. Chiefly U.S. regional (southern and south Midland). As the second element in compounds denoting a piece of abrasive stone used for sharpening. Cf. stone n. 5h.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > shaping tools or equipment > [noun] > sharpening > whetstone
whetstonec725
hone-stone1393
filourc1400
hone1440
rub1502
rubber1553
knife-stone1571
stone1578
oilstone1585
block1592
oil whetstone1601
greenstone1668
scythe-stone1688
water stone1703
sharping-stone1714
Scotch stone1766
honer1780
Turkey hone1794
polishing-slate1801
burr1816
Turkey stone1816
German hone1817
Arkansas1869
rag1877
rock1889
slipstone1927
1889 Southwestern Reporter 11 814/1 He had not asked McNany for a whet-rock that morning, to sharpen his knife on.
1896 Atlantic Monthly Sept. 368/2 A man with an axe came along, and said to the proprietor of the hotel, ‘Have you got a grinding-rock here?’
1944 Dothan (Alabama) Eagle 17 Sept. (Sports section) 12/6 This week the squad is ready for the honing rock to polish off the rough edges in preparation for the game.
1974 Northwest Arkansas Times 12 May Items other than lures needed in a well stocked tackle box should include:..a sharp knife, a sharpening rock, safety pin, and even matches.
2005 J. H. Ainsworth Rivers Crossing 69 Rance moved the knife blade softly against the whet rock.
4.
a. With the and chiefly capital initial. Gibraltar.Short for the Rock of Gibraltar.
ΚΠ
1782 E. Pendleton Let. 23 Dec. in Lett. & Papers (1967) II. 436 I find at length the relief of Gibraltar is too well confirmed and we must abide the event of the Negotiations without the Possession of that Rock.]
1832 J. H. Newman Let. 18 Dec. (1891) I. 298 As we rode up the carriage-way the Rock seemed to heighten marvellously.
1868 Times 14 Sept. 4/4 We wonder whether, if the Spaniards had owned the Isle of Portland for nearly a couple of centuries, they would have Hispanified it as we have Anglified the Rock?
1949 Pop. Mech. Aug. 124/1 The Rock is much too small to hold a regulation airport.
1998 Sun Herald (Sydney) (Nexis) 26 July 87 I took a city bus from Algeciras to The Rock's frontier.
b. Chiefly Canadian. With the. Usually with capital initial. Newfoundland.
ΚΠ
1978 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 30 Aug. a2/5 The first British fishermen were forbidden by law to settle on what many current residents affectionately call The Rock.
1992 Rugby World & Post Mar. 71/3 Now a kidney specialist living in St. John's, Newfoundland, he is the driving force behind the extraordinary success of rugby on ‘The Rock’.
2007 C. Blatchford Fifteen Days 343 By the time they got to The Rock, they were reeling with exhaustion.
II. Figurative and extended uses.
5. In extended use.
†a. A pinnacle, an obelisk. Only in stonerock n. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > column > [noun] > specific types of columns
rockeOE
obelisk1587
lotus column1800
tetrapleuron1837
annulated column1842
engaged column1847
eOE Cleopatra Gloss. in W. G. Stryker Lat.-Old Eng. Gloss. in MS Cotton Cleopatra A.III (Ph.D. diss., Stanford Univ.) (1951) 332 Obolisci, stanrocces.
†b. A castle, a citadel. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > fort or fortified town > [noun] > citadel
CapitoliumeOE
rockc1384
Capitola1387
citadel1542
acropolis1570
Kremlin1662
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Macc. iii. 45 Jerusalem was not enhabitid, bot was as desert..and the holy thing was defoulid, and sonys of aliens weren in the heeȝ rocke, or toure [a1425 L.V. hiȝ tour; L. arce].
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 1514 Þer watz rynging, on ryȝt, of ryche metalles, Quen renkkes in þat ryche rok rennen hit to cache.
c. A large mass or pile of something, esp. one which resembles a rock.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > mass formed by collection of particles > dense or compact > large
rock1599
1599 in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (new ed.) II. ii. 78 We were forced many times to stemme and strike great rockes of yce, and so as it were make way through mighty mountaines.
1695 R. Blackmore Prince Arthur i. 7 At th'Adamantine Door vast Hills are thrown, And abrupt Rocks of Ice, pil'd sevenfold on.
1733 Dugdale & P. Shaw tr. B. Varenius et al. Compl. Syst. Gen. Geogr. I. xviii. 399 Sharp, ragged Rocks of Coral, or various Colours.
1766 W. Stork Acct. E.-Florida 52 The oysters are so plentiful here, that nothing is more common, than at low water, to see whole rocks of them.
1854 J. Hannah Posthumous Rhymes 14 Massive clouds in splendour lie Pile upon pile, stupendous rolled, Like giant rocks of virgin gold.
1884 J. Parker Apostolic Life II. lv. 148 These are the impulses that are underlaid by whole rocks of logic and philosophy.
1962 A. Waugh Early Years of Alec Waugh (1963) i. i. 7 A heavy rock of coal had fallen from the roof and stunned him.
2003 G. Rizo Hollywood Stars i. 10 My huge rock of amber had a small crack.
d. Chiefly British. In early use: sugar in crystallized form, rock candy. Now more usually: a kind of hard confectionery made of boiled sugar in the form of cylindrical, usually peppermint-flavoured, sticks. Frequently in stick of rock. Also with modifying words, as Blackpool rock, peppermint rock. Also: sweets more generally, lollipops (English regional (west midlands)).Rock is now typically sold at seaside resorts, and frequently features a pattern or letters running through the length of the stick and visible at either end.almond, seaside rock: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > confections or sweetmeats > sweets > [noun] > a sweet > stick or tube
wreath1562
rock1718
sugar stick1825
pipe1843
lemon platt1916
slim jim1916
seaside rock1963
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > confections or sweetmeats > sweets > [noun] > a sweet > hard sweet
rock sugar1652
rock candy1653
rock1718
hard candy1848
1718 Mrs. Mary Eales's Receipts 64 All the Rock will slip out, and fall most of it in small Pieces.
1734 Young Lady's Compan. in Cookery 96 To make Rock of Citron, Orange, Lemmon and Angelica.
1843 J. Pereira Treat. Food & Diet 120 Sugar constitutes the base of an almost innumerable variety of hard confectionery, sold under the names of Lozenges, Brilliants, Pipe, Rock, Comfits, Nonpareils.
1857 C. Kingsley Two Years Ago II. v. 174 Promising them rock and bullseyes.
1878 L. P. Meredith Teeth (ed. 2) 20 Biting into rock and other hard candies is certainly a very reprehensible practice.
1896 G. F. Northall Warwickshire Word-bk. 193 Rock, sweetstuff generally; lollipops.
1907 M. Johnston Jin Ko-niu 3 The daily arrival of the white-haired beadle with peppermint rock in his pocket.
1956 Times 13 Jan. 9/4 It was a stick of Blackpool rock, a yard long and four inches thick.
2007 Hull Daily Mail (Nexis) 8 Sept. 3 When people come to Bridlington they want fish and chips, a stick of rock and a ride on the Yorkshire Belle.
e. In soap-making: hard, insoluble, impure soap made by saponifying fat with alkali. Now rare.Compare slightly earlier rock soap n. (b) at Compounds 2a(a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing agents > [noun] > soap > type of soap > specific
hard soap?a1425
oatmeal soapa1525
spatarent soap1526
Castile soap1631
Naples soapa1739
yellow soap1762
honey soap1772
curd soap1780
primrose soap1796
palm soap1821
Gallipoli soap1822
Windsor soap1822
Windsor1836
Venice soap1842
scum-soap1852
sand-soap1855
lime soap1857
marine soap1857
sassafras soap1860
carbolic soap1863
sulphur soap1894
opopanax soap1897
primrose1899
rock1903
carbolic1907
Crazy Foam1965
1854 W. T. Brande Subj. Matter Course Ten Lect. vii. 259 The concrete oleostearate of lime, which is a true lime-soap, technically called ‘rock’, being now pulverised, is decomposed by the addition of sulphuric acid.
1903 C. A. Mitchell Wright's Animal & Veg. Fixed Oils (ed. 2) xvi. 632 The following analyses represent the general composition of open pan ‘rock’ as obtained on the manufacturing scale.
f. A rock cake. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > cake > [noun] > a cake > small cake > types of small cake
lozengec1430
rundle1587
macaroon1611
cookie1701
Savoy biscuit1719
queen cake1734
madling cake1747
dough1777
butter biscuit1789
rock cake1815
biscuit1818
madeleine1829
éclair1861
fairy cake1867
puftaloon1871
Eccles cake1872
petit four1875
rock bun1879
baby cake1880
rock1892
marigold1896
sponge finger1906
muffin top1914
palmier1920
lamington1929
whoopee pie1929
mandazi1937
French fancy1969
fondant fancy1974
1892 F. Davies Cakes & Biscuits 101 This quantity should make fifty rocks.
2000 H. M. Farrell in E. P. Berkeley At Grandmother's Table (2001) 13 This recipe makes 6 dozen delicious ‘rocks’.
g. slang (originally and chiefly U.S.). Cocaine in solid, crystallized form which is smoked for its stimulating effect; a piece of this; = crack n. 20. Formerly also: uncut cocaine in powder form.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > an intoxicating drug > [noun] > a) narcotic drug(s) > morphine, cocaine, or heroin > cocaine
cocaine1874
coke1908
happy dust1912
candy1925
nose candy1925
gold dust1931
Charley1935
girl1953
blow1971
rock1973
product1983
rock cocaine1984
crack1985
1973 D. E. Smith & D. R. Wesson Uppers & Downers 150 Rock, cocaine in rock form.
1976 National Lampoon June 21/2 Peruvian Rock $80/blow.
1985 Daily Tel. 1 Mar. 15/4 The ‘rock’ is..put in a pipe and smoked, with far more potent effects than inhaling the powder.
1997 D. Simon & E. Burns Corner (1998) 511 Tae is off somewhere smoking rock, or so DeAndre now believes.
2008 M. Sager Wounded Warriors x. 212 The dealer has the rocks. He works the curb. He slings.
6. In figurative or allusive uses.
a. A source of danger or destruction, chiefly with allusion to shipwreck.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > [noun] > instance or cause of
stone-rochec1200
perilc1300
doubta1400
Charybdisc1400
rocka1475
hazard1524
dangera1538
shelve1582
reef1841
kettle-de-benders1872
ankle-breaker1899
danger-spot1905
banana skin1907
a1475 (?1431) J. Lydgate Minor Poems (1911) i. 32 (MED) The shipp gan rest out of all dawngeer, Maugre the rokkis of vengeaunce mercilesse.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. QQQiii The meditacion of dethe, maketh man to eschewe the rockes and perylles of damnacion.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. ccclxxvj It is not vnknowen vnto you, how they stroke vpon these rocks.
1606 S. Gardiner Bk. Angling 8 If it dasheth against the rocke of sinne, it is in great ieopardie.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxxi. 186 To avoyd both these Rocks, it is necessary to know what are the Lawes Divine.
1683 W. Temple Mem. in Wks. (1720) I. 377 It would be a Rock upon which our firmest Alliances would be in danger to strike and to split.
1734 J. Swift Reasons against Settling Tyth of Hemp 10 A Rock that many Corporations have split upon, to their..utter Undoing.
1766 H. Brooke Fool of Quality I. 198 His prayers and tears were cast to the winds, and the rocks.
1773 J. Norton Let. 29 May in F. Mason John Norton & Sons (1968) 326 The fears of Disappointment in Remittances, & splitting on the same rock many others have done, have caused a general Alarm among all our Merchts. here.
1829 E. Bulwer-Lytton Devereux I. i. i. 3 Six weeks after her confinement, she put this rock into motion—they eloped.
1857 A. Trollope Barchester Towers II. xv [He] will not be so shortsighted as to run against such a rock.
1871 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues III. 26 The rocks which lay concealed under the ambiguous terms, good, pleasure, and the like.
1932 Pop. Sci. Monthly June 11/2 Science has done wonderful things for this world, but..a certain form of it will yet be the rock on which our civilization wrecks itself.
1979 J. Harvey Plate Shop xiii. 65 With every job the men did, they grounded on unforeseen rocks and reefs.
1993 Independent 30 Mar. 18/7 Councils have already protested that the sums are not enough and the new system is heading for the rocks.
b. A person or thing providing a sure foundation or support; a source of shelter or protection; a person who or thing which stands firm.Esp. used of Jesus Christ (frequently with allusion to Matthew 7:24-27) or of the apostle Peter (with allusion to Matthew 16:18).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > safety > [noun] > safety or security > that which gives security
anchoreOE
tower13..
strengthc1425
rock1526
anchorage1596
assurer1607
anchor line1614
aventinea1625
anchorage ground1758
anchorman1895
the world > time > change > absence of change, changelessness > stability, fixity > [noun] > something stable
rock1526
fixture1788
stability1833
reliablec1863
anchorman1895
the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > the Trinity > the Son or Christ > [noun] > as rock
rock1526
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Matt. xvi. f. xxiij I saye..that thou arte Peter. And apon this roocke I wyll bylde my congregacion.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Deut. xxxii. 37 Where are their goddes, their rocke wherin they trusted?
1571 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xxviii. 102 Swa of this lyfe the Lord was miscontent, Seand my faith not foundit on ane Roik.
1606 S. Gardiner Bk. Angling 8 So long as we cast our faith and hope vpon our rocke Christ Iesus.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) v. ii. 110 The worthy Fellow is our General. He's the Rock, The Oake not to be winde-shaken. View more context for this quotation
c1665 L. Hutchinson Mem. Col. Hutchinson (1973) To Children 9 He that was a rock to all assaults of might and violence.
1738 G. Whitefield Jrnl. Voy. Gibraltar to Georgia 17 Jesus Christ is the only Rock, whereon true Friendship can be built.
1780 W. Cowper Progress of Error 143 Will not the sickliest sheep of every flock Resort to this example as a rock?
1809 S. T. Coleridge Friend 10 Aug. 48 The rock which is both their quarry and their foundation, from which and on which they are built.
1820 Times 9 Dec. 2/6 Did I not even believe in Christ as the rock of my salvation?
1866 ‘G. Eliot’ Felix Holt II. xxxii. 265 His will was impregnable. He was a rock.
1905 Everybody's Mag. Dec. 815/1 Saddle and spur were his rocks of safety.
1922 S. McKenna Confessions of Well-meaning Woman viii. 177 Whatever storms may blow, I said, I can always trust my husband. Arthur was my rock and anchor.
1973 R. Aranha My Sister, My Sister i. 36 You are my rock, my solid rock, I'm callin', Jesus.
1998 Daily Record (Nexis) 3 Mar. 2 Paul was a shoulder for Di to cry on for years. She called him ‘my rock’.
c. A source of spiritual sustenance, esp. Christ.With allusion to Numbers 20:11, in which Moses causes water to spring from a rock by striking it with his staff.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > spring > [noun] > source of
rock1526
1526 Bible (Tyndale) 1 Cor. x. 4 They dronke off that spretuall rocke that folowed them, which rocke was Christ.
1542 T. Becon Potacion for Lent f. I.iiii All dyd dryncke of one spirituall dryncke, for they droncke of ye spirituall rocke, which accompanyd them.
a1626 L. Andrewes XCVI Serm. (1629) 283 He in like manner reacheth to every one food of another kinde..even the bread of life, and water out of the spirituall Rocke, which is Christ Jesus.
1660 J. Taylor Worthy Communicant 34 We also partake of the spirit when we drink of Christs blood, which came from the spiritual Rock when it was smitten.
1703 H. Hingeston Mahir Godel 454 No man can come to the Father but by me, who am also that Spiritual Meat and Spiritual Rock which all your Fathers..did eat and drink of.
1794 R. McCulloch Lect. Prophecies Isaiah III. xlviii. 575 They were refreshed by the waters of consolation that flowed from Jesus Christ, the spiritual rock which was smitten for the benefit of the church.
1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam cxxix. 201 O living will.., Rise in the spiritual rock, Flow thro' our deeds and make them pure. View more context for this quotation
1880 N. Smyth Old Faiths in New Light (1882) II. 45 The water of life will flow from the rock which the scholar strikes with his rod.
1927 Jrnl. Relig. 7 366 Those of old had been baptized in the cloud and in the sea, and had eaten of the spiritual food, and had drunk of the spiritual drink which came from the rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ.
1990 W. Lee Econ. & Dispensing of God (1997) vi. 62 The spiritual food and drink that we eat and drink in our Christian race comes from the spiritual rock that was smitten by God.
d. U.S. slang. A piece of money, spec. a dollar. In early use chiefly in a pocketful of rocks: a large amount of money. Now rare. to pile up the rocks: to make money.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > sum of money > [noun] > specific sums of money > a dollar
skin1834
rock1837
buck1856
scad1856
simoleon1881
plunk1885
clam1886
slug1887
bone1889
plunker1890
ace1900
sinker1900
Oxford1902
caser1907
iron man1907
man1910
berry1918
fish1920
smacker1920
Oxford scholar1937
loonie1987
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > [noun] > coins and notes > a coin or note
rock1837
dingbat1848
smackeroo1942
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > [noun] > a coin
minteOE
minteOE
crossc1330
coinc1386
cross and (or) pilea1393
penny1394
croucha1420
penny1427
piece1472
metal1485
piecec1540
stamp1594
quinyie1596
cross and pilea1625
numm1694
ducat1794
bean1811
dog1811
chinker1834
rock1837
pocket-burner1848
spondulicks1857
scale1872
chip1879
ridge1935
society > trade and finance > management of money > income, revenue, or profit > getting or making money > get or make money [verb (transitive)]
to push one's (also a) fortune1609
to draw down1890
to pile up the rocks1897
society > trade and finance > management of money > income, revenue, or profit > getting or making money > [phrase]
to pile up the rocks1897
1837 Spirit of Times 3 June 121/1 Old Sir William cleared me out—they acted as foul as a buzzard's nest, or I would have been ‘in town’ with my pocket full of rocks.
1846 D. Corcoran Pickings 143 Here I am in town without a rock in my pocket.
1851 Graham's Mag. Apr. 281/1 A pocket-full of rocks 't would take To build a house of free-stone.
1897 R. Kipling Captains Courageous i Old man's piling up the rocks. Don't want to be disturbed I guess.
1927 in C. Sandburg Amer. Songbag 433 Save up your pennies and put away your rocks.
1949 Cavalier Daily (Univ. Virginia) 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.
1977 D. Mamet Sexual Perversity in Chicago 9 Goddam if she doesn't lay half a rock on me for the cigarettes.
e. slang (originally U.S.). A precious stone, usually a diamond; (spec.) a large diamond in a woman's engagement ring. Cf. stone n. 7.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > diamond > [noun]
diamonda1350
adamanta1393
sparkler1822
terra nobilis1882
stone1884
blink klip1887
rock1888
stone1904
prop1914
1888 Boston Daily Globe 26 Aug. 17 A small and pure stone [in an engagement ring] being altogether preferable to a big ‘rock’ of doubtful color.
1929 D. Runyon in Cosmopolitan July 126/3 The poor loogan she is marrying will never have enough dough to buy her such a rock.
1953 ‘S. Ransome’ Drag Dark (1954) vi. 60 Goodlee wrote his check..then walked out with the rock.
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.’
2003 Company June 29 Nothing says ‘I love you’ like a great big rock on your finger.
f. slang. In plural. The testicles. Cf. to get one's rocks off at Phrases 9, stone n. 11a.In quot. 1918 as int., expressing annoyance at or dismissal of a statement (cf. balls int., bollocks int.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > secretory organs > gland > specific glands > [noun] > testicle or testicles
bollockeOE
codOE
stone1154
balla1325
cullionc1386
genitoriesa1387
pendantsa1400
bollock stone?a1425
testiclec1425
jewelc1475
dimissariesa1513
dowsetc1560
pill1608
bauble1654
Aaron's bells1681
nutmegs1690
codlings?1691
testis1704
spermarium1861
spermary1864
marblesa1866
nut1865
knackers1866
rock1918
cobbler1934
plum1934
gooly1937
nad1964
cojones1966
nadgers1967
noonies1972
1918 J. Joyce Ulysses in Little Rev. June 47 O, rocks! she said. Tell us in plain words.
1944 J. Campbell & H. M. Robinson Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake 28 ‘Rocks’ now meaning ‘testicles’.
1961 Amer. Speech 36 150 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.
1975 J. Braine Pious Agent vi. 23 I'd get a swift kick in the rocks.
1999 T. Lott White City Blue (2000) 83 Most of the people I know are unanimous in agreeing that you're a fucking horrendous pain in the rocks.
g. U.S. Baseball slang. An error. Chiefly in to pull a rock: to make an error. Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > [noun] > fouls or errors
balk1845
foul ball1855
block ball1891
interference1927
rock1937
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > play baseball [verb (intransitive)] > make mistake
to pull a rock1937
1937 E. M. Rumill in Christian Sci. Monitor 1 Sept. (Weekly Mag.) 13/1 ‘Rocks’ are a menace to both navigation and baseball, for at the Polo Grounds and similar parks they are blunders executed by a slow-thinking player.
1939 E. J. Nichols Hist. Dict. Baseball Terminol. (Ph.D. thesis, Pennsylvania State Coll.) 57 Pull a rock, see ‘boner’. [p. 9: Boner, an error in judgment.]
1951 Birmingham (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?
1952 Philadelphia Evening Bull. 4 Oct. 13/2 Who deserved the rap for the ‘rock’ that cost the Yankees yesterday's World Series game?
1969 Big Spring (Texas) Daily Herald 30 Nov. b4/1 Vince Lombardi can pull a rock in picking talent, the same as any other mortal in football.
2003 Daily News (N.Y.) (Nexis) 29 June 50 If Gonzalez doesn't pull a rock and get himself picked off between second and third, who knows what else would have happened to the Yankees.
h. slang (originally U.S.). In plural. Cubed ice for use in an (alcoholic) drink. Frequently in on the rocks (see Phrases 5b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > mixers or flavourings > [noun] > ice
ice1637
ice cube1922
rock1946
1946 Amer. Speech 21 35 Rocks, ice.
1959 ‘J. Christopher’ Scent of White Poppies vi. 82 Rocks in your Scotch, Cam? I can get some from the fridge.
1966 Listener 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.
1974 E. Leonard Fifty-two Pickup xiii. 148 ‘Bourbon?’ ‘Anything you want. Rocks?’ ‘And a splash of water.’
2000 B. McGrory Incumbent 400 ‘Raj, get my friend a Johnnie Walker, please,’ Hutchins said. To me, ‘Rocks or no rocks?’
7.
a. Now chiefly U.S. A rockfish; esp. (in later use) the striped bass, Morone saxatilis.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > [noun] > defined by habitat > that frequents rocks
rockfish1605
rock1683
1683 W. Penn Let. Free Soc. Traders 4 Of Fish, there is the Sturgeon, Herring, Rock, Shad, Catshead, Sheepshead, Ele, Smelt, Pearch, Roach.
1698 G. Thomas Hist. Acct. Pensilvania (1848) 14 There are..Salmon, Trout, Sturgeon, Rock, Oysters.
1776 C. Carroll Jrnl. (1845) 52 Lake George abounds with perch, trout, rock, and eels.
1792 W. Bartram Trav. N. & S. Carolina (new ed.) ii. ii. 65 The coasts, sounds, and inlets, environing these islands, abound with a variety of excellent fish, particularly Rock, Bass, Drum, Mullet.
1872 M. S. De Vere Americanisms 383 The Rock is beautifully marked with seven or eight black lines on a silver-bright ground.
1888 G. B. Goode Amer. Fishes 22 In the North it is called the ‘Striped Bass’, in the South the ‘Rock Fish’, or the ‘Rock’.
1906 Forest & Stream 29 Dec. 1021 In the fall ‘rock’, or striped bass, come into the creeks till the water is alive with them.
1966–8 in Dict. Amer. Regional Eng. (2002) IV. 616/1 If we're buying fish, we usually buy either rock or flounder.
b. The rock dove, Columba livia, or a domestic pigeon of a variety that resembles it. Frequently more fully blue rock. Now rare.In quot. 1965: the stock dove, C. oenas.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Columbiformes (pigeons, etc.) > [noun] > family Columbidae > genus Columba > columba livia (rock-dove)
rock dove1610
rock pigeon1611
sea-pigeon1620
blue pigeon1676
rockier1780
rocker1802
biset1834
rock1854
sod1885
tin-rock1892
1854 Poultry Chron. 12 Apr. 141/2 It now remains for me to say what the Rock is: it is a rather small blue pigeon, and very shy.
1863 H. Kingsley Austin Elliot II. xvii. 233 A cage containing five-and-twenty ‘blue-rocks’.
1885 Field 4 Apr. (Cassell) Being a bit slow in firing a fast rock escaped him.
1965 Jrnl. Lancs. Dial. Soc. No. 14 17 Stock-Dove. Rock Pigeon: Todmorden, Burnley. Blue Rock: Heywood.
1984 C. Kightly Country Voices iii. 84 They was wild pigeons really, blue rock-doves. We had this dovecote, and these blue rocks would just come in from round about.
c. The Plymouth Rock breed of domestic fowl; a bird of this breed. Frequently with distinguishing word denoting the variety.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Phasianidae (pheasants, etc.) > genus Gallus (domestic fowl) > [noun] > types of
rumpkin1676
bantam1749
Jersey blue1758
Dorking1779
Plymouth Rock1806
Java1813
shack-bag1816
Negro fowl1835
creeper1847
Minorca1848
cuckoo fowl1850
Leghorn1850
Brahmapootra1851
Ancona1853
shanghai1853
Andalusian1854
Bolton bay1854
Corsican cock1854
jacinth1854
Minorca1854
spangle1854
yellow leg1854
Crèvecœur1855
sultan1855
Hamburg1857
Leghorn1857
Yokohama1865
Houdan1871
Langshan1871
Wyandot1881
sultan hen1882
silkie1885
Orpington1887
rock1889
silver-grey1889
Campine1892
Rhode Island Red1893
Faverolles1902
Rhode Island White1905
Malines1906
Rhode Island1914
Australorp1922
maranc1934
1889 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 2nd Ser. 25 742 The all-round useful properties of the Rock have established its popularity.
1908 Daily Chron. 10 Jan. 3/4 The order of merit now stands as follows:—First, White Wyandottes; second, La Bresse; third, buff rocks.
1925 Woman's World (Chicago) Apr. 65/1 (advt.) Chicks from winter laying, farm raised, mature stock... Barred Rocks, White Rocks, [etc.].
1998 Esquire Mar. 68/2 I bought a two-year-old barred rock hen,..still supposedly laying an egg every couple of days.
d. A rock salmon; esp. the flesh of a dogfish as food.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > subclass Elasmobranchii > order Pleurotremata > [noun] > family Scyliorhinidae > member of genus Scyliorhinus (rock-fish)
dogfishc1450
rough hound1602
morgya1667
robin huss1836
rock salmon1928
rockfish1934
rock eel1969
rock1977
1977 Grimsby Evening Tel. 5 May 18/2 Principal sorts were: Cod 1,712 kits, haddock 1,059,..rocks 23, skate 58,..monk 16.
1986 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 16 Mar. 14/1 There is a selection of fresh fish: cod, plaice, skate, haddock and rock (a kind of dogfish, sometimes called rock salmon) being the most common.
2008 Mirror (Nexis) 3 July 38 Choose cod or haddock rather than plaice or rock as they're lower in calories and fat.

Phrases

P1. of the old (also new) rock: (of a precious stone) of the highest (least) authenticity and value. Now only in extended use. [Originally after Dutch †van de oude rootse and †van de nieuwe rootse respectively (1595 in the passage and in the source translated in quot. 1598, respectively). Compare French de la vieille roche (1653 with reference to God, in extended use), de vieille roche (1683 with reference to high-quality turquoise). The English phrase with new is unparalleled in French until considerably later (compare French de la nouvelle roche: 1871 (in Littré) or earlier).]
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > [adjective] > quality
noblea1393
femalea1398
malea1398
orientc1400
fine-cut1598
of the old (also new) rock1598
watered1624
occidental1747
semi-precious1905
1598 W. Phillip tr. J. H. van Linschoten Disc. Voy. E. & W. Indies i. xc. 139/1 If there be an Espinell of the old rocke [Du. vande oude Rootse], which in kind and qualitie is good, being perfect in all parts with a very good table, and were to bee compared with a Diamond of one Quilate, it would bee worth 40. duckets.
1669 R. Boyle Of Absolute Rest in Bodies 19 in Certain Physiol. Ess. (ed. 2) They be of a peculiar sort of Diamonds whose nature it is to be always softer than those of the old Rock.
1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 34 Diamonds of both Rocks, the Old and New.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at 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.
1763 H. Walpole Let. 12 Nov. in Corr. (1941) X. 109 Sir Michael Foster is dead, a Whig of the old rock.
1791 Monthly Rev. Feb. 180 If he should write with the heaviness of the Italian antiquaries, and of many book-makers of the old rock, [etc.].
1820 Asiatic Jrnl. & Monthly Reg. Jan. 27/1 It ought to be of the old rock; for we find it very seldom in commerce.
1886 Eclectic Mag. Sept. 397/1 These true-born Britons of the old rock are now but strangers and outcasts in the land.
1929 Times 25 Nov. 8/4 His son, William Smith, was a Radical of the old rock.
1998 D. Graham Giant Country 115 Dobie, Webb, and Bedichek were men, as Dobie would have said, ‘out of the old rock.’
P2. In similative phrases.
a. as hard as (a) rock. Cf. rock-hard adj. at Compounds 1e.
ΚΠ
1597 R. Tofte Laura i. xxxix. sig. B7v Her hart by th'other's made..Hard as a rocke, and senselesse as a stone.
1642 T. Fuller Holy State iv. xix. 341 Instantly down fell the heart of great Prince Henry, which (though as hard as rock) the breath of Justice did easily shake.
1780 Monthly Rev. Feb. 113 The barrel..is partly covered with a thick incrustation of shells, mixed with gravel and sand, and hard as a rock.
1858 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 19 i. 186 It [sc. the soil] is all exceedingly sticky when wet, and, if ploughed in that state, turns up in large masses, which as they dry become hard as rock.
1914 Times 22 Apr. 7/3 The frozen meat leaves the New Zealand works as hard as a rock but softens slightly during the process of handling.
2001 J. Gregory in Once upon Rose 148 Lucius continued speaking, his eyes grim and hard as rock.
b. as steady as a rock. Cf. rock-steady adj.
ΚΠ
1623 J. Hayward Davids Teares (new ed.) 302 Euen when your case seemeth desperate and forlorne, euen vnto death stand steadie as a rocke, and trust in the Lord.
a1646 J. Burroughes Expos. upon 8th, 9th & 10th Chapters Hosea (1650) 413 The faithfulness of God is steady as a Rock.
1782 R. Griffith Variety 56 For you, I am sure, are as steady as a rock, both in love and war.
1865 J. B. Harwood Lady Flavia xiv The hand that held the candle was as steady as a rock.
1921 A. D. Miller Manslaughter iii. 47 Lydia seemed as steady as a rock—not a trace of excitement in her look.
2008 B. Kane Forgotten Legion (2009) iv. 57 It took immense strength to hold the bow at full draw, but the barbed arrow tip remained steady as a rock.
c. as solid as a rock. Cf. rock-solid adj. at Compounds 1e.
ΚΠ
1612 W. Shute tr. G. Du Vair Holy Medit. 338 Graunt that the foundation of my faith may bee as firme and solid as a rock.]
1682 T. S. 2nd Pt. Pilgrims Progress 91 The Old Heart which was taken out of him was a perfect Stone, as solid as a Rock, and as hard as the neather Milstone.
1722 Bibliotheca Biblica II. xiii. 168 Is not a Foundation or Postulatum, thus Laid, a very Strong One, Solid as a Rock and Firm as the Pillars of the World?
1877 Times 15 Oct. 6/4 All was found right and tight, the fastenings of the stone as solid as a rock.
1922 R. M. Jones Boy Jesus & his Compan. viii. 105 He promised Simon that instead of being fickle and weak and impulsive he should become as solid as a rock.
1999 D. Cruise & A. Griffiths Working the Land iv. 230 David hefts the offering. Solid as a rock—frozen too hard to pry open.
P3.
rock of ages n. (a) (with capital initials) God or Christ (b) [rhyming slang] wages.In sense (a) with allusion to the use in quot. 1611.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > payment for labour or service > [noun] > of manual workers
rock of ages1635
wage1776
wage1776
greengage1931
wage packet1951
1611 Bible (King James) Isa. xxvi. 4 Trust ye in the Lord for euer: for in the Lord Iehouah is euerlasting strength. [margin] Heb. the rocke of ages.]
1635 J. Sibbald Holinesse to Lord in Funerals P. Forbes 143 God, the Rocke of Ages, dwelt in his Soule.
1659 O. Walker Περιαμμα Ἐπιδήμιον 66 They split presently against the Rock of Ages, considered as Man, who might support them considered as God.
1744 J. Wesley & C. Wesley Coll. Psalms & Hymns (new ed.) i. 63 Hell in vain against us rages. Can it shock Christ the Rock Of eternal Ages!
1776 A. M. Toplady Psalms & Hymns cccxxxvii. 308 Rock of ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee!
1872 O. W. Holmes Poet at Breakfast-table v It is the material image of the Christian; his heart resting on the Rock of Ages.
1922 W. J. Bryan In His Image iv. 93 It is better to trust in the Rock of Ages, than to know the age of the rocks; it is better for one to know that he is close to the Heavenly Father, than to know how far the stars in the heavens are apart.
1937 E. Partridge Dict. Slang 702/2 Rock of ages, wages.
1974 P. Wright Lang. Brit. Industry x. 89 If there's no rock of ages (wages), there may well be a bull an' cow (row).
2003 Sunday Express (Nexis) 11 May 20 Between you and me, the rude ones are often the best but this is a family newspaper so I'll try to keep it clean or the editor will stop my rock of ages.
P4.
rock and rye n. U.S. (a) a drink made with rye whisky, bitters, and rock candy, often taken as a cold remedy; (b) (also with capital initials) a bottled liqueur based on rye whisky, flavoured with citrus, usually having a piece of rock candy in the bottle.In sense (b) a proprietary name in the United Kingdom.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > whisky > [noun] > other whiskies
peat-reek1792
Monongahela1805
rye?1808
corn1820
small-still (whisky)1822
bald-face1840
corn-whiskey1843
raw1844
Bourbon1846
sod corn1857
valley tan1860
straight1862
forty-rod whisky1863
rock and rye1878
sour-mash1885
grain-whisky1887
forty rod lightning1889
Suntory1942
Wild Turkey1949
mash1961
pot still1994
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > liqueur > [noun] > kinds of
rosa solis1564
rose wine1603
rose of solace1604
ros solis1607
ratafia1670
brandy-cherrya1687
cherry-brandy1686
kernel-water1706
cherry cordial1710
visney1733
walnut-water1747
aniseed1749
maraschino1770
noyau1787
rosolio1796
cherry-bounce1798
absinthe1803
Parfait Amour1805
curaçao1813
ginger cordial1813
citronelle1818
pine1818
crèmea1821
alkermes1825
Goldwasser1826
citronella1834
anisette1837
goldwater1849
crème de cassis1851
Van der Hum1861
chocolate liqueur1864
kümmel1864
chartreuse1866
pimento dram1867
Trappistine1877
green muse1878
rock and rye1878
Benedictine1882
liqueur brandy1882
mandarin1882
green1889
Drambuie1893
advocaat1895
Grand Marnier1900
green fairy1902
green peril1905
cassis1907
Strega1910
quetsch1916
cointreau1920
anis1926
Izarra1926
Southern Comfort1934
amaro1945
Tia Maria1948
amaretto1969
Sabra1970
sambuca1971
Midori1978
limoncello1993
1878 Fort Wayne (Indiana) Daily Sentinel 12 Aug. Pat tapped his rock and rye.
1920 Daily Capital News (Jefferson City, Missouri) 10 Feb. 5/3 Proclaimed by the common people as ten times as quick and effective as whiskey, rock and rye, or any other cough and cold remedy they have tried.
1938 Washington Post 29 Jan. 15/7 (advt.) Genuine crystallized Rock and Rye in the crystal bottle. With fine whiskies; rock candy—lemon pineapple—etc.
1948 F. Brown Murder can be Fun (1951) iii. 44 A slug or two of rock and rye won't hurt you.
1996 Herald (Rock Hill, S. Carolina) (Nexis) 22 July 1 c Some of the older folks come in and get the corn liquor to make the cough syrup, or Rock and Rye for colds.
P5. on the rocks.
a. (a) Short of money, destitute, bankrupt; (b) (esp. of a marriage or relationship) experiencing difficulties, in danger of failing.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > poverty > in impoverished state [phrase]
to the boneOE
to be out at elbow(sa1616
in (also at) low water1785
down on the knuckle-bone1883
(down) on one's uppers1886
on the rocks1889
down and out1901
on the outer1915
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > divorce or dissolution > [adjective] > on the point of dissolution
on the rocks1889
1889 A. G. Murdoch Sc. Readings 3rd Ser. 101 Fork out, for I'm fair on the rocks.
1918 Stars & Stripes 5 Apr. 8/1 Tom..empties his pockets to show that he is financially on the rocks.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses 573 I wouldn't ask you, only, pursued he, on my solemn oath and God knows I'm on the rocks.
1932 Brevities (N.Y.) 11 July 3 Great Nissen and Weldon Nissen, married two months, are on the rocks already.
1958 E. Wilson in N.Y. Post 1 June 2/3 [His] headlined romance..is now reported on the rocks.
2004 Independent 3 Mar. (Review section) 12/1 Written while the singer's marriage was on the rocks, Blood on the Tracks is the most personal album of his career.
2008 J. Kroger Convictions xvi. 381 Lay was informed by his senior staff that the company was on the rocks.
b. Originally U.S. Of an alcoholic drink: served with ice. Cf. sense 6h. on-the-rocks glass n. = rocks glass n. at Compounds 2a(a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > [adjective] > with ice
on the rocks1949
1949 Life 14 Nov. 63 Ordering a Scotch on the rocks at the bar.
1953 N.Y. Times 14 June 61 (advt.) On-the-rocks glasses by Hickok.
1955 J. B. Priestley & J. Hawkes Journey down Rainbow 220 They all drank a lot of whisky-on-the-rocks.
1989 V. Glendinning Grown-ups vi. 67 He ordered a Scotch on the rocks from room service.
1990 San Diego Union 28 June (Food section) 27 Serve in graceful wine glasses, stout on-the-rocks glasses or in the fanciful plastic cocktail glasses.
1999 Bon Appétit Feb. 56/3 Original Canton liqueur from China, with its pungent ginger and honey flavors, is delightful on the rocks or even teamed with a bit of malt whisky.
P6. colloquial (originally U.S.). to have rocks in one's head and variants: to be very stupid or crazy.
ΚΠ
1892 Los Angeles Times 2 June 8/2 Don't you pay any attention to that Chronicle paper. The fellow who writes that has got little rocks in his head.
1943 T. Moore Sky is my Witness xv. 104 Whoever told you to tell it to the Marines must have had rocks in his head.
1959 Daily Capital News (Jefferson City, Missouri) 13 Nov. 1/4 Governor..you may think I've got rocks in my head.
1977 G. Woods Bloody Harvest 163 Christ it's cold. Anyone who walks the streets just to fool the guys must have rocks in his head.
2008 Canberra Times (Nexis) 2 Dec. a7 You'd have to have rocks in your head to fly in one let alone fight a war in one.
P7.
Rocks and Shoals n. [with reference to the text of one of the articles, ‘Whosoever causes his ship to run upon rocks and shoals shall suffer the penalty a court martial shall adjudge’] U.S. Navy slang (now historical) (chiefly with the) the Articles for the Government of the United States Navy; (also) a reading of these, as part of Navy disciplinary regulations.The Articles for the Government of the United States Navy were replaced by the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which applies to all branches of the U.S. military, in 1951.
ΚΠ
1912 Our Navy (U.S.) Jan. 34 Some even made bold enough to show up at ‘Rocks and Shoals’ with their mugs chock-a-block with sticky joy.
1918 L. E. Ruggles Navy Explained 120 The crew would be called to attention and ‘uncover’ while the lengthy procedure of reading the ‘rocks and shoals’ took place.
1951 News (Newport, Rhode Island) 16 Feb. 18/2 The code, which applies to all armed forces, replaces..the revered ‘Rocks and Shoals’.
1978 H. Wouk War & Remembrance 335 It violated the first law of the Navy, gravely spelled out in Rocks and Shoals: never to withdraw from possible action; always to seek out a fight.
1997 C. Furey Going Back v. 83 There may even be Navy regulations forbidding such an action. I don't recall the chief ever mentioning it when he read Rocks and Shoals.
P8. colloquial (originally U.S.) between a rock and a hard place: faced with two equally difficult alternatives; in difficulty.In quot. 1921: bankrupt.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > [phrase] > in a difficult position
between the beetle and the block1590
between two fires1885
(crushed, etc.) between the upper and the nether millstones1902
between a rock and a hard place1921
in the middle1930
1921 Dial. Notes 5 113 To be between a rock and a hard place,..to be bankrupt. Common in Arizona in recent panics; sporadic in California.
1936 Washington Post 22 Aug. 4/3 I am between a rock and a hard place.
1959 L. Roberts Up Cutshin & Down Greasy v. 82 That was one time dad was between a rock and a hard place.
1976 T. 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.
1996 New Yorker 15 Apr. 101/1 When Floyd's manager is jailed for an insurance scam, Floyd finds himself between a rock and a hard place.
2003 Yours Oct. 81/1 You are between a rock and a hard place. Of course you want to see your sister and spend time with her but..the time you have with her is really quite exhausting for you.
P9. slang (originally U.S.) to get one's rocks off: to achieve sexual satisfaction; (in weakened sense) to obtain enjoyment. [Compare sense 6f.]
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > be pleased [verb (intransitive)] > enjoy oneself
to have a good (bad, etc.) time (of it, formerly on it)1509
to have fun1760
to have a ball1879
to get one's rocks off1948
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > engage in sexual activity [verb (intransitive)] > ejaculate
untap1622
spend1662
discharge1683
shoot1879
to get one's nuts offc1932
to get one's rocks off1948
pop1958
spaff1999
1948 Amer. Speech 23 249/1 Get your rocks off, an expression used to denote extreme enjoyment.
1953 W. Manchester City of Anger 368 In a glass house I wouldn't get my rocks off, if I was you.
1967 ‘Iceberg Slim’ Pimp (1998) iii. 47 If you are going to tell me some broad is going to lay out five-hundred frog-skins to get her rocks off, say it.
1971 Frendz 5 Aug. 22/2 Get yer rocks off Seymour. OK. But there are limits. Surely.
1978 J. Irving World according to Garp xi. 205 I don't get my rocks off by humiliating myself, you know.
1984 P. Barker Blow your House Down vi. 31 That's the way he gets his rocks off. It isn't the tights, it's the thought of you getting lifted.
2001 J. Ellroy Cold Six Thousand xciv. 508 I'm not some Klan fuck who gets his rocks off bombing churches.
P10. a shag on a rock: see shag n.2 b.
P11. schooner on the rocks: schooner n.1 1b.

Compounds

C1.
a. General attributive and appositive.
rock abode n.
ΚΠ
1820 H. Slight Metrical Hist. Portsmouth 8 Woolsner, the dæmon dire and rude, Who holds on yonder rock abode.
1887 W. Morris tr. Homer Odyssey I. xii. 223 So were they lifted gasping into that rock-abode.
1991 M. J. Sallnow in N. R. Crumrine & A. Morinis Pilgrimage in Lat. Amer. xvi. 298 Imprisoned in his rock abode just beneath the peaks.
rock accumulation n.
ΚΠ
1848 Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. 4 Pref. p. xlvi This, no doubt, is a valuable addition to our knowledge respecting the mode in which sulphate of lime occurs among rock accumulations.
1886 A. Winchell Walks & Talks in Geol. Field 71 During the long history of rock-accumulation.
1995 R. J. Huggett Geoecology vi. 146 Areas of rock accumulation are relatively more stable than areas of thin, fine-grained talus.
rock altar n.
ΚΠ
1789 E. Hargrove Hist. Knaresborough (ed. 4) 309 The description given of the sacred groves and rock altars of the most ancient idolaters.
1832 in Archaeologia (1834) 25 204 A Rock Altar on the heights on the eastern side of the lake of La Trinité.
1930 G. L. Robinson Sarcophagus Anc. Civilization i. xi. 144 A colossal rock altar with steps leading up to its summit stands near its principal entrance.
1999 L. E. Roller In Search of God Mother vii. 200 An inscription to Zeus Patroös on a nearby rock altar identifies the older god as Zeus.
rock arch n.
ΚΠ
1832 Mirror Lit., Amusem., & Instr. 29 Dec. 433/1 How shall we explain the formation of stupendous rock-arches across deep ravines?
1936 H. Nicolson Let. 28 Sept. (1966) 274 The precipices,..the rock-arches..roared back at us.
1992 Holiday Which? Jan. 17/1 The park is a barren red sandstone landscape of desert scrub punctuated by rock arches, towering cliffs and precariously perched boulders.
rock arrangement n.
ΚΠ
1841 R. J. H. Cunningham in Prize-ess. & Trans. Highland & Agric. Soc. Scotl. 13 82 Few localities can be pointed out in Scotland where this beautiful rock arrangement is more characteristically displayed.
1886 A. Winchell Walks & Talks in Geol. Field 78 We catch sight of a general method in rock-arrangements.
1998 Mammalian Species No. 588. 3/2 Rock arrangements and crevice openings that will not allow predators to enter are preferred.
rock art n.
ΚΠ
1925 Man 25 168 The almost complete absence of rock art from Mauritania and Numidia, compared with the more southerly districts, makes it clear that the art, even if contemporaneous, was independent in the two areas.
1989 M. Gimbutas Lang. of Goddess iii. xxii. 249 Scandinavian rock art also includes ships with lura players, dancers, or acrobats, figures with upraised arms or holding axes, and sacred marriage scenes.
rock barrier n.
ΚΠ
1828 W. Darby View of U.S. I. vii. 239 The Hudson and Champlain summit level was only 140 feet above the ocean level, consequently if a rock barrier ever existed at Quebec, to upwards of 140 feet, the St. Lawrence waters passed down the Hudson.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 503/2 The process..is checked by the existence of the rock barrier which stretches across the Semliki.
2009 Herald (S. Afr.) (Nexis) 30 Jan. There can hardly be a soul in town who has not enjoyed a swim in that natural gully with a safe rock barrier lying parallel with the ocean.
rock bluff n.
ΚΠ
1807 National Intelligencer & Washington Advertiser 20 May On the other side a handsome rock bluff had been passed.
1886 A. Winchell Walks & Talks in Geol. Field 53 We have seen..the rock-bluffs bounding..the basins of the great lakes.
2007 Canad. Geographic Mar. 40/2 We found a specimen of the black witch moth on a rock bluff right beside Hudson Bay.
rock carving n.
ΚΠ
1843 Jrnl. Royal Geogr. Soc. 13 156 Many of the rock carvings of Persia were contemporaneous with the Roman empire.
1907 H. M. Chadwick Origin Eng. Nation xii. 306 The rock-carvings at Tegneby.
1993 C. Tilley Interpretative Archaeol. i. 36 I remain unconvinced by any attempts to date the rock carvings.
rock cavern n.
ΚΠ
1777 R. E. Raspe in tr. I. von Born Trav. Bannat of Temeswar Pref. p. viii The first inhabitants of that scorched climate, had cool rock-caverns to resort to for shelter.
1847 S. W. Singer tr. G. B. Depping & F. Michel Wayland Smith ii. p. xxix The Swedes..show a rock-cavern..as having been his workshop.
1930 Amer. Fern Jrnl. 20 111 Near the top of Furka ober Alp Pass in Switzerland,..stunted holly fern grew in a small rock cavern.
2008 Owen Sound (Ontario) Sun Times (Nexis) 23 Aug. a5 It..raises more questions about the wisdom of burying nuclear waste in deep rock caverns under the site.
rock chamber n.
ΚΠ
1834 Fraser's Mag. Dec. 660/1 The wild roses overhead festooning our rock-chamber.
1954 J. R. R. Tolkien Fellowship of Ring i. xii. 217 There was a cave or rock-chamber behind.
1995 Harvard Stud. Classical Philol. 97 40 The burial practice of family collectives in carved rock chambers.
rock chimney n.
ΚΠ
1826 A. N. Royall Sketches Hist., Life, & Manners U.S. 58 They have rock houses and rock chimneys.
1915 Geogr. Jrnl. 45 192 The Bergschrund was crossed at 9 a.m. First an ice-slope and then a steep rock chimney.
2008 Winston-Salem (N. Carolina) Jrnl. (Nexis) 24 Feb. 19 He noticed the bat clinging upside down at the very top of our very tall rock chimney.
rock cleft n.
ΚΠ
1753 J. Okeley tr. N. L. von Zinzendorf 21 Disc. upon Augsberg-Confession i. 11 It is necessary for him to have first had his Seat in that spiritual Rock-Cleft.
1856 W. L. Lindsay Pop. Hist. Brit. Lichens 13 The rock-clefts and gullies of our Highland mountains.
1936 Iraq 3 162 The roof of the cave..becomes lower, and about 25 yards farther on the cave turns into a mere rock-cleft.
2003 W. Smith Blue Horizon (2004) 582 She slid back from the edge and wedged herself firmly into the rock cleft.
rock cliff n.
ΚΠ
1748 Coll. Hymns from Hymn-bk. Moravian Brethren: Pt. III 22/2 No Foe from without or within can molest The Dove who hath built in these Rock-cliffs its Nest.
1855 A. B. Edwards My Brother's Wife iii. 17 Hastening on to the end with what speed you may, you there discover a little ‘heart of green’, all set round with trees, and rock-cliffs.
1952 S. Spender Learning Laughter 9 From the ship we saw houses on a green shelf above a rock-cliff.
2000 S. McKinney Hiking Indiana xv. 66/1 Note the horizontal, striated fissures on the rock cliff on the left.
rock crust n.
ΚΠ
1846 Minutes Proc. Inst. Civil Engineers 5 320 A thin bed of a calcareous rock crust, about 3 inches thick, was cut through for a length of about 100 feet.
1888 Atchison (Kansas) Daily Champion 19 Oct. 5/3 The stones..upheaved in strata through crevices in the rock crust of the earth.
1987 Science 8 May 704/3 Between episodes of loss of rock crust and ensuing new growth, the community persists for long enough for a new siliceous rock crust to be formed on the surface.
rock demon n.
ΚΠ
1860 Bibliotheca Sacra Oct. 722 A luckless geologist brought down upon his head the maledictions of the people, and barely escaped with his life, for having innocently broken off the nose of one of these rock demons.
1937 Parnassus 9 12 When the rubbing was made of this strange rock demon, the paper curved down about the edges of the carved stone.
2003 E. K. Dargyay in Hist. Tibet xxiii. 371 He prefers to live as a celibate yogi but a female rock-demon persuades him to marry her.
rock diamond n.
ΚΠ
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §82 Also the Exudations of Rock-Diamonds, and Crystall, which harden with time.
a1711 R. Atkyns Anc. & Present State Glostershire (1712) 201/1 Rock Diamonds, Belumnites, Astroites, Serpentines, and other petrefied Shells cast up in the universal Flood, are here.
1836 R. Furness Astrologer i. 66 Jacinth, rock-diamond, crystal, sapphires blue.
1998 Mail on Sunday (Nexis) 29 Nov. 26 A record for rock diamonds at auction was set when Sotheby's in Geneva sold an 11-sided pear-shaped mixed cut diamond for $7 million in November, 1990.
rock disintegration n.
ΚΠ
1843 R. J. H. Cunningham in Prize-ess. & Trans. Highland & Agric. Soc. Scotl. 14 497 Striking as this mode of rock disintegration is and persistent, it is not to be supposed that it goes on without a conservative opposing principle.
1934 L. C. Urquhart Civil Engin. Handbk. viii. 632 The earth consists of various rock formations covered with a mantle of unconsolidated products of rock disintegration.
1997 E. Derbyshire in R. D. Thompson & A. Perry Appl. Climatol. viii. 93 Steep slopes and torrential rainfall events occur in arid landscapes, but the process is inhibited by slow rates of rock disintegration.
rock dislocation n.
ΚΠ
1862 R. Mallet Great Neapolitan Earthquake of 1857 I. ii. xvii. 406 Hooker's account of the rock dislocation witnessed by him in the Himalayan shocks recurred to mind.
1999 X. Wang et al. in Mining Sci. & Technol. '99 606/2 This type of land deterioration is caused by underground mining and includes earth surface collapse, fracture, rock dislocation.
rock drift n.
ΚΠ
1843 Freeman's Jrnl. (Dublin) 14 Dec. Colonel Hare, the Lieutenant-Governor, had visited Rock-drift with a view of expelling the Chief Tola from the ‘neutral territory’.]
1857 Harper's Mag. Nov. 850/2 To your left, the barren valley of the Rhone, all scarred and seamed with sand and rock-drift.
1959 E. Blunden Hong Kong House 2 It was no garden—so adust, red-dry the rock-drift soil was.
2008 H. Grothaus Highlander 7 Evelyn stared warily at the old witch for what seemed like hours, as if expecting Minerva to rouse from her icy sleep and descend the rock drift.
rock dwelling n.
ΚΠ
1829 D.-S. Lawlor Harp Innisfail 75 The black squadrons of the north, From their rock-dwellings issue forth.
1931 Times 21 May 18/1 (caption) A sea elephant outside his new rock-dwelling at the Berlin Zoological Gardens.
2002 R. Domenico Regions of Italy iii. 37 Extraordinary cave and rock dwellings collectively called sassi distinguish Matera.
rock dyke n.
ΚΠ
1834 J. Phillips Guide to Geol. iii. 128 Rock dykes and metallic veins differ only in the nature of their contents.
1915 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 67 408 We crossed a low rock dyke.
2001 Sports Afield (Nexis) Mar. 31 The crew pulled their 18-foot jonboat behind an old rock dyke that had a huge logjam at one end.
rock engraving n.
ΚΠ
1849 E. J. Sabine tr. A. von Humboldt Aspects of Nature I. 201 I cannot believe that all the rock engravings,..are to be regarded as their work.
1920 H. 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.
2009 Australian (Nexis) 5 Feb. 9 The discovery of more than 50 ancient rock engravings in Tonga has excited archeologists.
rock fishing n.
ΚΠ
1726 Gentleman Angler 123 Rock-fishing has a double Advantage, which Angling cannot pretend to.
1860 W. P. Lennox Pict. Sporting Life II. viii. 249 Proper baits in rock fishing are small smelts, a live shrimp,..and a hairy worm that is found under the sand at the time of ebb.
1991 Mid-Atlantic Game & Fish Apr. 44 Jetty and rock fishing are famous for producing plentiful catches of blackfish.
rock flat n.
ΚΠ
1840 Public Documents Senate U.S. VI. No. 284 8 There is also another natural dam, about twenty miles above the city, called the ‘Grass or Rock Flats’.]
1862 T. W. Blakiston Five Months on Yang-Tsze xi. 185 Sand and rock flats extended over a mile above the upper entrance.
1967 Oceanogr. & Marine Biol. 5 483 In the most subtropical areas,..the fauna living between the algae covering these rock-flats may be greatly impoverished.
1999 Ecology 80 932/2 Boulders and small patches of broken rock were finely distributed among larger areas of rock flats.
rock formation n.
ΚΠ
1804 Brit. Critic Dec. 643 We..must endeavour to ascertain, not only the rock formation in which it [sc. a fossil] occurs, but also its repository.
1917 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 3 659 Recent monographs.., dealing with certain rock formations in Switzerland, put new emphasis on an important problem in minerogenesis.
1992 New Scientist 1 Feb. 48/1 Huge boulders sometimes lie where they do not belong, far from their native rock formations.
rock fortress n.
ΚΠ
1799 E. King Munimenta Antiqua I. iii. 72 A similar instance of an attack of one of these antient Rock Fortresses, in the country of Caux, in France.
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. I. iv. iii. 186 That rock-fortress, Tyranny's stronghold, which they name Bastille, or Building, as if there were no other building.
1946 R. Campbell Talking Bronco 41 Rock-fortress of your sex and gender!
1997 M. Wood In Footsteps Alexander the Great v. 175 The climax of the campaign was one of Alexander's most famous exploits: the siege of the impregnable rock fortress which the Greeks called Aornos.
rock hill n.
ΚΠ
1769 Eng. Displayed II. 193/2 To the west of the abbey are the rock hills, called Brisby-hills.
a1862 H. D. Thoreau Maine Woods (1864) iii. 262 Being struck with the perfect parallelism of these singular rock-hills,..I took out my compass.
1936 V. C. Finch & G. T. Trewartha Elem. Geogr. xvii. 364 The surface configuration of plains where ice scour was predominant is characterized by rounded rock hills and broad open valleys.
1991 Land Subsidence (Proc. 4th Internat. Symp. Land Subsidence) iv. 251 Rock hills and knobs protrude through the alluvial materials.
rock inscription n.
ΚΠ
1830 Asiatic Jrnl. & Monthly Reg. 3 i. 34 The characters of the Osci or Opici..have a great analogy to the rock-inscriptions of the Scythic Sauras, or sun-worshippers of Saurashtra.
1874 E. O. M. Deutsch Lit. Remains 177 The long rock-inscription of Hamamât.
1999 Rotunda Fall–Winter 6/3 The unnamed ruler is now known to be Vima Takto, whose identity eluded scholars until 1996 when the translation of a rock inscription found in Afghanistan was published.
rockland n.
ΚΠ
1851 H. Buff Familiar Lett. on Physics of Earth vi. 81 All these features of the landscape taken as a whole, present a picture of the wildest desolation, set as it is in a frame of the gloomiest rock-land.
1960 Wall 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.
1991 B. Okri Famished Road (1992) vii. v. 457 I fled deep into the salt-caves of rocklands.
rock ledge n.
ΚΠ
1796 R. Polwhele Poetic Trifles 10 Where on rock-ledges rudely pil'd, She sternly fram'd her eyrie wild!
1886 Pall Mall Gaz. 9 Aug. 4/2 The sheep..along the rock ledges..seek the freshest grass.
1963 D. W. Humphries & E. E. Humphries tr. H. Termier & G. Termier Erosion & Sedimentation xiii. 260 This type of coastal cornice, or rock ledge, is thus a phenomenon of marine abrasion.
2000 M. Powers Bleeding Heart 314 When she arrived at the rock ledge, she searched along the edge until she found a narrow cleft in the rock.
rock marble n.
ΚΠ
c1660 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1644 (1955) II. 170 An high and steepe mountainous ground, consisting all of rock-marble.
1838 D. Urquhart Spirit of East I. xxii. 433 At Sciathos, I remarked a section of a rock-marble below, and mica shist above.
1991 Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne) (Nexis) 15 Dec. African and Indian slate were used for the roof and the outer walls were built of rock marble from the Barossa Valley.
rock mass n.
ΚΠ
1805 Jameson Min. Descr. Dumfries 94 An extensive quarry, where a great rock mass of limestone is exposed: it is distinctly stratified.
1913 J. P. Iddings Igneous Rocks II. i. i. 5 In one region the composition of a nearly homogeneous rock mass..may assume a certain local petrographical significance.
1991 Highway & Heavy Constr. Nov. 40/1 The broad expanse of rock mass required special precautions during excavation and support.
rock movement n.
ΚΠ
1880 Pop. Sci. Rev. 4 321 The hot spring, the volcano, and the measurable heat in mines represent so much available kinetic energy, the result of rock movement and earth contraction.
1907 Bull. Geol. Surv. 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.
1994 Jrnl. Geotechn. Engin. 120 1413 (title) Early detection of rock movement with time domain reflectometry.
rock picture n.
ΚΠ
?1851 Royal Soc. Northern Antiquaries: Gen Anniv. Meeting 1851 4 in Guide to Northern Archæol. (Royal Soc. Northern Antiquaries of Copenhagen) The last-mentioned [sc. Axel E. Holmberg] has made the ancient rock-pictures of the North the special object of many years' study.
1939 Man 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.
2001 S. Afr. Archaeol. Bull. 56 107/1 Whether one copies the image from the slide or from the actual rock picture, [etc.].
rock point n.
ΚΠ
1760 in B. Martin Misc. Corr. (1764) III. 363/1 Opposite the Rock Point, which forms the west Side of the Mouth of the Harbour.
1849 D. G. Rossetti Let. 18 Oct. (1965) I. 74 One rock-point standing buffeted alone, vexed at its base with a foul beast unknown.
1948 L. MacNeice Holes in Sky 31 Foam-quoits on rock-points.
2000 L. Lueras & L. Lueras Surfing Hawaii 136 This spot was a bummer before leashes because of the rock point and the break wall.
rock porosity n.
ΚΠ
1880 J. F. Carll Geol. Oil Regions 468 Gas delivered at rates proportionate to rock porosity.
1946 Nature 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.
1991 Ann. Rep. Brit. Geol. Surv. 1990–91 (BNC) 41 Any change in rock porosity caused by the dissolution or precipitation of minerals..affects the rocks' permeability.
rock rampart n.
ΚΠ
1831 D. Tyerman & G. Bennet Voy. & Trav. II. xxx. 54 Being driven from their rock-ramparts, they fled to the valley.
1924 R. Campbell Flaming Terrapin vi. 94 The brink of the abyss, Where into space the sharp rock-rampart drops.
1992 Financial Times 11 Apr. ii. 7/7 We paddled into the forbidding chasm, awesome cliffs on one side and a shale apron below rock ramparts the other.
rock ridge n.
ΚΠ
1839 L. J. Bernays tr. J. W. von Goethe Faust II. iv. 156 The spirits long withdrawn from the flat surface, Are more than ever bent upon rock ridges.
1886 R. Kipling Departmental Ditties (ed. 2) 53 From rice field to rockridge, from rockridge to spur.
1993 Outdoor Canada Summer 8/1 Let's not forget those juicy looking sunken humps, rock ridges, inside turns, ledges, deep weedlines and stump fields.
rock scenery n.
ΚΠ
1786 W. Gilpin Observ. Picturesque Beauty I. iv. 57 Mr. Shenstone however has succeeded the best in his rock scenery, because he has done the least.
1821 W. Scott Pirate II. xiv. 320 A native of Zetland, familiar..with every variety of rock-scenery.
1908 A. P. Abraham Rock-climbing in Skye xiii. 239 Its surroundings are strongly reminiscent of the rock-scenery of the Aiguilles of Mont Blanc.
1994 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 8 May 14 Dixville Notch's vertically stratified cliffs seem to generate the excitement that comes upon most people when confronted with rock scenery of this magnitude.
rock sculpture n.
ΚΠ
1807 W. Sotheby Saul ii. iii. 163 The whole thick-labour'd o'er, Its roof, and rugged sides, rock sculpture all, With monstrous forms gigantic.
1865 E. B. Tylor Res. Early Hist. Mankind v. 88 Rock-sculptures may often be..symbolic boundary marks.
1901 Chautauquan Feb. 529 The rock-sculpture on Sipylus was ever regarded as a figure of the Mater Dolorosa of paganism.
1993 Amer. Lit. Hist. 5 759 The rock sculpture had a blunt beauty.
rock shelter n.
ΚΠ
1864 Nat. Hist. Rev. July 414 In very ancient times these caves and rock-shelters were inhabited by men.
1927 H. Peake & H. J. Fleure Hunters & Artists 40 A small rock-shelter, now quarried away.
1993 New Scientist 16 Jan. 15/1 A rare find of ancient wooden implements has been made in a rock shelter in northeast Spain.
rock shrine n.
ΚΠ
1838 J. E. Reade Italy i. xciii. 62 Thou first in arts and arms! from whose rock-shrine, Wisdom, that doth to after ages speak, Goes forth to humanise, exalt, refine.
1933 Burlington Mag. June 290/2 A small seated Buddha-image,..cut out of a rock-shrine at Yiin-Kang.
2000 Ann. Amer. Schools Oriental Res. 57 79/3 This plan of the Hittite capital at Hattuša shows its proximity to the rock shrine.
rockside n.
ΚΠ
c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) 2144 (MED) Haf here þi helme on þy hede, þi spere in þi honde, & ryde me doun þis ilk rake, bi ȝon rokke syde, Til þou be broȝt to þe boþem of þe brem valay.
1586 W. Webbe tr. Virgil Aeglogue i, in Disc. Eng. Poetrie sig. H.iij Vnder a Rock side here will proyner chaunt merrie ditties.
1652 R. Fanshawe tr. Horace in Sel. Parts Horace sig. M3 How canst thou indure, To live in this Rocke-side, moapt and obscure?
1726 Four Years Voy. Capt. G. Roberts 169 We hove the Sloop to the Rock Side, which was as steep up and down as a Key.
1840 R. G. Latham Norway, & Norwegians I. iii. 58 The wood-strawberry, and bilberry cover the shaded rockside.
1985 J. Knappert Myths & Legends of Botswana, Lesotho & Swaziland 235 Tomorrow we will run together to yonder cave in the rockside.
rockslip n.
ΚΠ
1848 Jrnl. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 17 i. 408 The landslip or rather rockslip of Mulooa.
1877 E. G. Squier Peru (1878) 493 These rockslips are frequent among the Andes.
1994 Flight Internat. (Nexis) 1 July Earthquake, measuring Richter 6.5, hit southern Alps area of South Island, causing..rockslips blocking roads and rivers.
rock spring n.
ΚΠ
1685 S. Derham Hydrologia Philosophica 84 By comparing the water of this Spaw with other ordinary Spring-water, but especially with a Rock-spring, a sensible warmth may be discerned.
1712 J. Morton 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.
1884 19th Cent. Feb. 325 The pure outflow of a rock-spring.
1993 S. Kelly & R. Rogers Saints Preserve Us! 206 In Southern California, the Spanish explorers found a rock spring that dripped and dribbled ceaselessly.
rock stratum n.
ΚΠ
1777 R. E. Raspe tr. I. von Born Trav. Bannat of Temeswar xv. 141 There are several mines or shafts sunk in the same salt-rock stratum.]
1787 E. A. W. von Zimmermann Polit. Surv. Europe 345 The provinces of Moldovia and Wallachia posses immense masses of salt-rock, connected with the great rock strata of Gallicia and Transylvania.
1880 Science 6 Nov. 232/2 No ordinary construction can long stand unless it has a foundation penetrating this bed to a rock stratum.
1999 J. V. Marshall White-out (2000) 152 Over thousands of years snow had been piling up..and now, suddenly, the weight of this snow became more than the rock-strata could bear.
rock temple n.
ΚΠ
?a1737 W. Hals Compl. Hist. Cornwal (?1750) 23 At Lan-car, in this Parish, signifying Rest-Rock, or Rock-Temple.
1850 G. Wilkinson Archit. Anc. Egypt 92 Rock Temples may be classified under three heads.
1906 Jrnl. Manch. Geogr. Soc. 22 17 This is the oldest rock-temple of Ceylon.
1999 Business Line (Nexis) 10 Apr. A millennium after the Chandela kings erected the magnificent rock temples, a grand plan has been launched to promote Khajuraho as more than just a site of erotic sculptures.
rock tomb n.
ΚΠ
1828 Brit. Critic July 71 Lost in age, and hopeless night, Under the rock-tomb's whelming height.
1909 Putnam's Mag. July 400/1 It became apparent that there must be a great rock tomb in the neighborhood.
1998 C. Mims When we Die (1999) vi. 155 The next type of [Egyptian] royal tomb was a rock tomb, less conspicuous, and cut into rock.
rock top n.
ΚΠ
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis iv. 69 Breaking thee goats doo trip fro the rocktops Neere toe the playne.
1619 E. M. Bolton tr. Florus Rom. Hist. iii. viii. 293 A man would wonder that those wilde, and sauage people durst once so much as looke from their rocketoppes downe vpon the sea.
1793 J. Sinclair Statist. Acct. Scotl. VII. 197 Fine grass, mingled with many herbs, grows early on the sea banks, and rock top.
1890 Macmillan's Mag. July 200/2 Many, many years ago this rock-top was—strange as it may seem—part of the main track from Glasgow to the West.
1999 W. C. McGrath Great Minnesota Walks x. 3 You can access the main trail again from the upstream end of the rock top.
rock type n.
ΚΠ
1875 Geol. Rec. 1874 209 The various rock-types distinguished by the author.
1946 Nature 3 Aug. 172/1 The commonest rock-type [on Heard Island] is trachybasalt.
1992 New Brunswick Outdoor Adventure Guide 23/2 The map includes colored keys to rock types, notes, illustrations and a list of places of special interest.
rock wilderness n.
ΚΠ
1855 R. Martineau tr. F. Gregorovius Corsica ii. iv. 162 If the exiled Stoic really passed eight years of banishment..in the silence of this rock-wilderness,..the locality was not amiss for a philosopher to indulge in sage meditations on the world and destiny.
1927 D. H. Lawrence Mornings in Mexico 162 The great, hollow, rock-wilderness space of that part of Arizona.
2003 P. Guttilla Bigfoot Files 30 Toba Inlet, a vast rock wilderness nestled deep in the northern estuary of the Strait of Georgia.
b. Objective.
(a) With present participles.
rock-battering adj.
ΚΠ
1606 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iii. 55 Rock-batt'ring Bumbards, Valour-murd'ring Guns.
1998 Bismarck (N. Dakota) Tribune (Nexis) 19 Apr. 1 c Unlike rock-battering mountain rivers, the Missouri River must be muddy.
rock-crushing adj.
ΚΠ
1851 Alta Calif. 1 May 1/4 Quartz Rock Crushing Machine—Mr. King..is building a new machine for crushing quartz rock.
1966 A. Battersby Math. in Managem. i. 16 This rock-crushing argument may well be used to suppress a bright boy.
1993 Outdoor Canada Oct. 33/1 (advt.) Two high-tensile steel belts below the nylon caps provide rock-crushing strength.
rock-frequenting adj.
ΚΠ
1850 R. Gordon-Cumming Five Years Hunter's Life S. Afr. I. viii. 153 Even the rock-frequenting koodoos themselves made bad weather of it.
1908 D. G. Stead Edible Fishes New South Wales 108 This is a rock-frequenting fish usually obtained by hook and line in the vicinity of reefs at sea.
1990 Oikos 58 352/2 With the possible exception of rock-frequenting haplochromines and those confined to very shallow areas, this big predator has reduced the haplochromines to very low numbers.
rock-infesting adj.
ΚΠ
1923 Work Agric. Exper. Stations, 1921 (U.S. Dept. Agriculture) 34 It is believed that they derive their energy from rock-infesting lichens.
1940 A. H. Gardiner Theory of Proper Names i. 7 The rock-infesting monsters.
rock-loving adj.
ΚΠ
1754 N. Weekes Barbados 15 The Rock-loving Sampier, the Pepper green, And the far-fam'd Cabbage.
1847 R. W. Emerson Poems 184 A wild rose, or rock-loving columbine, Salve my worst wounds.
1995 S. Boga Camping & Backpacking with Children vi. 107 Here are a couple of exercises for your rock-loving kids.
rock-melting adj.
ΚΠ
1826 J. W. Robberds Geol. & Hist. Observ. Eastern Vallies Norfolk Pref. p. x The puny effects of the crucible and blow-pipe have been more regarded, than those of the rock-melting volcano.
1886 A. Winchell Walks & Talks in Geol. Field 99 A rock-melting temperature.
1995 R. Sauder Underground Bases & Tunnels vi. 95 The rock-melting drill is of a shape and is propelled under sufficient pressure to produce and extend cracks in solid rock radially around the bore.
rock-piercing adj.
ΚΠ
1773 T. Morell tr. Æschylus Prometheus in Chains i. i. 3 in Αισχυλου Προμηθευς Δεσμωτης Secure his feet with these rock-piercing gyves.
1876 L. Stephen Hist. Eng. Thought 18th Cent. I. v. 281 Like some mass of rockpiercing strata of a different formation.
1996 J. W. Finegan Emerald Fairways & Foam-flecked Seas xiii. 231 In moments you are sailing through the first of the three short rock-piercing tunnels.
† rock-razing adj. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1608 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iv. 131 O Arm that Kings dis-throans! O Army-shaving Sword! Rock-razing Hands!
rock-rolling adj.
ΚΠ
1853 Trans. Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club (1907) 57 Our Sisyphean rock-rolling and stone-breaking friends, the geologists, may here get an up-lift from the humble exploring botanist.
1957 R. Campbell Coll. Poems II. 106 But now the longed-for sound, As of rock-rolling torrents underground, Approaches.
(b) With verbal nouns.
rock blasting n.
ΚΠ
1815 Scots Mag. Oct. 752 The rock-blasting..having hindered any passage during the month of October.
1911 Pop. Mech. Oct. 516/2 There have been many water-pressure processes of rock blasting proposed.
2003 Mountain Res. & Devel. 23 19/1 Resource depletion continues to occur because of rock blasting and stone cutting.
rock-breaking n.
ΚΠ
1838 C. Darwin in Life & Lett. (1887) I. 292 The good science of rock-breaking.
1916 G. J. Young Elem. Mining vi. 115 The final measure of success in planning the details of rock breaking, etc., is the advance made in a given time.
2002 M. McGrath Silvertown (2003) xviii. 176 Afternoon brought the ‘grades’, work of varying arduousness, from weaving to rock-breaking.
rock folding n.
ΚΠ
1874 B. S. Lyman Preliminary Rep. Geol. Surv. Yesso 36 The exposure..belongs therefore probably to the Toshibets Karafto System of rock folding.
1965 G. 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.
2005 T. Falola & A. Genova Politics Global Oil Industry i. 4 Oil and gas become trapped by rock folding or faulting.
rock making n.
ΚΠ
1814 Edinb. Rev. Sept. 390 She amused herself with chemistry and rock-making.
1906 Cal. State Univ. Iowa 1905–6 146 Especial attention is given to the facts of rock-making, continent-making, and mountain-making.
2000 D. Stiller Wounding West ii. 21 The process of rock making commonly preserves these horizontal bedding planes.
(c) With agent nouns.
rock-breaker n.
ΚΠ
1855 Mining Mag. 4 408 6 landers, 6 whim-drivers, 10 copper-pickers and rock-breakers, 2 windlass-men.
1896 C. H. Shinn Story of Mine 218 All larger fragments roll into the jaws of a rock breaker.
1956 K. Courlander I speak of Afr. xvii. 164 The rock-breaker would fill these apertures with explosives and the ‘cheesa’ boy..would come along with a slow-burning fuse.
2005 Earthmovers May 53/1 (advt.) The system is even robust enough to allow its use with a rock-breaker attachment.
rock hunter n.
ΚΠ
1868 Amer. Naturalist 2 77 My neighbors tell me that you are a rock-hunter.
1971 R. 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.
1999 C. A. Lane Tonopah xi. 42 Nellis makes them out to be rock hunters. Just a club out looking for rare stones.
rock pulverizer n.
ΚΠ
1876 U.S. Patent 177,883 1/1 Without the elastic hanging the revolving hammers are worthless as rock-pulverizers.
1967 Castanea 32 135 The parent material was reduced to fine sand size, using a rock pulverizer.
rock-thrower n.
ΚΠ
1871 Georgia Weekly Tel. 24 Oct. The juvenile street rock throwers of Savannah have been cruelly nipped in the bud.
1908 H. M. Kramer Castle of Dawn xvi. 292 This rock-thrower has given us our chance!
1998 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 22 Oct. 44/1 He stopped the rock-throwers in their tracks by appearing, on foot, in the very thick of the fray.
c. Instrumental and locative.
† rock-begirdled adj. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1813 W. Scott Rokeby ii. 56 Rock-begirdled Gilmanscar.
a1868 T. D. McGee Poems (1869) 241 Where Antrim's rock-begirdled shore withstands the northern deep, O'er Red Bay's broad and buoyant breast, cold, dark breezes creep.
rock-bestudded adj.
ΚΠ
1835 W. Wordsworth Stanzas Power of Sound iii, in Yarrow Revisited 312 From rocky steep and rock-bestudded meadows.
1906 E. R. Taylor Into Light 52 Endeavor's rock-bestudded course for me.
† rock-bethreatened adj. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1635 F. Quarles Emblemes iii. xi. 166 O shall my Rock-bethreatned Soule be drown'd?
rock-born adj.
ΚΠ
1634 J. Bidle tr. Virgil Bucolicks sig. B8 Now what the Godling Cupid is, I see; Or craggy Ismarus, or Rhodope, Or Farthest Garamants that Rock-born Brood Produc't, not of our Progeny or Bloud.
a1772 J. Graeme Poems Several Occasions (1773) 27 And rock born Echo, daughter of the hill..answers not The ox's bellow.
1849 J. R. Lowell in National Anti-slavery Standard 23 Aug. 50/6 Taghkanic's rockborn child Dares gloriously the dangerous leap.
1913 W. B. Yeats in Brit. Rev. Apr. 89 I have kept my faith though faith was tried To that rock-born, rock-wandering foot.
2005 B. Brower Blue Dog, Green River 70 The colorless rainbow had been scored in a rude arch over these rock-born spirits.
rock-bound adj.
ΚΠ
1776 W. Cockin Occas. Attempts in Verse 46 Poring nigh in some lone rock-bound cell, Some stream, where ceaseless murmurs dwell.
1841 H. W. Longfellow Wreck of Hesperus in Boston Bk. (ed. 3) 75 'T is a fog-bell on a rock-bound coast!
1978 Amer. Poetry Rev. Nov. 20/3 Along the stormy, rockbound Ligurian coast.
2002 P. Long Guide to Rural Wales vii. 258/1 Another coastal beauty spot..is St Justinian's, a rock-bound harbour that is home to the St David's Lifeboat Station.
rock-bred adj.
ΚΠ
1722 J. Jones tr. Oppian Halieuticks iv. 167 While Politicians plot their Fates at Home, To forreign Wars the Rock-bred Heroes roam.
1830 W. Scott Auchindrane i. i As the rock-bred eaglet soars Up to her nest.
1920 W. B. Yeats in Dial Nov. 462 She seemed to have grown clean and sweet Like any rock-bred, sea borne bird.
1990 G. Watson in Verse 7 74 It is appropriate that Crichton Smith should..imply his own trust in the desolation of this particular rock-bred reality.
† rock-bristled adj. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1848 J. R. Lowell Poems 2nd Ser. 66 Like the toothless sea mumbling A rock-bristled shore.
rock-clad adj.
ΚΠ
?1750 W. Hird tr. Perfect Love 3 Did not Ye rejoice, as Ye wafted the living Symphonies along the Rock-clad Hill?
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. xviii. 220 The glaciers descend..from an interior of lofty rock-clad hills.
1999 Arkansas Democrat-Gaz. (Nexis) 18 July a1 The boys lived with their mother in the small, rock-clad house.
rock-covered adj.
ΚΠ
1824 Kaleidoscope 10 Aug. 44/1 Time shall the voice of Eternity sound Like the waves on a rock-covered coast.
1938 Amer. Home June 87/2 Tennis shoes are a good changeoff and can be used as wading shoes in rock-covered creeks.
2003 R. E. Krebs & C. A. Krebs Groundbreaking Sci. Exper., Inventions, & Discov. i. 28 This procedure does not cause the animal pain and protects the foot from injury on rough and rock-covered terrain.
rock-dwelling adj.
ΚΠ
1843 R. Owen Lect. Compar. Anat. Invertebr. Animals 163 The external tegument..acquires due hardness for protecting the rock-dwelling marine species.
1910 H. H. Johnston Negro in New World x. 290 A hundred different kinds of creepers, lianas, or rock-dwelling plants.
1992 Nature Conservancy July–Aug. 31/1 The chuckwalla, a fat, sluggish rock-dwelling lizard, reaches its densest concentrations in the Mojave Desert.
rock-embosomed adj.
ΚΠ
1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound i. i. 25 Oh, rock-embosomed lawns, and snow-fed streams.
1907 T. G. Bonney et al. Medit. xiii. 297 There is no doubt that to quit the waters of a rock-embosomed strait for the harbor of a large commercial seaport..is to experience a certain effect of disenchantment.
rock-encircled adj.
ΚΠ
1760 in T. Blacklock Coll. Orig. Poems 145 Of hill, and dale, of rock-encircled plain..I amply am possess'd.
1858 Harper's Mag. Apr. 702/1 Down by the rock-encircled mountain..amidst the sweet-scented, thick-spreading fern.
1952 Amer. Antiq. 18 44/2 The correlation between rock-encircled cremation pits and exposure of the dead seems to be borne out in other areas.
2008 Toledo (Ohio) Blade (Nexis) 19 Oct. In warm weather, friends and family spill onto the wide porch and around the rock-encircled fire pit just beyond.
rock-encumbered adj.
ΚΠ
1763 J. Brown Cure of Saul 6 The lab'ring mountain rears his rock-encumber'd Head.
1867 Jrnl. Royal Geogr. Soc. 37 53 The mouths of the channels are intricate and rock-encumbered.
1900 Geogr. Jrnl. 15 71 On the third day, after a descent of 1100 feet to the rock-encumbered Teremalenga river, the ascent was resumed through a region of daily rain.
2000 J. E. Werler & J. R. Dixon Texas Snakes 202/2 The blotched water snake can be seen swimming along the edge of shallow, rock-encumbered streams.
rock-enthroned adj.
ΚΠ
1839 T. N. Talfourd Glencoe iii. ii With grief For rock-enthroned Scotland.
1942 M. Diver Royal India 101 The pride of Gwalior, as of Udaipur, aptly centres in its rock-enthroned fortress that looms majestic above the comparatively modern city at its base.
† rock-fallen adj. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. i. 289 Rock-falne spowtes, congeald by colder aire.
† rock-firmed adj. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
a1657 G. Daniel Trinarchodia: Henry V clv, in Poems (1878) IV. 139 They cleave Rocke-firmed Towers.
rock-girded adj.
ΚΠ
1828 Worcester Talisman 15 Nov. 133/1 He should be tossed awhile upon the treacherous sea—stranded upon some rock-girded shore.
1859 E. Cook Poems (new ed.) 301 The rock-girded ocean.
1990 Washington Post (Nexis) 23 Mar. e1 At great falls,..the river changes character dramatically. From there to Theodore Roosevelt Island it flows within a series of narrow, rock-girded channels.
rock-girt adj.
ΚΠ
1640 J. Gower tr. Ovid Festivalls iii. 59 When Romulus his rock girt grove had ended, Said he, Who hither flies shall be defended.
1751 P. Bennett in Eng. Poems Coll. from Oxf. & Cambr. 101 Nor triumphs of the rock-girt shore, Did ever there display, Such heart-deep-sunk dismay.
1860 E. B. Pusey Minor Prophets 236 The rock-girt Petra.., a gem in its mountain-setting.
1993 D. C. Reece Rich Broth x. 95 Mr. Pearson asked me..why on earth I was going off to a rock-girt anglophone bastion.
rock-guarded adj.
ΚΠ
1823 Monthly Mag. May 336/2 Stunn'd by the midnight tempest's roar, On some grey cape's rock-guarded shore.
1929 C. E. Robinson Hist. Greece vi. 63 One great advantage indeed the Attic folk possessed in the admirable rock-guarded harbours adjacent to their capital.
1999 C. Duff Celtic Tides iii. 48 On the far wall, two openings, window-size, looked out onto the channel and the rock-guarded coast.
rock-living adj.
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a1882 R. W. Emerson Musketaquid in Continent (1883) 11 Apr. 471/1 A woodland walk, A quest of river grapes, a mocking thrush, A wild rose or rock-living [1847 and later ed. printed rock-loving] columbine Salve my worst wounds.
1900 Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1899–1900 12 523 Tonging for coral in Castle Harbor, at a depth of a few feet, gave some of the rock-living forms, as Alpheus.
1923 D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers (N.Y. ed.) 32 A rock-living, sweet-fleshed sea anemone.
2003 Proc. Royal Soc. B. 270 134/1 Among the species that we sampled are a rock-living epibios eater..and a mollusc crusher.
rock-nurtured adj.
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1844 M. Howitt tr. E. Carlén Rose of Tistelön I. xx. 228 It is wonderful how rapidly this rock-nurtured Rose, who had scarcely ever left her own island,..improved in the graces and witchery of the sex.
1947 G. W. Knight Crown of Life (1948) iv. 160 He enters, the boy in his arms, murmuring ‘The bird is dead’..a phrase echoing his own wild rock-nurtured life.
rock-perched adj.
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1830 C. Hoyle Pilgrim of Hebrides ii. i. xxviii.154 Till under opening skies and warmth serene, Dun-Britton's rock-perched towers in happy hour are seen.
1913 W. de la Mare Peacock Pie 64 I long to watch the sea-mew wheel Back to her rock-perched mate.
2009 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 11 Feb. 24 San Sebastian's rock-perched Parador Nacional Conde de la Gomera..offers attractive, colonial-style rooms.
rock-reared adj.
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1622 M. Drayton 2nd Pt. Poly-olbion xxix. 157 That puisant Queene him to Albania sent, Who fiftie Rock-reard Pyles and Castles..cast Farre lower then their Scites.
1765 J. Brand Coll. Poet. Ess. 10 The sky-topt Towers and rock-reared Batteries!
1884 Atlantic Monthly Nov. 597 For five years now the so-called Anti-Pope Benedict XIII has been besieged in his rock-reared palace at Avignon.
1903 J. Miller As it was in Beginning vi. xiii. 42 An eagle frightened from its nest That keeps the topmost, rock-reared crest.
rock-rooted adj.
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1791 in E. Tatham Serm. Univ. Oxf. 39 On your rock-rooted throne firmly seated.
1890 Congress. Rec. 7 June 5802/1 Every rock-rooted advocate of the gold standard is in favor of [this provision].
1998 M. Cresswell W. Pennine Walks (2004) xvii. 122 As the path winds its way among rock-rooted trees, keep straight on, not descending to the valley on the left.
rock-set adj.
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1812 Crit. Rev. Mar. 329 The rock-set ash, with tortuous branches grey, Veils the deep glen.
1861 G. H. Kingsley in F. Galton Vacation Tourists & Trav. 1860 165 The little rock-set basin not ten yards across.
1988 R. J. Nelson Willa Cather & France iii. 63 The rock-set town reminds the apothecary Auclair of ‘those little artificial mountains in the churches at home to present a theatric scene of the nativity’.
rock-staked adj.
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1890 R. Kipling Light that Failed ii. 29 Two steamers were rock-staked on the Nile outside the city.
1896 R. Kipling Seven Seas 131 Thou hast not toiled at the fishing..Nor worked the war-boats outward through the rush of the rock-staked seas.
1924 R. Clements Gipsy of Horn (1929) ix. 174 Astern of us were the rippling, rock-staked waters of the Bay.
rock-strewn adj.
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1826 J. Banim Boyne Water II. v. 129 A descent from the high ground was rendered practicable, though very difficult, along the steep side of a pathless, rock-strewn, and crumbling hill.
1884 Overland Monthly Apr. 339/1 The river is wide and of a rich green color, and flows over a rock-strewn bed.
1991 New Yorker 11 Mar. 89/3 A sudden squall in the treacherous, rock-strewn seas around Greece could scatter a battle fleet or cut off visibility.
rock-throned adj.
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1828 J. R. Planché Desc. Danube Pref. p. vii Wurtzburg with its splendid palace, its rich conservatories and rock-throned citadel.
1904 A. R. Sheldon Medici Balls 221 Reluctantly we turn from rock-throned Barga, ‘Half church of God, half castle 'gainst the Scot’.
rock-thwarted adj.
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1842 Ld. Tennyson Palace of Art (rev. ed.) in Poems (new ed.) I. 140 You seem'd to hear them [sc. waves]..roar rock-thwarted under bellowing caves.
1946 W. C. Williams Paterson I. i. 8 Jostled as are the waters approaching The brink, his thoughts Interlace, repel and cut under, Rise rock-thwarted and turn aside But forever strain forward.
rock-torn adj.
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1616 G. Chapman tr. Homer Odysses in Whole Wks. of Homer vi. 97 When noisefull Neptune tost Vpon his watry brissels, my imbost And rock torne body.
1845 E. Cook Poems 2nd Ser. 46 The rock-torn plank and shattered spar.
1999 Boston Globe (Nexis) 25 July f2 Shelburne Shipyard, one of two local destinations for damaged boats, was teeming this week, with crews working overtime to repair punctured hulls and patch rock-torn wreckage.
d. Parasynthetic.
rock-arched adj.
ΚΠ
1833 J. G. Whittier in New Eng. Mag. June 512 Through rock-arched Winnooski the salmon leaps free.
1883 Galveston (Texas) Daily News 14 Jan. The importance of building a good and substantial rock-arched causeway from the mainland to the island.
1995 St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch (Nexis) 18 Dec. 1 Hoffmann also was a brick mason and operated a brickyard near the rock arched bridge that is still a Maeystown landmark.
rock-browed adj.
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1824 S. L. Fairfield Lays of Melpomene 6 The chilling night wind's saddening wail O'er rock-browed hill and wild heath straying.
1944 E. Blunden Shells by Stream 19 Above the rock-browed shag-haired weir.
rock-chested adj.
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1939 D. 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.
1996 Evening Post (Wellington, N.Z.) 18 Dec. 22 Fantasy: Dream date with young, single and rock-chested pop star Peter Andre.
rock-crested adj.
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1814 ‘H. Hedgehog’ General-post Bag 116 The startled inhabitants, scard and amaz'd, From the rock-crested beach on their new monarch gaz'd.
1934 Times 9 Feb. 13/2 From the rock-crested Paarl Hill he viewed the fertile valley.
2005 R. Hoyt Sonja's Run ii. vi. 177 Soon the pine-clad foothill rose to rock-crested mountains.
rock-floored adj.
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1870 A. Winchell Sketches Creation xx. 224 Many a broad and rock-floored valley became filled,..by the rubbish which the torrent deposited in its quieter mood.
1905 Jrnl. Geol. (Chicago) 13 388 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.
1989 Advertiser (Adelaide) (Nexis) 8 Dec. We saw the world's oldest playable organ in a tiny rock-floored church.
rock-roofed adj.
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1777 R. Potter tr. Æschylus Prometheus Chain'd in tr. Æschylus Tragedies 22 Thy rock-roof'd grottos arch'd by nature's hand.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Cyclops in Posthumous Poems (1824) 332 The gathered flocks into the rock-roofed cave.
1913 M. H. McCarter Master's Degree viii. 150 The cave by daylight was as the lightning had shown it, a big chamber, rock-walled, rock-floored, rock-roofed, in the side of the bluff.
2004 Jrnl. Aesthetic Educ. 38 111 Entering the cool shade of the many clefts, rock-roofed rooms, and overhanging ledges provides welcome relief from the heat.
rock-scarped adj.
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1852 G. C. Mundy Our Antipodes I. i. 31 A rock-scarped table-land covered with a stunted shrub-like gorse.
1921 National Geographic Mag. Nov. 479/1 Low mountains rise on all sides, with rock-scarped summits covered with black honeycomb.
1997 D. Pringle Secular Buildings in Crusader Kingdom Jerusalem 59/2 Walled town on irregular rock-scarped plateau.
rock-walled adj.
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1806 J. B. Greenshields Home iii. 74 Th'Expanse beyond, which owns no bounding line, But that where sea and sky their tints combine; Save where, illumed by the westering ray, The rock-walled Bass ascends, or humbler May.
1879 J. G. Whittier Poet. Wks. (1898) 257/1 Church that..Saw within the rock-walled bay Treville's lilied pennons play.
1993 National Geographic Traveler Mar.–Apr. 86/1 The rock-walled terraces on its far side blaze with azaleas.
rock-wombed adj.
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1798 W. Taylor tr. Horace Odes iii. iii, in Monthly Mag. 5 208 For gain to dig the rock-womb'd gold.
1954 W. Faulkner Fable 260 The rock-wombed powder magazines under the Gates of Hercules.
1995 J. Canter Aran Song 13 Beyond the rock-wombed villages of Barna and Spiddal and Rossaveal, the mountains rose in purple splendour.
e. Similative.
rock-blackness n.
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1967 R. P. Warren in Encounter Oct. 4 The moon, eastward and over The ridge and rock-blackness, rears.
rock-fast adj.
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1833 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Feb. 151/1 To the poisoner rock-fast love deserves no better name than ‘folly!’
1907 J. Orr Bible under Trial vii. 156 Jesus was put to death for claiming to be the ‘King of the Jews’... This is a rock-fast fact.
1997 K. Starr Dream Endures ii. 51 It was a modest legacy..that allowed Jeffers to remove himself from the world while sitting in judgment of it from his rock-fast aerie.
rock-firm adj.
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1796 W. Dunlap Archers i. iii. 24 Rock-firm, their bristly pikes presenting, Unmov'd they fac'd us.
1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles I. xiv. 183 When..malignant possibilities stand rock-firm as facts.
1997 W. Smith Birds of Prey 252 Hal tried the gratings with his bare hands. They were set rock-firm.
rock-footed adj.
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1876 W. T. Blanford E. Persia 90 The male of the wild goat they call ‘Pá-sang,’ the rock-footed.
1911 M. Beerbohm Zuleika Dobson xxii. 317 Sole and splendid survivor he stood, rock-footed, before her.
2002 San Francisco Chron. (Nexis) 16 Jan. 1 wb Indoors and out meet in a rock-footed post, above, in Ann Hatch's Occidental home, designed and built by Paul Discoe.
rock-hard adj.
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1852 E. G. Holland Highland Treason ii. v. 285 Justice, Rock-hard and sword-sharp, is my sole demand.
1935 ‘L. Luard’ Conquering Seas v. 69 Plenty of rock-hard, shelf cod.
1992 W. Steger & J. Bowermaster Crossing Antarctica ii. 35 Driving tent stakes into the rock-hard ice required patience and a good whack with the ax.
rock-hearted adj.
ΚΠ
1656 A. Cowley Mistress (new ed.) 75 in Poems Though savage, and rock-hearted those Appear, that weep not ev'n Romances woes.
1767 Hist. Mrs. Drayton I. ii. vi. 142 When tuned to love, the most rock-hearted prude was not proof against its melody.
1827 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd 103 This rock-heartit crew o' Luther.
1925 E. K. Rand Ovid & Infl. i. ii. 25 He is fickle, rock-hearted, short-sighted, perjured, superstitious, ungallant and somewhat naïve.
2002 D. Gill Amateur Yorksherman 45 This land is owt but friendly an none but rock-hearted folk can blame it or brave it.
rock-solid adj.
ΚΠ
1904 Sigma Phi Epsilon Jrnl. May 92 Sigma Phi Epsilon has long since passed the point where it is a question whether it will live or die. It stands to-day on a rock-solid foundation.
1972 Ulster (Sunday Times Insight Team) xvi. 273 They had seen their support in the area—once rock-solid—steadily and severely eroded.
1996 Counsel Mar.–Apr. 20/1 His credentials as a practitioner are apparently rock-solid.
rock-still adj.
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1821 J. H. Reynolds Garden of Florence & Other Poems 140 Now my thoughts turn'd to the heavy sea..I heard it plainly gathering—curling—thundering—With eye rock-still and heart chill'd up with wondering.
1976 J. B. Hilton Gamekeeper's Gallows ii. 20 He cocked his eye up to the pressure-dial. The needle was rock still, not even trembling.
1996 S. Woolfe Leaning towards Infinity (1998) 362 One of those bush days when everything is rock still, no wind, not the flutter of a leaf.
rock-white adj.
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1916 E. Blunden Pastorals 21 Through the bindweed's rock-white mesh.
†f. As postmodifier. Of a precious stone: (perhaps) cut in a particular way. Cf. rocked adj.1 1. Obsolete. rare.
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?1578 W. Patten Let. Entertainm. Killingwoorth 69 Great Diamonds, Emerauds, Rubyes and Saphyres: poynted, tabld, rok & roound.
C2.
a.
(a)
rock-apostle n. rare St Peter (in allusion to Matthew 16:18).
ΚΠ
1865 J. Ruskin Sesame & Lilies i. 52 The strong angels, of which the rock-apostle is the image.
1976 Times 31 Jan. 14/4 Most Christians can agree that the rock-apostle Peter is given a certain pre-eminence among the Twelve.
rock bar n. Physical Geography a low ridge of rock; spec. = riegel n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > ridge > [noun] > rocky ridge
rock bar1832
rand1839
randjiea1878
riegel1909
protalus1934
1832 United Service Jrnl. iii. 268/2 The cutting away of the rock-bar might easily be performed by a machine worked with steam.
1912 W. 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.
1957 G. E. Hutchinson Treat. Limnol. I. i. 71 The basins are divided by transverse ridges, presumably Riegeln or rock bars.
1996 R. Drewe Drowner (1998) 217 He blasted and dredged a channel thirty feet deep through a rock bar across the river mouth.
rock beater n. †(a) (apparently) a variety of asbestos (obsolete rare); (b) a machine used to crush rocks.
ΚΠ
1888 Reno (Nevada) Evening Gaz. 3 Oct. Besides this fine silken article which occupies the central parts of the vein there are outside..great bodies of what is called rock cork,..‘rock beaters’ and ‘rock wood,’ which are very similar to the rock cork.
1935 Discovery July 203/2 The rock is..crushed in rock beaters.
1994 St. Petersburg (Florida) Times (Nexis) 29 Apr. 1 A man who was hurt in a machine called a rock beater at Florida Crushed Stone Co. has sued the company for negligence.
rockberg n. [ < rock n.1 + -berg (in iceberg n.)] a mass of rock resembling an iceberg.
ΚΠ
1828 Hist. Bullanabee & Clinkataboo 4 He got on board his boat, and under the pretence of surveying a sunken rock beyond the entrance of the harbour, threaded the needles and the rockbergs, and launched out to sea in pursuit of a ship.
1865 E. Burritt Walk to Land's End 242 The tors looked like rockbergs, once floating on the great revolving drift.
1999 S. Baxter in Year's Best Sci. Fiction Sixteenth Ann. Coll. 371 There had been some intrusion from below since then—magnesium-suite rockbergs pushing up into the crust—but the mantle,..had become essentially static.
rock bind n. chiefly Mining and British regional (now rare) (frequently in plural) sandy shale; cf. bind n. 4.
ΚΠ
1798 S. Shaw Hist. & Antiqs. Staffs. I. 118/1 (table) Rock-binds.
1862 A. C. Ramsay et al. Descr. Catal. Rock Specim. 71 Argillaceous sandstones..which pass under the name of ‘rock’ or ‘rock binds’.
1920 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 59 497 The upper portion of the Thick Coal, 9 feet thick, rests on 42 feet of sandy shale, below which are 44 feet of ‘rock binds’ to the Heathen Coal.
rock binder n. = rock bind n.
ΚΠ
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining Rock binders, sandy shale.
1922 W. R. Jillson Oil Field Stratigr. Kentucky 500 Sandy rock binder [thickness] 0 : 3½ [depth] 638 : 4.
1992 A. J. Kwitowski et al. Teleoperation of Highwall Mining Syst. (U.S. Bureau of Mines Rep. Investigations No. 9420) 14/1 The falls consisted of the roof coal and rock binder and often caused both color video subsystems to become effectively unstable.
rock biscuit n. a type of hard biscuit.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > biscuit > [noun] > other biscuits
dorcake14..
cracknelc1440
hard breada1500
crackling1598
Naples biscuit1650
gingerbread man1686
chocolate biscuit1702
biscotin1723
sponge biscuit1736
maple biscuita1753
butter biscuit1758
nut1775
Oliver biscuit1786
funeral biscuit1790
rock biscuit?1790
ratafia1801
finger biscuit1812
Savoy drop1816
lady's finger1818
snap1819
Abernethy1830
pretzel1831
wine-biscuit1834
gingersnap1838
captain's biscuit1843
lebkuchen1847
simnel1854
sugar cookie1854
peppernut1862
McClellan pie1863
Savoy ring1866
Brown George1867
beaten biscuit1876
digestive1876
Osborne1876
Bath Oliver1878
marie1878
boer biscuit1882
charcoal biscuit1885
biscotti1886
fairing1888
snickerdoodle1889
pfeffernuss1891
zwieback1894
Nice1895
Garibaldi biscuit1896
Oswegoc1900
squashed fly1900
amaretto1905
boerebeskuit1905
Romary1905
petit beurre1906
Oswego biscuit1907
soetkoekie1910
Oreo1912
custard cream1916
Anzac1923
sweet biscuit1929
langue de chat1931
Bourbon biscuit1932
Afghan1934
flapjack1935
Florentine1936
chocolate chip cookie1938
choc chip cookie1940
Toll House cookie1940
tuile1943
pizzelle1949
black and white1967
Romany Cream1970
papri1978
?1790 R. Abbot Housekeeper's Valuable Present vi. 75 Mix them together: dip them in icing, and lay them on wafer paper, in the shape of rock biscuits.
1893 E. Hérissé Art of Pastry Making 84 Raspberry Rock Biscuits. Proceed as in making Almond Rock Biscuits.
1907 Needlework Guild Cook Bk. 198 Rock Biscuits.
2007 D. A. Durham Acacia i. xii. 106 Why are you down here with me, eating my rock biscuits, sharing my black tea?
rock bit n. Oil Industry a bit (bit n.1 6) used for drilling hard formations.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > oil and natural gas recovery equipment > [noun] > drilling equipment > drilling bits
roller bit1858
rock bit1875
spudding bit1907
underreamer1912
oil string1921
spudder1922
1875 U.S. Patent 165,787 1/1 The invention relates more particularly to rock bits or drills, the cutting-surfaces of which are composed of diamonds.
1920 Engin. & 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.
1993 Roustabout Aug. 15/2 (advt.) Hughes Christensen, the world leader in drill bit technology, provides a full line of both rock bits and diamond bits.
rock bolt n. a bolt for attaching something to rock; (Mining) a tensioned rod passing through a bed of rock and anchoring it to the body of rock behind; cf. roof bolt n. at roof n. Compounds 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > fastenings > [noun] > bolt > types of
round bolt1582
ringbolt1599
pikebolt1622
rag bolt1625
set-bolt1627
clinch-bolta1642
eyebolt1649
clinch1659
screw-bolt1690
king bolt1740
wrain-bolt1750
wraining-bolt1769
toggle-bolt1794
strap-bolt1795
wring-bolt1815
through-bolt1821
truss-bolt1825
slip-stopper1831
stud bolt1838
anchor bolt1839
king rod1843
joint bolt1844
spade-bolt1850
shackle-bolt1852
roof bolt1853
set-stud1855
coach bolt1869
truss-rod1873
fox-bolt1874
garnish-bolt1874
fang-bolt1876
stud1878
U bolta1884
rock bolt1887
hook bolt1899
tower bolt1911
explosive bolt1948
1887 U.S. Patent 370,119 2/2 Which track is by rock-bolts u passed through lugs u′ of said track into the stone..rigidly fixed upon said stone.
1957 Q. Colorado School 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.
2001 Northern Ont.: Uncover Business Opportunities 17 May 17 (caption) A miner installs screens and rockbolts to the rock ceiling in a Sudbury-area mine.
rock bolting n. chiefly Mining the practice or technique of using rock bolts; (also) rock bolts collectively; cf. roof bolting n. at roof n. Compounds 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > mining > [noun] > other specific mining processes > in coal-mining
outstroke1747
holing1841
coal-cutting1842
patio1845
sumping1849
bottoming1856
salting1856
patio process1862
spragging1865
yardage1877
booming1880
brushing1883
filling1883
sounding1883
yard-work1883
blanketing1884
goafing1888
freezing process1889
power loading1901
bashing1905
rock dusting1915
mucking1918
solid stowing1929
stone-dusting1930
roof bolting1949
rock bolting1955
1955 L. 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.
1989 Constr. News 8 June 29/1 Soon after blasting, the roof was stabilised with steel fibre reinforced shotcrete and rockbolting.
2008 Herald Express (Torquay) (Nexis) 28 Sept. 23 Any future rock bolting would not employ the same technique and would not in his view fracture the slate as the previous ones had.
† rock-bone n. [after post-classical Latin os petrosum (1599 or earlier)] Anatomy Obsolete the petrous portion of the temporal bone; cf. rocky bone n. at rocky adj.1 Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > structural parts > bone or bones > skull > parts of skull > [noun] > bones of ear > periotic bone and parts
rock-bone1615
rocky bone1615
stony bone1615
petrous1836
otocrane1846
petrosal1846
periotic1865
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια x. xi. 752 The inner muscle..was first described by Eustachius, & is seated in the Rock-bone.
1768 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued II. ii. 29 In..the os petrosum or rock-bone of the ear they grow into a substance hard as steel.
1869 Friends' Rev. 20 Nov. 204/2 The hardest bone in the body; it is called by anatomists the rock-bone.
rock-boring adj. and n. (a) adj. that bores into rock; used for boring into rock; (b) n. the action or process of boring into rock.
ΚΠ
1831 Jrnl. Franklin Inst. 7 New Ser. 92 The rock boring tools are, first, a set of chisels, or punches; second, a riming bit.
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining Carbonates, black imperfectly crystallised form of diamond used for rock boring.
1934 Isis 22 256 He [sc. Trevithick] also devised..steam drills for rock boring.
2005 D. R. Khanna & P. R. Yadav Biol. Echinodermata vii. 272 The main rock-boring urchins are Psammechinus miliaris and Paracentrotus lividus.
rock-builder n. any of various marine organisms which contribute to the formation of limestones and other sedimentary rocks, typically by the accumulation or deposition of calcium carbonate (as in the skeletal remains of foraminiferans, corals, etc.) or by the trapping of sediment particles.
ΚΠ
1838 Visit Brit. Mus. 81 In the second case..we have the Caryophyllia, one of the rock-builders above mentioned.
1876 D. Page Adv. Text-bk. Geol. (ed. 6) iii. 67 The principal rock-builders among these microscopic organisms.
1961 J. Stubblefield Davies's Introd. Palaeontol. (ed. 3) xi. 244 Some of them have been shown to play a large part in the building of modern coral-reefs, and they were no less important as rock-builders in the past.
2002 Micropaleontology 48 153/1 They are important rock-builders and foraminiferal biogenic limestones are well developed in the Tertiary.
rock bun n. = rock cake n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > cake > [noun] > a cake > small cake > types of small cake
lozengec1430
rundle1587
macaroon1611
cookie1701
Savoy biscuit1719
queen cake1734
madling cake1747
dough1777
butter biscuit1789
rock cake1815
biscuit1818
madeleine1829
éclair1861
fairy cake1867
puftaloon1871
Eccles cake1872
petit four1875
rock bun1879
baby cake1880
rock1892
marigold1896
sponge finger1906
muffin top1914
palmier1920
lamington1929
whoopee pie1929
mandazi1937
French fancy1969
fondant fancy1974
1879 Sylvia's Home Jrnl. 327/1 I send you recipe for Lemon Rock Buns, which are very nice.
1893 E. Hérissé Art of Pastry Making 140 Finish as in making the preceding Rock Buns.
1995 Daily Tel. 7 Sept. 17/4 He has had a rock bun, quite untouched by mould, in his biscuit tin for eight years.
rock butter n. Mineralogy (now rare) an alum-containing mineral occurring as soft crystalline deposits on rock; esp. = alunogen n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > sulphates > [noun] > alum > other alums
spire-alumc1375
stone-butter1796
rock butter1804
manganese alum1842
tschermigite1868
tamarugite1890
1804 R. Jameson Syst. Mineral. I. 11 Rock butter. [Ger.] Bergbutter.
1852 J. Richardson Arctic Searching Exped. viii. 164 Near Point Fitton the cliff is two hundred feet high, and contains layers of rock-butter two inches thick.
1906 New Internat. Encycl. XVII. 205/2 Rock butter, a name given to a variety of the mineral halotrichite.
rock cake n. chiefly British a small cake containing dried fruit with a hard, rough surface.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > cake > [noun] > a cake > small cake > types of small cake
lozengec1430
rundle1587
macaroon1611
cookie1701
Savoy biscuit1719
queen cake1734
madling cake1747
dough1777
butter biscuit1789
rock cake1815
biscuit1818
madeleine1829
éclair1861
fairy cake1867
puftaloon1871
Eccles cake1872
petit four1875
rock bun1879
baby cake1880
rock1892
marigold1896
sponge finger1906
muffin top1914
palmier1920
lamington1929
whoopee pie1929
mandazi1937
French fancy1969
fondant fancy1974
1815 Daily National Intelligencer (Washington) 6 July (advt.) Rock Cakes.
1886 Confectioner's Receipt Bk. 26 Rock Cakes..when baked..will have a rough, irregular surface.
1930 A. Ransome Swallows & Amazons xxvii. 296 There were parkins and bath buns and rock cakes and ginger-nuts and chocolate biscuits.
1995 B. Bryson Notes from Small Island (1996) vi. 98 So many of their [sc. the British's] treats—teacakes, scones, crumpets, rock cakes, rich tea biscuits, fruit Shrewsburys—are so cautiously flavourful.
rock coal n. chiefly U.S. in later use (now rare) a hard form of coal; anthracite.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > coal or types of coal > [noun]
coal1253
sea-coal1253
pit-coal1483
cannel1541
earth coala1552
horse coal1552
Newcastle coal1552
stone-coal1585
cannel coal1587
parrot1594
burn-coal1597
lithanthrax1612
stony coal1617
Welsh coala1618
land-coala1661
foot coal1665
peacock coal1686
rough coal1686
white coal1686
heathen-coalc1697
coal-stone1708
round1708
stone-coal1708
bench-coal1712
slipper coal1712
black coal1713
culm1742
rock coal1750
board coal1761
Bovey coal1761
house coal1784
mineral coal1785
splint1789
splint coal1789
jet coal1794
anthracite1797
wood-coal1799
blind-coal1802
black diamond1803
silk-coal1803
glance-coal1805
lignite1808
Welsh stone-coal1808
soft1811
spout coals1821
spouter1821
Wallsend1821
brown coal1833
paper coal1833
steam-coal1850
peat-coal1851
cherry-coal1853
household1854
sinter coal1854
oil coal1856
raker1857
Kilkenny coal1861
Pottery coal1867
silkstone1867
block coal1871
admiralty1877
rattlejack1877
bunker1883
fusain1883
smitham1883
bunker coal1885
triping1886
trolley coal1890
kibble1891
sea-borne1892
jet1893
steam1897
sack coal1898
Welsh1898
navigation coal1900
Coalite1906
clarain1919
durain1919
vitrain1919
single1921
kolm1930
hards1956
the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > hydrocarbon minerals > [noun] > coal > anthracite
culm1742
rock coal1750
anthracite1797
blind-coal1802
glance-coal1805
Kilkenny coal1861
1750 J. Dunn tr. C. F. Lambert Coll. Curious Observ. I. xvii. 177 The azure is found in the mines of rock-coal.
1834 E. Mackenzie & M. Ross Hist., Topogr., & Descr. View Durham p. lxviii Rock Coal commonly burns to a cinder, and produces a few ashes, but does not melt and run together in the fire like the caking coal.
1858 Southern Literary Messenger 26 189/2 Ef thar had bin..a fier-plais instid uv a great to burn rock cole, the thing would uv bin kumpleat.
1913 O. A. Rothert Hist. Muhlenberg County 389 The early blacksmiths called this fuel ‘rock coal’, thus distinguishing it from charcoal.
1965 J. M. Brewer Worser Days 59 Durin' of Hoover Day, when times was harder dan a bed of rock coal, I was workin' two or three days ever week down to de Badin mills.
rock cocaine n. crack cocaine; = sense 5g.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > an intoxicating drug > [noun] > a) narcotic drug(s) > morphine, cocaine, or heroin > cocaine
cocaine1874
coke1908
happy dust1912
candy1925
nose candy1925
gold dust1931
Charley1935
girl1953
blow1971
rock1973
product1983
rock cocaine1984
crack1985
1984 Los Angeles Times 20 Oct. 30/4 Rock cocaine, which is smoked in a pipe, is generally sold on the street in small cellophane packets that cost $25 to $40 each.
1993 B. Cross It's not about Salary 26 Toddy Tee's battle tape went on to recount a number of other stories relating to the proliferation of rock cocaine in Compton.
2006 Mojo Dec. 66/1 The most level-headed of all the Motown stars spent the better part of the '80s collaborating with an unthinkable partner: rock cocaine.
rock cocoa n. chiefly North American a form of cocoa mixed with sugar and sold in solid blocks.
ΚΠ
1834 Satirist 23 Mar. 89/3 (advt.) Rock Cocoa..9d.
1904 Amer. Jrnl. Pharmacy 76 64 When the cocoa is to be almost entirely free from oil, the paste is subjected to pressure, and the hard mass resulting therefrom is known as rock cocoa.
2004 Gazette (Montreal) (Nexis) 12 June h6 His line includes approximately 100 spices, everything from whole mace to Mexican oregano, vanilla beans to rock cocoa.
rock coral n. now rare a stony coral (order Scleractinia); (as a mass noun) rock derived from such corals.
ΚΠ
1706 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 25 2217 It very much resembles a piece of white unpolished Rock Coral.
1836 Knickerbocker Aug. 150 I have also met with pieces of rock coral in the centre of the peninsula.
1889 M. C. Cooke Toilers in Sea vi. 198 ‘Precious coral’ is more nearly related, in its structure, to the Gorgonias than to the rock corals.
1920 F. Villiers Villiers: His Five Decades of Adventure II. ii. 33 It [sc. a causeway] was built of rock coral and stood on a reef of that porous material.
rock cotton n. now rare any of various fine, matted, fibrous materials made from mineral matter; = rockwool n.In quot. 1840: asbestos.
ΚΠ
1840 A. Gesner 2nd Rep. Geol. Surv. New-Brunswick 22 Asbestos, (commonly called by the inhabitants rock cotton) and chlorite, occur here in the quartzose veins.
1875 J. W. Dawson Life's Dawn on Earth ii. 21 A vein of fibrous serpentine, yielding ‘rock cotton’, for packing steam pistons.
1908 O. Erf in L. H. Bailey Cycl. Amer. Agric. III. ii. viii. 237/1 The materials that comply with these conditions are rock cotton or mineral wool.
rock craft n. knowledge of and skill in climbing, or moving among, rocks.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > mountaineering or climbing > [noun] > skill
rockwork1864
rock craft1892
snow-craft1892
rope-work1901
1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 19 July 3/1 The difference between snowcraft and rockcraft.
1955 M. Banks Commando Climber viii. 157 I have had the pleasure..of witnessing many beautifully executed displays of rock-craft on climbs of great severity.
1999 Salt Lake Tribune (Nexis) 13 Apr. c1 Besides basic rock craft, there are a few skills boulderers need to avoid injury.
rock creep n. Geology the gradual downhill movement of rock masses, boulders, etc., under the influence of gravity; cf. creep n. 6a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > formation of features > movement of material > [noun] > movement under gravity or water
land-rushc1550
slide1664
landslip1679
pitting1686
rockfall?1797
shoot1820
landslide1822
run1827
mountain slide1830
slip1838
slough1838
mudslide1848
founder1882
creep1889
soil-creep1897
rock creep1902
slump1905
solifluction1906
slumping1907
slopewash1938
sludging1946
mass wasting1951
1902 Nature 25 Dec. 176/2 Many other curious questions arise out of an examination of such an area; for instance..the landslips and rock creep, or rivers of mud and stone, similar to those described by Heim in Switzerland.
1960 B. W. Sparks Geomorphol. iv. 47 Rock creep is a movement of jointed blocks, partly as the result of soil creep and partly as a result of sliding.
1993 Progr. Physical Geogr. 17 173 This review..emphasizes geotechnical studies of mass movement phenomena in the Canadian Cordillera, including debris flows,..rock creep, and slow earthflows.
rock-crusher n. (a) a machine used to break down rocks; (b) figurative (Bridge) a very strong hand.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > bridge > [noun] > types of hand
rock-crusher1859
chicane1900
yarborough1900
suiter1909
two-suiter1923
spread1929
swing hand1960
1859 La Crosse (Wisconsin) Daily Republican 30 Nov. 2/2 P. W. Gates & Co of Chicago, have just shipped a steam engine of their manufacture, and also a patent Rock Crusher, to the Island of Cuba.
1933 ‘E. Queen’ Trag. of Z ii. 20 He had hurled his diploma into a rock-crusher and was labouring at his father's Leeds quarries.
1952 I. 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.
2001 Isis 92 134/2 The toughness of the valley basalts prompted Eli Whitney Blake to invent the modern rock crusher in 1858.
2003 B. Manley Everything Bridge Bk. xv. 179 As you learn more and more bridge language, you will understand that this hand is a ‘rock crusher’.
rock cutting n. (a) the action of excavating a passage for a canal, railway, etc., in rock; (b) the passage thus excavated (cf. rock cut n.).
ΚΠ
1824 Supporter, & Scioto (Ohio) Gaz. 31 Jan. 1/3 In rock cutting, I have excavated perpendicular, and given the earth above the rock 4 feet increase of width.
1830 Reg. Pennsylvania 2 Jan. 9/2 At 36 chains the line crosses a gully with a considerable embankment and rock cuttings on both sides.
1873 ‘M. Twain’ & C. D. Warner Gilded Age 420 Long rock cuttings, devoted to the advertisements of patent medicines.
1910 12th Rep. Michigan Acad. Sci. 47 The rock cutting for the new channel that is being made to facilitate navigation.
2008 Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph (Nexis) 20 Oct. 11 Network Rail has said it will start cutting the trees growing in a mile-long rock cutting it considers dangerous.
rock cycle n. Geology an idealized cycle of processes undergone by rocks in the earth's crust, involving igneous intrusion, uplift, erosion, transportation, deposition as sedimentary rock, metamorphism, remelting, and further igneous intrusion.
ΚΠ
1898 J. S. Diller Educ. Series Rock Specimens U.S. Geol. Surv. 88 When exposed for a considerable time to the weather, shale..is ultimately reduced to a tenacious clay,..ready to be carried away by the rains, rills, and rivers into the sea, and again deposited to initiate a new rock cycle.
1936 C. Croneis & W. C. Krumbein Down to Earth xxiv. 207 All rock processes are aspects of a great rock cycle—a scheme of evolution of the rocks which helps to clarify our ideas of unity in the inorganic world.
1998 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) B. 353 41/1 The rock cycle which over long timespans is thought to control atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations.
rock drawing n. (a) pictorial representation of a rock; (b) a picture drawn on a rock.
ΚΠ
1853 J. Ruskin Stones of Venice III. Indices iv. 342 The painting of the stones in the foreground I have always thought..the best piece of rock drawing before Turner.
1870 C. F. Hartt Sci. Results of Journey in Brazil 620 Williams, Mr. C. H., on Indian rock drawings.
1938 H. A. Winkler Rock-Drawings of S. Upper Egypt I. 26 The discovery of rock-drawings showing boats of a type foreign to Egypt.
1996 J. Davidson in D. C. Starzecka Maori Art & Culture i. 24 The only substantial corpus of early artistic expression is a large number..of rock drawings in limestone shelters in the central South Island.
rock drill n. a drill for boring into rock.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > piercing or boring tools > [noun] > boring tool > for boring in the ground
auger1532
borer1572
boring-rod?1677
wimble1693
well borer1780
rock drill1836
miser1842
bore-rod1849
header1863
well drill1866
rig1875
well rig1875
trepan1877
broaching-bit1881
heading machine1897
1836 U.S. Patent 9,555X 1 (title) A. Turney, Expanding rock drill.
1877 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 37 Had it not been for the Burleigh rock-drill the work would have been abandoned long since.
1943 Triumphs of Engin. 202 (caption) In this ingenious development of the rock drill, compressed-air supplies the initial motive power.
1993 Professional Engin. Nov. 63/1 (caption) This rockdrill has been developed to be used in mining and runs on raw water.
rock drilling n. the action or process of drilling into rock; frequently attributive.
ΚΠ
1846 Cultivator 3 321/1 There were also a planing machine, a boot crimping machine, a rock-drilling machine, a card printing press, &c.
1877 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 366 The great improvements in mining machinery, in rock-drilling, in explosives.
1921 Engin. & Mining Jrnl. 27 Aug. 340/1 Modern rock-drilling appliances of the hammer type fall into three well-marked groups, namely, the drifter..; the plugger..; and the stoper.
1991 Highways & Transportation Sept. 11 It was decided to switch to rock drilling. Inevitably some problems occurred when steel was encountered.
Rock English n. the variety of English spoken in Gibraltar, influenced in particular by Andalusian Spanish; also used to denote Yanito (or Llanito), a variety of Spanish used in Gibraltar which includes many elements borrowed from English, and which involves frequent code-switching into English.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > languages of the world > Indo-Hittite > [noun] > Indo-European > Germanic > English > other varieties of English
French English1553
Black English1734
Rock English1843
South African English1855
Canadian English1857
Canadian1910
Bermudian English1933
Ozarkian1949
World English1957
Japlish1960
White English1969
Konglish1970
Singlish1984
World English-
1843 G. Borrow Bible in Spain III. xiv. 272 They were..conversing in the rock Spanish, or rock English, as the fit took them.
1856 C. W. March Sketches & Adventures Madeira, Portugal, & Andalusias xxv. 285 Such a mixture, such a confusion of languages, necessarily produces a certain kind of gibberish, called ‘Rock Spanish’, or ‘Rock English’, or ‘Rock Moorish’, as either tongue most predominates.
1999 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 13 Dec. 22 Depending on who they are speaking to Gibraltarians will be using English or Spanish, interspersed with words from their own language known as Llanito or Rock English.
rockfall n. (a) a cascade in a river over rocks; (b) the descent of loose rocks; a mass of fallen rock.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > boulder, pebble, or stone formation > [noun] > rock glacier or stone river
rockfall?1797
stone river1877
rock glacier1888
rock stream1905
stone run1906
rock river1920
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > formation of features > movement of material > [noun] > movement under gravity or water
land-rushc1550
slide1664
landslip1679
pitting1686
rockfall?1797
shoot1820
landslide1822
run1827
mountain slide1830
slip1838
slough1838
mudslide1848
founder1882
creep1889
soil-creep1897
rock creep1902
slump1905
solifluction1906
slumping1907
slopewash1938
sludging1946
mass wasting1951
?1797 B. Hawkins in Georgia Hist. Soc. Coll. (1916) IX. 171 The first rockfalls in the river..are 5 miles below the second falls.
1821 Gentleman's Mag. Nov. 456/1 Mr. Hood, who is one of the draftsmen of the expedition, took a sketch of the Rock-fall.
1930 Times Educ. Suppl. 24 May p. i/2 Crossing the débris of a huge rockfall which apparently came down recently.
1967 M. J. Coe Ecol. Alpine Zone Mt. Kenya 87 The Tarn..is enclosed at its lower edge by the rock fall.
1971 World Archaeol. 3 150 The rockfall layers at Puntutjarpa were of considerable archaeological interest.
1990 Kalgoorlie Miner 1 Feb. 1/2 It was the second rockfall at the mine in seven months. In the last, a 28 year old airleg miner was killed.
rock fault n. a fault in a rock formation; (Mining) a body of sandstone or other rock interrupting a coal seam.
ΚΠ
1816 Trans. Geol. Soc. 3 254 The bed of trap is merely a great wedge from the green-rock fault which has intruded itself between the proper coal strata.]
1853 Jrnl. Geol. Soc. Dublin 5 117 Mr. Jukes..gave a short description of ‘rock faults’, which are curious masses or cakes of sandstone that take the place more or less entirely of the thick coal in certain localities.
1913 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 52 116 A ‘rock fault’ in the Millwood Colliery on the Pittsburgh coal bed was traced for more than 1,200 feet.
1989 Jrnl. Biogeogr. 16 493/2 Subsurface water was periodically escaping from the lake basin through rock faults.
rock fence n. chiefly U.S. a low stone wall, typically built without mortar.
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the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > that which or one who closes or shuts > a barrier > [noun] > wall > stone wall
stonewallc825
boulder-walls1728
flint-wall1728
rock wall1755
rock fence1838
stone fence1844
1838 Gardener's Mag. Aug. 353 Some exquisitely beautiful water-colour drawings (by Mr. Pickering of Chester) of the flower-garden and rock fence at Hoole.
1852 Southern Planter Feb. 59/1 No kind of stock will attempt even to jump over a rock fence four feet high above the ground, except sheep.
1949 H. 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.
2001 L. E. Sutton & L. W. Salisbury Romantic Kentucky 24 Rock fences, horse farms, and green rolling hills characterize this trip through the heart of the bluegrass.
rock fever n. now rare a febrile illness of humans caused by the bacterium Brucella melitensis, and once common in Gibraltar (cf. sense 4a).Also called Malta, Mediterranean, and undulant fever.
ΚΠ
1815 New Med. & Physical Jrnl.: Ann. Med. 10 399 Eight officers of the 10th Regiment at Gibraltar, in 1804,..were attacked with the rock fever, but all recovered.
1914 Times 27 Apr. 7/5 The prohibition of unboiled milk of cows and goats has reduced the Mediterranean (Rock) fever to almost nil.
1996 H. Marks Mr Nice (1998) ii. 23 One is rather unimaginatively called undulant fever, although it is sometimes referred to as rock fever or even Gibraltar fever.
rock-fill n. Engineering large rock fragments used to form the bulk of the material of a dam; frequently attributive, esp. in rock-fill dam.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > stone or rock > [noun] > gravel, small, or broken stones > forming material of dam
rock-fill1888
1888 Engin. News 28 July 70/3 The place of all places for the proper use of such a rock fill dam is where leakage is of no importance.
1911 Sci. Amer. 17 June 592 (caption) Characteristic rockfill across a creek.
1976 National 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.
1997 Earth Matters Autumn 19/2 The dam will be a 205-metre concrete face rockfill dam, making it one of the highest rockfill dams in the world.
rock-fire n. now historical a hard incendiary substance that burns slowly and is difficult to extinguish, consisting chiefly of a mixture of resin, sulphur, and potassium nitrate.
ΚΠ
1838 J. A. Dahlgren tr. H. J. Paixhans Acct. Exper. French Navy Trial Bomb Cannon 47 I cared so little..for any thing more than a proper knowledge of the principal facts, that I did not even put rock-fire in all the bombs.
1862 J. G. Benton Course Instr. Ordnance & Gunnery (ed. 2) vii. 375 The incendiary properties of pitched fascines may be increased by dipping the ends in melted rock-fire.
1961 Florida Hist. Q. 39 334 Convinced..of the difficulty of destroying or burning the forts or the buildings in the navy yard, at the extreme range, with explosive projectiles, the Federals this time used rock-fire and carcasses.
rock flint n. now rare flint in massive form; chert.
ΚΠ
1769 W. Sharp Treat. Coal-mines iv. 64 A very hard stone, called rock flint stone.
1811 J. Pinkerton Petralogy I. ii. ii. 154 Bluish grey rock-flint, sometimes mamellated, and approaching to chalcedony, from the lead-mines of Bretagne.
1996 Ceramic Industry (Nexis) Jan. 39 Sand flint, rock flint and tripoli flint (generally called potters flint) are various types of ground sandstone and quartzite.
rock floor n. (a) a stony lower surface of a room or other structure; (b) a layer of underlying solid rock, bedrock.
ΚΠ
1818 Gentleman's Mag. June 499/2 The room appears to be about eight feet high, with a very level rock floor.
1849 Trans. Bombay Geogr. Soc. 1847–9 8 351 In one of the crypts two troughs for corpses were excavated in the rock floor.
1905 Jrnl. Geol. (Chicago) 13 393 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.
1946 F. 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.
2008 Associated Press Financial Wire (Nexis) 12 Nov. The scientists will collect weather data and use a series of microphones to map the rock floor.
rock flour n. Geology finely powdered rock, esp. that formed as a result of glacial erosion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > [noun] > powdered rock
rock flour1878
1878 Trans. Wisconsin Acad. Sci., Arts & Lett. 4 206 There is every gradation of material, from boulders several feet in diameter, down to the finest rock flour.
1937 Geogr. Jrnl. 89 43 Great angular blocks of rock are embedded in a jumble of fragments from the size of dust upwards,..a loose breccia of large pieces associated with smaller ones grading down to the finest rock-flour.
2001 H. Holmes Secret Life Dust iv. 50 The streams of melted ice that trickle out of glaciers are often a gorgeous shade of gray-green, due to the rock flour they carry.
rock-forming adj. chiefly Geology that forms rock; esp. (of a mineral) that occurs as a major constituent of igneous rock.
ΚΠ
1854 A. Brown Philos. Physics xiv. 475 No theoretical system of physics that has been yet entertained which can by any possibility be made..to account for this passage of rock-forming matter.
1870 Nature 28 July 268/2 Ehrenberg read a communication on the increasing knowledge of invisible life in the rock-forming Bacillariae.
1916 R. H. Rastall Agric. Geol. i. 4 Many of the most important rock-forming minerals are not pure chemical compounds.
1990 C. Pellant Rocks, Minerals & Fossils 52 The main rock-forming silicates are felspars, quartz, micas, pyroxenes, amphiboles and olivines.
rock-free adj. that is without rocks.
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?1614 G. Chapman tr. Homer Odysses vii.106 A flood, Whose shores..on good aduantage stood, For my receit: rock-free, and fenc't from wind.
1918 Jrnl. Econ. Entomol. Apr. 193 Certain animals..are found both in rocky places and in rock free areas.
2004 C. Frain New Mexico Campgrounds 23 Sites generally have level, relatively rock-free areas for tents.
rock froth n. molten or solidified lava that has expanded or that is low in density due to the presence of internal bubbles of steam or gas.
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1878 J. Le Conte Elements Geol. iii. 84 The whole liquid mass may swell into a rock-froth, which rises to the lip of the crater.
1919 Amer. Highway Engineers' Handbk. iii. 93 These are called pumice when the bubbles are very small, forming a light rock-froth.
2005 Sci. Weekly (Nexis) 11 Apr. c1 Rock froth is shattered and hurled high into the air as volcanic cinders ash and dust.
rock garden n. a garden consisting of rocks and rock plants; a rockery.
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the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > garden > [noun] > rock garden
rockwork1632
rockery1794
alpine garden1801
rock garden1821
stonery1833
moraine1907
1811 Morning Chron. 22 Feb. (advt.) Two substantial well-built freehold dwelling houses, in Rock Gardens, Brighton.]
1821 J. Edwards Tour of Dove lii. 29 Thou endur'st the brunt, Guarding, like knighthood of unshaken test, Dovedale's rock-gardens and her caves of rest.
1962 R. Page Educ. Gardener viii. 231 By the end of the nineteenth century rock-gardens had become a lasting feature of British gardens.
2005 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 25 Nov. 4/1 Former Brisbane lord mayors have voiced concern about the city council's decision to turn the main fountain into a rock garden.
rock gardener n. a person who cultivates or tends to a rock garden.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > gardener > [noun] > types of gardener
arborist1578
nursery gardener1629
nurseryman1629
raiser1707
kitchen gardener1709
market gardener1727
curator1761
landscape-gardenera1763
plannerc1770
mail-gardener1798
landscape architect1863
trucker1868
plantsman1881
weekend gardener1884
groundsman1886
rock gardener1886
tea-gardener1903
landscapist1936
wild gardener1966
1886 County Gentleman 23 Jan. 120/3 The rock gardener may have his bold masses of brilliant flowers just as easily..than the bedder out of tender exotics.
1942 E. Waugh Put out More Flags iii. 172 The word ‘Colonel’ for Basil had connoted an elderly rock-gardener.
2003 Horticulture May–June 98/1 Rock gardeners and their books insist on elaborate soils, complicated rock work, an endless palette of ungrowable treasures.
rock gardening n. the cultivation of rock gardens.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > [noun] > types of gardening
curtilagec1430
kitchen gardening?1700
landscape-gardeninga1763
picturesque gardeninga1763
window gardening1801
landscape architecture1840
rock gardening1840
market gardening1852
water gardening1870
wild gardening1870
olericulture1886
market work1887
trucking1897
tub-gardening1904
landscaping1930
greenswardsmanship1936
godwottery1937
sand gardening1960
xeriscaping1987
1840 T. Brettell Topographical & Hist. Guide Isle of Wight vii. 177 On our right, Puckaster cottage, the residence of Mrs. Vine, celebrated for its unique specimen of rock gardening.
1906 Times 8 Sept. 10/2 Rock gardening remains a game for the true gardener.
2003 Horticulture May–June 98/1 Maybe the greatest obstacle to rock gardening is the way rock gardening presents itself.
rock gas n. U.S. natural gas obtained by drilling through rock.
ΚΠ
1886 J. P. Lesley in Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv. Pennsylvania 1885 657 (heading) Some general considerations of the pressure, quantity, composition, and fuel-value of rock-gas or the natural gas of the oil regions of Pennsylvania.
1907 N. S. Shaler Man & Earth ii. 38 When the rock gas is developed from animal remains near a bed of porous rock..the gas then finds lodgment in the interspaces.
1993 D. Butler & I. K. Atkins David Butler 90 They had rock gas in those days for heat.
rock glacier n. Physical Geography a large mass of rock debris, in some cases mingled with ice, which moves gradually downhill in the manner of a glacier.Quot. 1888, referring to the Devon coast of England, is an isolated figurative use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > boulder, pebble, or stone formation > [noun] > rock glacier or stone river
rockfall?1797
stone river1877
rock glacier1888
rock stream1905
stone run1906
rock river1920
1888 Gentleman's Mag. Sept. 262 Over black inky rocks, and up as it were great mountains of rock glaciers, until we stood at length where our friend would have us stand.
1901 Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. 12 466 Eight 8 x 10 photographs, by C. Whitman Cross... Rock glacier of Silver basin.
1954 W. D. Thornbury Princ. Geomorphol. iv. 85 Kesseli concluded that the rock glaciers of the Sierra Nevada were essentially fossil glaciers.
1968 R. 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.
2004 New Scientist 27 Nov. 34/3 Rock glaciers are typically half rock and half ice.
rock gong n. Archaeology a rock that produces a ringing sound when struck.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > percussion instrument > [noun] > slabs of stone
rock harmonicon1841
stone harmonicon1875
rock gong1955
1955 B. 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.
1961 K. P. Wachsmann in A. C. Baines Musical 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.
1996 Jrnl. Amer. Folklore 109 178 In masquerading ceremonies the voice of the Dodo is achieved by striking drums or rock gongs, hollow rocks that produce metallic tones when struck.
rock hammer n. a hammer used for rock-breaking.
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1853 Weekly Raleigh (N. Carolina) Reg. 10 Aug. Just Received a lot of Blasting Powder, Picks, Rock Hammers, Blasting Fuse, [etc.].
1874 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 408 In preparing ore for the stamps,..I used merely rock-hammers.
2005 M. Bjornerud Reading Rocks ii. 52 These sediments..had to be buried by other layers and then evade erosion just long enough for humans wielding rock hammers to find them.
rock happy adj. Military slang (originally U.S.) mentally disturbed as a result of serving for an extended period on a (Pacific) island; also in extended use.
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the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [adjective] > shell-shock, etc.
shell-shocked1915
flak-happy1938
bomb-happy1943
rock happy1943
sand-happy1943
bushed1952
1943 Long Beach (Calif.) Independent 23 Dec. 10/3 Just the other day approximately 20 men sat in the barracks at this post and cried, ‘You rock happy jerk!’ at a simple soldier who leaned over his bunk and kissed his girl's picture.
1946 Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch 9 May 12/1 GI's..were growing rock happy from too long internment on a coral island.
1975 Los Angeles Times 20 July f3 What's wrong with it [sc. an island off Nova Scotia]? It's no place for singles—you'd go rock happy in a week.
1981 E. B. Sledge With Old Breed 31 Most of the griping about being ‘rock happy’ and bored in the Pacific came from men stationed at the big rear-echelon bases like Hawaii or New Caledonia.
2008 Press (Christchurch, N.Z.) (Nexis) 10 Jan. 7 It is a desolate place that was known to send lighthouse-keepers on station there ‘rock happy’.
rock harmonicon n. now historical a musical instrument consisting of stones which are struck to produce notes.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > percussion instrument > [noun] > slabs of stone
rock harmonicon1841
stone harmonicon1875
rock gong1955
1841 Era 10 Jan. 3/3 A Rock Harmonicon, formed of stones found in the neighbourhood of Skiddaw, and played upon by the discoverer's three sons, is now performing at Liverpool.
1876 J. Stainer & W. A. Barrett Dict. Musical Terms 379/2 Rock harmonicon, an instrument, the sounds of which are produced by striking graduated lengths of rock-crystal with a hammer.
1989 Galpin Soc. Jrnl. 42 121 Their rock harmonicon was constructed from stones from near their home.
rock heart n. (a) (the heart of) a cold or unfeeling person; (b) the central part of a rocky feature.
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a1640 W. Fenner Pract. Divinitie (1650) 197 Can any rock-heart hold out and not be broken with the blowes of it?
1877 Macmillan's Mag. Feb. 325 The seedling grew, And from the barren rock-heart drew Her dimpled leaf and tender bud.
1908 Missionary Rev. of World Jan. 28/1 She prayed, and repeated her visits till his rock-heart was melted.
2008 National Parks (Nexis) 22 Mar. 30 A strange and beautiful 70-foot-high tower that seems to rise directly out of the rock heart of the canyon.
rock-hog n. chiefly Canadian (now historical) a labourer engaged in tunnelling through rock.
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society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > earth-movers, etc. > [noun] > one who makes tunnels
tunnel-workman1843
tunneller1860
tunnel-borer1877
tunnel-man1897
tunnel-worker1903
rock-hog1909
1909 Chambers's Jrnl. Dec. 828/2 The rock-hogs had not proceeded far before they pierced a large pocket.
1911 F. A. Talbot New Garden of Canada vi. 74 We saw rock-hogs blasting a ledge along the face of the rock for the railway.
1954 V. Lysenko Yellow Boots 190 They spoke of dynamite and flying rock responsible for the death of many a ‘rock-hog’.
rock hole n. (a) a cave or tunnel; (b) Australian a natural depression in a rock that catches water; = gnamma hole n.
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society > travel > means of travel > route or way > other means of passage or access > [noun] > underground passage or tunnel
crypt1583
burrow1615
gallery1630
syrinx1678
rock hole1738
cellarwaya1762
tunnel1765
heading1811
subpassage1822
subway1822
subway1831
underpass1904
the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > hollow or depression > [noun] > containing water
pan1494
peat pota1500
waterhole1688
basin1712
tinaja1835
swag1848
water pocket1863
rock hole1869
1738 G. C. Deering Catalogus Stirpium 4 It grows in great Plenty about the Rock-Holes in Nottingham Park.
1869 A. R. Wallace Malay Archipel. I. xvi. 375 Every drop of water disappearing from the pools and rock-holes.
1895 M. Pemberton Impregnable City ii. xiv. 285 Darkness of the rock-hole.
1936 I. 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.
1996 D. Pilkington Follow Rabbit-proof Fence iv. 21 The men were planning to go hunting around the rockhole a few kilometres south of their resting place.
rock honey n. honey from a wild bees' nest attached to a rock.
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the world > food and drink > food > additive > sweetener > honey > [noun] > wild honey
wood-honeyc950
wild honeya1200
honey of the woodc1380
rock honey1632
1632 G. Wither Psalmes of David lxxxi. 151 I, them had fedd with purest flowre And, with rock-hony, them had fild.
1721 R. Blackmore New Version Psalms lxxxi. 181 The finest Wheat From Him they had enjoy'd, And pleasant Meat Rock-honey them had cloy'd.
1815 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. (1818) I. x. 332 What is called rock honey in some parts of America,..is the produce of wild bees, which suspend their clusters..to a rock.
2002 A. Jones & I. Jenkins in A.-M. Hjalager & G. Richards Tourism & Gastronomy vii. 126 The types of products found within this range are such items as confectionery, biscuits, love spoons, rock honey and bottled water.
rock hopping n. (a) a method of transporting seal blubber across rocks to a boat (rare); (b) the action of negotiating a stream or riverbed by stepping from boulder to boulder.
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1887 G. B. Goode Fisheries U.S.: Hist. & Methods 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’.
1952 J. A. Thomson Deer Hunter Pl. XII, (caption) Rock-hopping to keep dry feet dry.
1999 Backpacker Oct. 27 If rock hopping or log crossing triggers panic, maybe you need to fine-tune your balancing act.
rockhound n. colloquial (originally U.S.) (a) a geologist; (b) an amateur mineralogist.
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the world > the earth > earth sciences > geology > geologist > [noun]
hammerer1611
geologist1778
geognosist1797
geologer1797
geologue1799
geognost1802
geologian1813
geologician1818
fault-reader1891
rockhound1922
the world > the earth > earth sciences > geology > mineralogy > [noun] > mineralogist
mineralist1631
mineralogist1646
oryctologist1799
rockhound1922
1922 Daily Ardmoreite (Ardmore, Okla.) 10 Jan. 6/2 (heading) Interesting tale of work in Africa told by Texas rock hound.
1940 Fortune Mar. 83 Drillers consider themselves a superior breed, look with scorn upon ‘rockhounds’ (geologists), ‘chemicos,’ pipemen, roughnecks, etc.
1949 Nat. Hist. 58 220/1 There are numerous semiprecious stones to interest the ‘rock hound’.
1962 E. Lucia Klondike Kate viii. 175 Kate was central Oregon's first serious rock hound, of which there are thousands today.
1979 N.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.
1991 Vermont May–June 32/2 After prospecting old mining sites..and talking to other rockhounds, he decided, ‘There's gold scattered all around the state.’
rockhounding n. the hobby or activity of an amateur mineralogist.
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the world > the earth > earth sciences > geology > mineralogy > [noun]
mineralsa1500
mineralogy1671
oryctography1753
fossilogy1776
oryctognosy1801
oryctology1804
oryctics1888
rockhounding1949
1949 Desert Mag. June 31/1 In all my rockhounding I have never seen sand fly so fast.
1973 Daily 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.
1976 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 3 July 35 (heading) Go rock-hounding or trail riding, for everything goes in Ontario.
1992 New Brunswick Trav. Guide 44/2 Whale-watching, photography, painting and rockhounding are popular island pastimes.
† rock isinglass n. Obsolete a translucent stone, esp. mica; cf. isinglass n. 2.
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1695 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 19 151 Built of Gypsine Stone, or Rock-Ising-glass, resembling Alabaster, but not so hard.
1767 tr. Tariff, or Bk. Rates 41 (table) Rock Isinglass commonly called Muskovy-glass used for lanthorns & windows.
rock marl n. Geology (now chiefly historical) marl that has become hardened by lime or other minerals deposited by percolating water.
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the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > kind of earth or soil > [noun] > marl > other marls
pigeon marl1601
paper-marl1707
toad-marl1764
rock marl1772
earth-marl1803
wichert1912
1772 J. Rutty Ess. Nat. Hist. Dublin II. 83 A kind of Rock-Marl, or a Petrification resembling an artificial Plaister.
1876 D. Page Adv. Text-bk. Geol. (ed. 6) xx. 411 Where solidified by the subsequent percolation of calcareous waters, it is known as rock-marl.
2000 T. C. Smout Nature Contested iii. 73 A third [farmer] recommended 450–600 cart-loads of clay or rock marl per acre.
† rock marrow n. Geology Obsolete = lithomarge n.
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1804 R. Jameson Syst. Mineral. I. 391 (heading) Friable lithomarge, or rockmarrow.
?1837 Hist. Berwickshire Naturalists' Club 1 No. 5. 158 It..answers to the description of Lithomarge or rock-marrow.
1892 J. G. Bourke in 9th Ann. Rep. Bureau Amer. Ethnol. 1887–8 539 We are informed that the Tunguses of Siberia eat a clay called ‘rock marrow’, which they mix with marrow.
rock meal n. Geology a powdery mineral deposit, esp. rock flour; (also) = moonmilk n.
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1822 tr. C. Malte-Brun Universal Geogr. II. xxxvii. 407 Near the Ural mountains, powdered gypsum, commonly called ‘rock meal’, is sometimes mixed with bread, but its effects are pernicious.
1868 J. D. Dana Syst. Mineral. (ed. 5) 680 Rock-meal (Berg-mehl Germ., Farina fossilis Bruckm., etc.) is white and light, like cotton.
1874 J. Muir in Overland Monthly July 69/1 The upper tributaries of its Hoffmann companion [sc. a glacier] continued to grind rock-meal for coming forests.
1966 Nature 21 May 832/2 In some cases the presence of ‘salts’ was obvious, either visible in form of efflorescences or verifiable by the taste of the rock meal.
1997 Current Anthropol. 38 455/1 The substrate consists of rock meal with abundant gravels.
rock mechanics n. the branch of science and engineering concerned with the mechanical properties and behaviour of rock.
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the world > the earth > earth sciences > geology > geophysics > [noun] > rock mechanics
rock mechanics1919
1919 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. 198 244 A splendid attempt to define and formulate in precise terms some of the relations in the science of ‘rock mechanics’.
1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. (rev. ed.) XI. 599/2 An understanding of rock mechanics is essential to elucidate the processes which mold the face of the earth.
2009 New Scientist 10 Jan. 52/1 (advt.) You should have a BSc Honours (minimum) in rock mechanics, soil mechanics, petroleum engineering or ground engineering.
rock milk n. Geology = moonmilk n.
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the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > carbonates > [noun] > hexagonal > calcite > varieties
alabasterc1384
agarica1400
alabastrites1582
alabastrite1592
Iceland crystal1673
agaric mineral1728
milk of the moon1728
Iceland spar1771
argentine1795
rock milk1804
slate-spar1804
schieferspar1807
calc-spar1822
wonderstone1824
manganocalcite1852
neotype1854
hislopite1859
aphrite1868
thinolite1879
moonmilk1885
vaterite1913
micrite1959
1804 R. Jameson Syst. Mineral. I. 471 Rock Milk. Its colour is yellowish white.
1875 F. A. Genth Prelim. Rep. Mineral. Pennsylvania 154 The very soft, white, earthy calcite, usually known as rock-milk or agaric mineral, is frequently met with in the lower Silurian limestones near Easton.
1935 Brit. Patent 439,476 2/1 Solid substances in grain or powder form, such as asbestos powder, rock milk, magnesium, wood meal, cork grains and gypsum.
2001 J. Geyssant in F. W. Tegethoff Calcium Carbonate i. i. 8/1 As X-ray analysis shows, rock milk contains, besides calcite, hydromagnesite..and huntite.
rock mine n. †(a) (a deposit of) iron ore (cf. mine n. 2a) (obsolete); (b) a mine worked for rock of some kind, or excavated in massive rock; (English regional) †a salt mine (obsolete).
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a1650 G. Boate Irelands Nat. Hist. (1652) xvi. 126 Of the second sort of Iron-mine, called Rock-mine.
1780 Jrnl. House of Lords 2 216/2 Bramston..on that pretence wrought the Mine belonging to the Bishop, which is Rock-Mine.
1825 Asiatic Researches 15 124 The only rock of this formation in which the diamond is found is the Sandstone Breccia. I have as yet only visited the rock mines of Banganpalli.
1833 W. Furnival Statement Facts 21 The Wharton Rock Salt Mine leases..were cancelled. Both the rock mines were then leased to Mr. Hatfeild.
1886 R. Holland Gloss. Words County of Chester Rock mine, salt-mining term; the local name for a rock salt mine.
1912 Geogr. Jrnl. 39 137 These tramps had definite objects, such as..the discovery of prehistoric rock mines.
2002 Times 12 Sept. i. 17/2 Jackhammers and dynamite are used in perhaps 10 per cent of the underground rock mines.
rock nosing n. now historical a method of whaling (esp. during poor weather conditions) in which a ship lies at anchor in a protective harbour or close to the shore, while smaller boats are sent out to search for whales and guide them to the ship; cf. rocknoser n. at Compounds 2b.
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1850 R. A. Goodsir Arctic Voy. Baffin's Bay & Lancaster Sound v. 137 (heading) ‘Rock nosing’.
1888 Encycl. 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’.
2002 S. D. Grant Arctic Justice i. 14 A few whalers continued to fish off the North Baffin coast, nearly all from Peterhead or Dundee, Scotland. The technique they employed was called ‘rock-nosing’.
rock painter n. a person who produces paintings on rocks.In quot. 1856 perhaps a person who paints pictures of rocks.
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1856 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Jan. 89/1 Then we saw pass out young Cuthbert Chase, whom we may call the rock-painter.
1919 H. 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.
2002 Jrnl. Afr. Hist. 43 236 The alleged camel is one image in a panel of paintings, all executed in the manner of depiction characteristic of the Northern Sotho rock painters.
rock painting n. an image painted on the surface of a rock; (also) the action or practice of painting on rocks.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > painting according to medium or technique > [noun] > others by medium or technique
velvet-painting1809
Poona work1816
Poona painting1817
Poona1821
lithochromy1837
rock painting1852
mural painting1879
splatter-work1897
sand-painting1902
scroll painting1911
dot painting1932
texturology1959
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > painting according to medium or technique > [noun] > others by medium or technique > work
transparency1785
rock painting1852
dot painting1932
sand-picture1957
1852 Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci. 1848–52 2 267 One may be Runic, and certainly is not Indian, since nothing of an alphabetic character appears in any of their rock-paintings.
1908 Encycl. Relig. & Ethics I. 822/2 The rock-paintings..are either stencilled..or painted in outline.
1965 R. Morris & D. Morris Men & Snakes i. 17 Australia is the only continent where rock painting is still practised regularly today.
1999 S. L. Kasfir Contemp. Afr. Art ii. 61 The work of some artists in the group is strongly reminiscent of rock painting.
rock peg n. Mountaineering and Rock Climbing = rock piton n.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > mountaineering or climbing > [noun] > artificial aid > types of
runner1688
runner ring1791
ice axec1800
alpenstock1829
rope1838
climbing-iron1857
piolet1868
snap-link1875
prickera1890
middleman('s) knot (also loop, noose, etc.)1892
chock1894
glacier-rope1897
piton1898
run-out1901
belaying-pin1903
snap-ring1903
ironmongery1904
line1907
Tricouni1914
ice claw1920
peg1920
sling1920
ice piton1926
ice hammer1932
karabiner1932
rock piton1934
thread belay1935
mugger1941
running belay1941
piton hammer1943
sky-hook1951
etrier1955
pied d'éléphant1956
rope sling1957
piton runner1959
bong1960
krab1963
rurp1963
ice screw1965
nut1965
traverse line1965
jumar1966
knife-blade1968
tie-off1968
rock peg1971
whammer1971
Whillans whammer1971
Whillans harness1974
1971 C. 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.
2002 Arkansas Democrat-Gaz. (Nexis) 6 Jan. b5 Darin Landreth of Springdale pushes the foot of his 4-year-old son Samuel toward a rock peg Saturday while helping him ascend the climbing wall.
rock phosphate n. any sedimentary rock containing a high proportion of phosphates, often used as a fertilizer; phosphorite.
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the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > sedimentary rock > [noun] > other sedimentaries
dunstonea1613
rock phosphate1852
psammite1882
tillite1907
flowstone1925
tilloid1931
turbidite1957
1852 Cultivator Jan. 57/2 It is the rock phosphate that is referred to—not bones—but it is desirable to learn their comparative effects.
1936 J. C. Brown India's Min. Wealth (ed. 2) x. 225 The problem of the utilization of Indian rock phosphates demands more research than it appears yet to have received.
2002 OG Nov.–Dec. 37/1 Based on your soil tests, add organic amendments—such as rock phosphate to correct a phosphorus deficiency.
rock pitch n. Mountaineering and Rock Climbing an expanse of rock between belay points.
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the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > cliff > [noun] > other cliffs
by-cliff1596
undercliff1829
headwall1875
rock pitch1897
1897 O. G. Jones Rock-climbing in Eng. Lake District iv. 53 Scree led to a short and easy rock pitch, and then a walk to the top brought us in contact with friends and the commissariat.
1929 F. Smythe Climbs & Ski Runs xv. 288 We gained the foot of the rock pitch separating the third ice-ridge from the fourth.
2007 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 21 Apr. 17 If you pegged on a severe rock pitch, the rope to your climbing partner is a kind of umbilical trust.
rock piton n. Mountaineering and Rock Climbing = piton n. 2.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > mountaineering or climbing > [noun] > artificial aid > types of
runner1688
runner ring1791
ice axec1800
alpenstock1829
rope1838
climbing-iron1857
piolet1868
snap-link1875
prickera1890
middleman('s) knot (also loop, noose, etc.)1892
chock1894
glacier-rope1897
piton1898
run-out1901
belaying-pin1903
snap-ring1903
ironmongery1904
line1907
Tricouni1914
ice claw1920
peg1920
sling1920
ice piton1926
ice hammer1932
karabiner1932
rock piton1934
thread belay1935
mugger1941
running belay1941
piton hammer1943
sky-hook1951
etrier1955
pied d'éléphant1956
rope sling1957
piton runner1959
bong1960
krab1963
rurp1963
ice screw1965
nut1965
traverse line1965
jumar1966
knife-blade1968
tie-off1968
rock peg1971
whammer1971
Whillans whammer1971
Whillans harness1974
1934 Canad. Alpine Jrnl. 22 128 These analogs of rock pitons..have now definitely passed their test for usefulness.
1972 D. 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.
2004 S. J. Cannell Vertical Coffin xlv. 292 Scott and Gordon had left us some rock pitons, carabiners, and two lengths of rope for our descent.
rock pool n. a pool of water among rocks, typically along a shoreline.
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the world > the earth > water > lake > pool > [noun] > other types
weelc897
lowa1200
sougha1300
plungec1450
Sabbatical pool1613
slough1714
tinaja1835
rock pool1836
pokelogan1848
salmon pool1866
plunge pool1870
Strandbad1939
solar pool1960
1836 Mag. Nat. Hist. 9 148 By minutely examining the vegetation of the rock-pools..I procured a few specimens in autumn, 1835.
1907 E. Gosse Father & Son vi. 156 The antiquity of these rock-pools..used to occupy my Father's fancy.
1953 U. Krige Dream & Desert 14 They had..gazed into rockpools full of starfish.
1988 E. Wood et al. Sea Life Brit. & Ireland 70 Good examples of rockpools are found on the west coast of Anglesey.
2004 T. Wheeler Falklands & S. Georgia 57 They hunt after dusk, stealthily grabbing fish from rock pools and shallow kelp beds.
rock river n. Physical Geography = rock glacier n. (cf. rock stream n.).
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the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > boulder, pebble, or stone formation > [noun] > rock glacier or stone river
rockfall?1797
stone river1877
rock glacier1888
rock stream1905
stone run1906
rock river1920
1920 Nat. Hist. 20 172/1 In rate of flow these rock rivers are probably slower than the ice rivers, or glaciers.
1997 Mammalian Species No. 547. 3/1 M[yotis] leibii may hibernate in rock glaciers, also known as rock rivers, found on mountains composed of sandstone.
† rock-rushing adj. Obsolete rare fast-moving, powerful, as a storm or current able to carry stones with it; also in figurative context.
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1606 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iii. 132 Rock-rushing Tempests doo retreat or charge.
1851 M. F. Tupper Ballads for Times 128 She is the Delphi, the heart of the earth, The rock-rushing spring of humanity's worth.
rocks glass n. a short tumbler of a type typically used to serve (alcoholic) drinks over ice; cf. on-the-rocks glass n. at Phrases 5b, old-fashioned glass n. at old-fashioned adj. and n. Compounds.
ΚΠ
1961 Los Angeles Times 13 Mar. 17/4 (advt.) Even the ‘rocks’ in the glass taste better! Old Taylor has created a special ‘rocks’ glass to celebrate that taste.
1998 Times (Nexis) 21 Mar. To make an Old Fashioned, use whisky or bourbon... Place a white sugar cube into a rocks glass.
2003 L. Block Small Town 7 A pair of rocks glasses, one holding a half inch of pale amber liquid.
rockslide n. originally U.S. a rapid movement of rock or other stony material down a hill or mountain; (also) a mass of material thus deposited; also figurative and in figurative contexts.
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the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > slope > [noun] > of rocks or detritus
shot-heuch1574
slide1664
scree1813
shot-brae1822
earthslide1829
talus1830
slip1838
rockslide1845
earthslip1859
landslip1872
spout1883
shingle-slip1900
slump1905
stone stripe1934
shingle slide1944
1845 North Amer. & Daily Advertiser (Philadelphia) 23 Jan. 1/5 During this past year I have removed from the main line 96 bars, which were bent in unloading heavy materials for the second track, by rock slides, &c.
1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick lvi. 299 Some mossy rock-slide from the Patagonian cliffs.
1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 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.
1959 R. E. 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.
1970 R. Lowell Notebk. 203 Is it my imagination or..Pound's Cantos lost in the rockslide of history?
1992 P. Theroux Happy Isles Oceania ii. 28 We walked across the sluices of long-ago rockslides and through a forest of whitened trunks of trees killed by a recent fire.
2004 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 3 Oct. viii. 1/2 The woes that have tumbled like a rock slide onto the [Miami] Dolphins.
rocksman n. Scottish (now rare) = rockman n. 2.
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1852 W. Macgillivray Hist. Brit. Birds V. 434 The dexterity of these rocksmen is truly astonishing.
1895 Chums 31 July 775/3 A daring rocksman, fowling alone, had safely made a landing on a narrow ledge at a tremendous height above the shore.
rock soap n. (a) Mineralogy (now historical) any of certain earthy clay minerals with a greasy texture, esp. halloysite; (also) †steatite (obsolete); †(b) (in soap making) = sense 5e (obsolete).
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the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > clay > [noun] > bole > type of
terra chia1615
Turkey earth1748
yellow earth1794
rock soap1803
1803 Gazetteer Scotl. at Hamilton There are several beds of steatites, or rock-soap.
1852 Rep. Juries Exhib. 1851 II. xxix. 1377 The lime decomposes the tallow and combines with the resulting stearic, margaric and oleic acids, forming a lime-soap (rock soap).
1854 J. D. Dana Syst. Mineral. (ed. 4) I. iv. 252 Rock soap, (Bergseife), Bolus of Sinope, and Ochran of Orawitza, are of similar character.
1883 Amer. Naturalist 17 872 Massive varieties of mesolite and of thomsonite, the latter sometimes called ‘rock soap’, are also described.
1901 G. P. Merrill in Ann. Rep. Board of Regents Smithsonian Inst. 1899 ii. 347 A rock soap from Ventura County, California, has been described..as a mixture of sandy and clayey or soapy material in the proportion of 45 per cent of the first and 55 per cent of the second.
1998 W. Bright Gudde's Calif. Place Names (ed. 4) at Javon It [sc. a mining boom] was started in 1875 when HL Bickford began to work a ‘rock soap’ mine in the canyon.
rock spider n. (a) any spider that frequents rocks; (b) South African slang (derogatory and offensive) an Afrikaner. Dict. S. Afr. Eng. (1996) records an oral use from 1970.
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1821 Annales générales des sciences physiques 8 89 Ses noms vulgaires sont Sea-Spider ou Rock-Spider, qui signifie araignée maritime ou de rocher.
1909 R. W. Chambers Hide & Seek in Forest-land vi. 43 The big fat fly tumbled about, buzzing and kicking, until the little rock spider had to let go.
1973 Star (Johannesburg) 11 Apr. 3 A professor at the university..took offence at the use of the word ‘rock spider’.
1991 A. Sher Indoor Boy (1992) ii. 13 He looks brutish now. Like only Afrikaners can look, or hairybacks as we call them, or rock-spiders, or crunchies.
2008 Sunday Times (S. Afr.) (Nexis) 9 Nov. 5 I recall the victimisation I suffered as an Afrikaner boy, being called all names from ‘Afrikaner vrot banana’ to ‘rock spider’.
rock stack n. = stack n. 7.
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1867 London Q. Rev. July 434 The cliffs and rock-stacks of the sandstone sea all aglow with the rich amber light of the west.
1949 A. E. Trueman Geol. & Scenery Eng. & Wales viii. 118 At the western side of the entrance to Worbarrow Bay the rock stacks known as Mupe (Mewp) Rocks continue the line of the barrier.
1989 Scots Mag. Feb. 507 The boat..made for the cliffs near the rock stacks of Macleod's Maidens.
rock stream n. Physical Geography = rock glacier n. (cf. rock river n.).
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the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > boulder, pebble, or stone formation > [noun] > rock glacier or stone river
rockfall?1797
stone river1877
rock glacier1888
rock stream1905
stone run1906
rock river1920
1905 W. Cross Silverton Folio (U.S. Geol. Surv. Geol. Atlas of U.S. No. 120) 25/2 All the accumulations..just described impress one with the sense of motion... In the field they were spoken of as ‘rock-glaciers’ and upon the map receive the name ‘rock streams’.
1964 W. C. Putnam Geol. x. 238/1 (caption) A rock stream or rock glacier is composed of frost- and ice-shattered rock filled with interstitial ice which slowly moves downslope.
2003 Geomorphology 56 144/1 Rock streams are well developed within many Rapidan first-order tributaries.
rock sugar n. = rock candy n.
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the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > confections or sweetmeats > sweets > [noun] > a sweet > hard sweet
rock sugar1652
rock candy1653
rock1718
hard candy1848
1652 Laughing Mercury No. 24. 188 The Posts and Pillars of their Houses are all hewn out of Rock-Sugar of which in that Countrey there be whole Mountains.
1718 Mrs. Mary Eales's Receipts 63 (heading) To make Rock-Sugar.
1877 J. Harris Tales & Poems 14 He had nice rock-sugar, toast, and fish.
1999 Crain's Chicago Business (Nexis) 18 Oct. 53 First-rate espresso with a stick of rock sugar and a crunchy cookie makes a fine finale.
rock tackle n. rare (a) equipment used for building on rocks; (b) apparatus for rock fishing.
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1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §261 The shears, the windlass, and all the rock tackle.
1898 F. G. Aflalo Sea-fish 207 Mr. W. Laing,..makes, says Mr. Mackay, a speciality of this rock-tackle.
rock tar n. now rare petroleum; asphalt.
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1789 C. R. Hopson tr. J. C. Wiegleb Gen. Syst. Chem. ii. i. vi. 535 The sorts which are of a still greater consistence, and a higher colour, bear the name of Mineral- or Rock-Tar.
1804 J. Pinkerton Mod. Geogr. (new ed.) II. 282 Towards the Tigris there are pools of bitumen, or rock tar.
1916 Ohio Jrnl. Sci. 16 156 As the gray stone is hard and very solid, we do not find carbonaceous material other than as just stated, as it has no opportunity to seep through the rock and collect in masses of ‘rock tar’.
rock terrace n. Physical Geography a horizontal shelf of rock; spec. one forming a river terrace.
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1834 F. Zander De vocabuli δυο usu Homerico Hesiodeoque et Attico 182 Kλωμακόεσσαν,..on rock terraces, rocky.
1837 J. Phillips Treat. Geol. I. vi. 320 (heading) Rock terraces in valleys.
1905 Bull. N.Y. State Mus. No. 84. i. 73 The excavation of the gorge below the floor of the ancient Hudson valley has left well defined rock terraces bordering the Hudson.
1968 R. 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).
2002 Jrnl. Coastal Res. 18 823 (caption) Five-Finger Strand, Malin—Sea stacks occurring on a raised rock terrace.
rock wall n. (a) a wall or vertical surface made of rock, esp. a rock face; (b) North American a stone fence.
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the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > cliff > [noun]
cliffOE
cleoa1300
cleevec1300
rochec1300
clougha1400
heugha1400
brackc1530
clift1567
perpendicular1604
precipice1607
precipe1615
precipit1623
abrupt1624
scar1673
bluff1687
rock wall1755
krantz1785
linn1799
scarp1802
scaur1805
escarpment1815
rock face1820
escarp1856
hag1868
glint1906
scarping1909
stone-cliff1912
ledra1942
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > that which or one who closes or shuts > a barrier > [noun] > wall > stone wall
stonewallc825
boulder-walls1728
flint-wall1728
rock wall1755
rock fence1838
stone fence1844
1755 T. Amory Mem. Ladies 459 The black rock-walls of this spacious chamber, Mrs. Harcourt covered over.
1862 H. W. Pierson Jefferson at Monticello 113 When I was there, the President's house was surrounded with a high rock wall, and there was an iron gate immediately in front of it.
1894 Times 29 June 3/3 The Rev. J. Sanger Davies is an enthusiastic mountaineer with a particular fancy for Dolomite peaks and for rock-walls.
1954 J. R. R. Tolkien Two Towers iii. iv. 73 At the far end the rock-wall was sheer.
1997 W. Dalrymple From Holy Mountain (1998) v. 301 Eventually we came to a small chapel backing onto the rock wall.
rock waste n. fragments of rock produced by weathering.
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the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > [noun] > rock fragments or debris
debris1802
fault-stuff1811
dilapidation1816
rock waste1849
fault-rock1877
slide-rock1901
1849 Q. Jrnl. Prophecy June 352 Beyond the rock-waste and the river, Beyond the ever and the never, I shall be soon.
1907 Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. 18 358 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.
1992 Oxfam News Summer 4/1 Binjgiri, the hill above Kesharpur, was so completely stripped [of trees] that springs dried up..and fields were strewn with rock waste.
rockwool n. any of various fine matted fibrous materials consisting of or made from mineral matter, and used esp. in thermal insulation or soundproofing; cf. mineral wool n. at mineral adj. Compounds 1.A proprietary name in the United Kingdom.
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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > other manufactured or derived materials > [noun] > from minerals
rockwool1816
ambroid1887
alundum1903
1816 R. Jameson Syst. Mineral. (ed. 2) I. 527 Amianthus, from αμιαντος, unstained, unsoiled, which refers to the property this substance possesses, of remaining unsoiled in the fire. It is also named Rock-flax and Rock-wool.
1928 E. R. Powell U.S. Patent 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.
1998 Garden Answers Sept. 98/1 Rockwool, a fibrous material made by heating Australian volcanic rock to high temperatures.
(b) Used attributively in the descriptive names of varieties of asbestos with a particular texture, density, etc., indicated by the second element, as rock cork, †rock flesh, †rock leather, †rock paper, †rock wood, etc. Cf. mountain n. and adj. Compounds 2b(b). Now rare.See also rock silk n. 2, rockwool n. at Compounds 2a(a).
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the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > silicates > amphibole (double chain) > [noun] > asbestos > others
rock cork1762
rock flesh1762
rock leather1762
rock wood1762
asbestinite1794
asbestoid1794
xylocryptite1820
byssolite1847
xylite1850
xylotile1864
xylolite1868
wood-rock1889
amosite1918
1762 P. Murdoch tr. A. F. Büsching New Syst. Geogr. I. 43 Amianthus... To this species belong Rock-flax, Rock-leather, Rock-flesh, and Rock-cork.
1776 J. Seiferth tr. C. E. Gellert Metallurgic Chym. i. i. iii. 10 When the leaves are hard and thin, it has the name of mountain- (rock) paper.
1804 R. Jameson Syst. Mineral. I. 449 Rock Wood... Occurs massive, and in plates.
1816 P. Cleaveland Elem. Treat. Mineral. & Geol. 327 When in thick, spongy masses, it has been called rock or fossil flesh.
1816 P. Cleaveland Elem. Treat. Mineral. & Geol. 327 Sometimes it appears in plates or membranes; when these are hard, they have been called rock or fossil leather; when thin and flexible, rock or fossil paper.
1855 J. Scoffern in Orr's Circle Sci.: Elem. Chem. 174 Asbestos, rock cork, and other minerals.
1888 Reno (Nevada) Evening Gaz. 3 Oct. Besides this fine silken article which occupies the central parts of the vein there are outside..great bodies of what is called rock cork,..‘rock beaters’ and ‘rock wood’.
1920 Public Health Rep. (U.S. Public Health Service) 35 2017 Both of the cold-storage rooms were insulated with rock cork.
b. In names of animals (other than birds and fishes).
rock badger n. [after South African Dutch klipdas klipdas n.] chiefly South African = rock hyrax n.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > [noun] > order Hyracoidea or genus Procavia > procavia syriaca (daman)
cherogrila1425
cirogrillea1425
daman1738
marmot of the Cape1780
rock badger1780
das1786
dassie1814
dassy1846
klipdas1853
1780 W. Smellie tr. Comte de Buffon Nat. Hist. Gen. & Particular IV. 349 This animal..is known at the cape of Good Hope, under the name of the Rock Badger, probably because it lives among rocks, and under the earth, like the badger; to which, however, it has no resemblance.
1885 Bible (R.V.) Lev. xi. 7 The Coney. [margin] The Hyrax Syriacus or rock-badger.
1973 Science 27 Apr. 413/3 One adult rock badger (Procavia capensis (Pallas)).
2006 Independent (Nexis) 15 June 20 And a big hand (or paw) for the South African rock badger, a rabbit-like creature.
rock barnacle n. a sessile barnacle of the genus Balanus or related genera; an acorn barnacle.
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1859 C. Darwin Origin of Species v. 151 The opercular valves of sessile cirripedes (rock barnacles) are, in every sense of the word, very important structures.
1884 R. Rathbun in G. B. Goode et al. Fisheries U.S.: Sect. I 828 The Rock Barnacle inhabits the entire North Atlantic coasts of both continents.
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) I. iv. 74 The acorn-shells or rock-barnacles in the shore pools are fixed animals.
2006 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 31 Jan. 31 They ate a variety of crabs—blue swimmers, mud crabs and soldier crabs—plus spiny lobsters and rock barnacles.
rock borer n. any of various burrowing bivalve molluscs, esp. of the genera Pholas, Petricola, Lithophaga, etc., which bore into rock and other hard materials.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Pelecypoda or Conchifera > [noun] > section Siphonida > sinu-pallialia > family Gastrochaenidae
watering-pot shell1776
water-pot shell?a1813
saxicave1826
rock borer1835
tube-shell1861
flask-shell1868
tubivalve1882
1835 W. Kirby On Power of God in Creation of Animals I. viii. 245 The vast stones with which they are built might become the habitation of pholads, and other rock-borers.
1928 F. S. Russell & C. M. Yonge Seas vi. 148 The largest and most efficient rock borers are bivalve Molluscs.
1958 J. E. Morton Molluscs iii. 53 In the true rock-borers or piddocks (Pholadidae)..the mantle is closed save for a small pedal aperture in front.
1993 E. N. K. Clarkson Invertebr. Palaeontol. & Evol. (ed. 3) viii. 201/1 Septibranch gills..are confined to a single superfamily of rock borers, the Poromyacea (Subclass Anomalodesmata).
rock cavy n. a large Brazilian cavy, Kerodon rupestris, that inhabits dry, stony areas; also called moco.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Rodentia or rodent > superfamily Hystricomorpha (porcupine or guinea-pig) > [noun] > family Caviidae (cavy) > genus Cavia (guinea-pig)
pig-cony1607
guinea pig1664
restless cavy1771
rock cavy1771
moco1831
1771 T. Pennant Synopsis Quadrupeds 244 Rock [Cavy]... Inhabits Brasil: lives in the holes of rocks.
1801 G. Shaw Gen. Zool. II. 29 The Rock Cavy is considered as an excellent article of food, and is even superior to the rabbet.
1969 Q. Rev. Biol. 44 44/2 Cavies or wild guinea pigs (Cavia) resemble Holarctic pikas (Ochotonidae), but rock cavies (Kerodon) suggest rather the African rock dassies (Procaviidae).
2006 K. D. Rose Beginning Age Mammals xiv. 300/2 It [sc. Leptauchenia] was probably an open-habitat rock climber similar to the extant hyrax Procavia or the rock cavy Kerodon.
rockchuck n. [after woodchuck n.] U.S. the yellow-bellied marmot, Marmota flaviventris, of the western United States.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Rodentia or rodent > [noun] > family Sciuridae (squirrel) > genus Marmota > other types of marmot
rockchuck1898
1898 Recreation Nov. 377/1 The rockchuck is most abundant in low, rocky foothills covered with bunch grass.
1947 B. A. De Voto Across Wide Missouri 162 Robes..were made from..beaver,..wolf, or even rockchuck.
2006 L. L. Loendorf & N. M. Stone Mountain Spirit xiii. 160 When they successfully bagged a rock chuck, it would have been welcomed at home because it was considered high-quality food.
rock crab n. a crab that frequents rocky coasts; esp. (in North America) Cancer irroratus of Atlantic coasts and C. antennarius of Pacific coasts.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Crustacea > [noun] > subclass Malacostraca > division Thoracostraca > order Decapoda > suborder Brachyura (crab)
crabc1000
crab-fisha1400
cancer?a1425
partan1428
crayfish1509
canker1562
rock crab1736
fiery-tangs1813
cancroid1852
brachyuran1877
partan-crab1893
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Crustacea > [noun] > subclass Malacostraca > division Thoracostraca > order Decapoda > suborder Brachyura (crab) > member of family Cancridae (rock crab)
partan1428
punger1586
marble crab1668
sea-cock1668
rock crab1736
Cape lobster1793
partan-crab1893
Dungeness crab1896
1736 Philos. Trans. 1735–6 (Royal Soc.) 39 115 Pagurus maculatus: The red mottled Rock-Crab.
1820 Mrs. Frazer Pract. of Cookery (ed. 7) i. ii. 10 Rock crabs are the best.
1837 J. L. Williams Territory of Florida 105 The Rock Crab is common on the Atlantic coast.
1887 G. B. Goode Fisheries U.S.: Hist. & Methods II. 658 The large red rock crab (Echidnoceros setimanus) of the Farallone Islands.
1901 A. F. Arnold Sea-beach at Ebb-tide (ed. 2) 280 [Cancer] anntennarius, the rock-crab of the Pacific coast.
1990 Internat. Wildlife May–June 49/1 Davy Jones's undertakers, seabats..swarm over a dead rock crab.
rock-doe n. now rare (apparently) the chamois, Rupicapra rupicapra.Cf. rock-buck n. 1.
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1681 N. Grew Musæum Regalis Societatis i. ii. ii. 24 The Rock-Doe, Ibex fæmina, a kind of wild Goat.
1816 Encycl. Perthensis (ed. 2) XIX. 202/1 The rock-doe breeds chiefly upon the Alps: a creature of admirable swiftness.
1904 Sc. Geogr. Mag. 20 303 As..objects for the hunt [in the Caucasus] there are a number of ruminant mammals—wild goat, gazelle, rock-doe, ibex (Capra ægagrus) and others.
rock-goat n. (a) the ibex, Capra ibex (now rare); †(b) South African the klipspringer, Oreotragus oreotragus (obsolete).Cf. rock-buck n. 1.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > subfamily Caprinae (goat) > [noun] > genus Capra > capra ibex (European ibex)
stonebuckc1000
rock-goat1574
eveck1585
stambuck1591
ibex1607
rock-buck1681
steinbock1695
bouquetin1783
mountain sheep1807
stonebuck1855
1574 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Serm. on Job cli. 711/2 Mention be made here precisely of the Hinds and of the shee rockegoates or other wilde Goates.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 244 (heading) The Heluetian Alpian wilde or Rocke-Goat.
1731 G. Medley tr. P. Kolb Present State Cape Good-Hope II. 116 The Rock-goat is as well known in the Cape countries as he is in Europe.
1820 J. 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.
1861 H. G. Bohn Pict. Hand-bk. Mod. Geogr. 231 Among the other wild animals, the ibex or rock-goat has become very scarce.
1911 G. A. Barton Comm. Bk. Job ii. 296 The rock-goat or ibex is very shy.
rock hare n. (a) the scrub hare, Lepus saxatilis, found on rocky hills in southern Africa (now rare); (b) any of three hares constituting the genus Pronolagus, having reddish legs and endemic to rocky country in southern and eastern Africa.
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1827 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom V. 268 L. Saxatilis. (Rock Hare.) Reddish-gray; under parts white.
1889 Science 15 Feb. 131/2 In the bottom of the pocket were the fresh remains of several squirrels, rock-hares, and other small animals.
1918 S. H. Skaife Animal Life 254 The rock hare, or kol haas, is similar in appearance to the Cape hare, but it is larger and found only on hill tops.
1964 Jrnl. Parasitol. 50 774/2 The black (or Liukiu) rabbit, Pentalagus furnessi..[is] related to Pronolagus..of southern Africa (‘rock hare’).
2005 Jrnl. Mammal. 86 961/1 In Africa, rocky habitat is home to rock and bush hyrax (Procavia and Heterohyrax), rockhares (Pronolagus), and dassie rats.
rock hyrax n. a hyrax, Procavia capensis, inhabiting rocky outcrops and cliffs and occurring widely in Africa and the Middle East.Sometimes regarded as comprising of several species.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > [noun] > order Hyracoidea or genus Procavia > procavia capensis (rock rabbit)
coneya1425
rock rabbit1809
rock hyrax1903
1903 Jrnl. Anthropol. Inst. 33 348 (table) Rock hyrax—Kumnēr.
1954 G. Durrell Bafut Beagles iii. 59 ‘Rock hyrax.’.. ‘Yes. How you de call um for Bafut?’ ‘Here we call um N'eer.’
1986 National Geographic May 585 The nearest was overrun with rock hyraxes and bright orange-and-blue lizards.
2007 A. McCall Smith Good Husband of Zebra Drive xv. 163 There were dassies, rock hyrax, surprised in the open and running frantically for the shelter of their familiar rocks.
rock kangaroo n. any of several kangaroos and wallabies found in rocky places; esp. the wallaroo Macropus robustus; cf. rock wallaby n.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Implacenta > subclass Marsupialia (marsupials) > [noun] > family Macropodidae > wallaby > genus Petrogale (rock wallaby)
badger1803
rock kangaroo1826
rock wallaby1841
rock kangaroo1846
1826 J. Atkinson Acct. Agric. & Grazing New S. Wales 23 The wayrang or rock kangaroo.
1846 G. R. Waterhouse Nat. Hist. Mammalia I. 168 The specimens of the Brush-tailed or Rock Kangaroo in the British Museum were..procured by Mr. Gould from the Liverpool Range.
1884 Cassell's Family Mag. Apr. 272/1 The rock-wallabies, or rock-kangaroos belong to these mountains.
1943 C. Barrett Austral. Animal Bk. 90 Of wallaroos or rock-kangaroos there are at least half a dozen species.
1998 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 7 June 28/3 Aboriginal Australians have long been familiar with the Westralian rock kangaroo, which they call the uroo, waroo or yuro.
rock limpet n. now rare a limpet of the genus Patella; esp. the common limpet, P. vulgata.
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1822 Archæologia Æliana 1 Donations. 13 There were found at the same time, several portions of Human Bones and a quantity of common rock Limpet Shells.
1859–62 J. Richardson et al. Museum Nat. Hist. II. 346/2 These shells are usually found fixed upon rocks on the shore, hence their name of Rock limpets.
1919 W. De Morgan Old Madhouse xvi. 242 They had been enjoined..to mould their behaviour on that of a rock-limpet.
1961 Sci. News-let. 20 May 320/1 Snails are molluscs, a zoological phylum that includes such diverse creatures as oysters, clams, cuttlefish, rock limpets and chitons.
rock lobster n. any of various spiny lobsters or marine crayfish constituting the family Palinuridae, esp. of the genera Palinurus, Panulirus, and Jasus.
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the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > seafood > [noun] > lobster > crayfish
scrayfish1309
river crab?c1425
crayfisha1475
crevis fish1688
rock lobster1810
koura1847
Murray crayfish1880
yabby1886
cray1906
marron1943
mudbug1955
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Crustacea > [noun] > subclass Malacostraca > division Thoracostraca > order Decapoda > suborder Macrura > member of family Palinuridae
sea-crayfish1601
long oyster1622
red crab1674
crevis fish1688
sea-crawfish1694
crayfish1748
spring lobster1789
Cape lobster1793
rock lobster1810
spiny lobster1819
langouste1832
thorny lobster1833
crayfish1853
kreef1863
langosta1924
1810 S. Green Romance Readers & Romance Writers I. ii. 33 Having, one evening, in a romantic reverie, mistaken the hard claw of a fine rock lobster for the fish itself.
1884 R. Rathbun in G. B. Goode et al. Fisheries U.S.: Sect. I 780 The Spiny Lobster or Rock Lobster—Palinurus interruptus.
1909 G. Smith Naturalist in Tasmania 108 In Tasmania the term crayfish is applied to the marine Rock Lobster (Panulirus).
1928 F. S. Russell & C. M. Yonge Seas xiv. 316 The handsome Spiny or Rock Lobster or Crawfish..differs from the lobster in its larger size.
1969 N.Z. News 17 Dec. 5/3 The change is necessary to promote the labelling of crayfish as rock lobster in marketing in overseas countries.
1991 B. J. Barker Fairest Cape 60 (caption) A rare (and expensive) delicacy is the Cape rock lobster (Jasus lalandii).
2018 www.news24.com (S. Afr.) 25 Mar. (news website, accessed 5 Apr. 2018) The money, he contends, was meant as start-up funds for a new joint venture intended to harvest rock lobster along the east coast.
† rock-marder n. [after German Steinmarder (1561)] Obsolete rare the beech (or stone) marten, Martes foina.
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1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 495 They come sometimes to houses, and to rocks, for which..it is called a house-marder, & rock-marder.
rocknoser n. now historical a North Atlantic right whale, Balaena glacialis, or a bowhead whale, B. mysticetus, that swims in shallow waters close to the shore; cf. rock nosing n. at Compounds 2a(a).This behaviour is said to be characteristic of smaller mature whales migrating southwards along the east coast of Baffin Island in the late summer.
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1868 Proc. Zool. Soc. 545 Hence the whaler uses the terms ‘middle-icers’, ‘rock-nosers’, and ‘Pond's-Bay fish’ to designate not a separate species or even variety, but to express a geographical fact and a zoological habit.
1898 Nat. Sci. June 411 From their habit of hugging the shore..these [right] whales are known as ‘rock-nosers’.
1927 Buchan Observer 4 Jan. 7/3 The ‘rocknosers’, as the migrating [bowhead] whales were termed, from their reputed habit of nosing their way south along the rocks, were due at Cape Kater about September 15th.
1990 Arctic 43 149/1 If the whalers were strictly hunting rocknosers, that is, those displaying any of the head-down, tail-up postures that we have observed on Isabella Bank, it is likely that they would have taken a disproportionate number of smaller (and possibly mostly male) whales.
rock oyster n. any of various edible oysters found attached to rocks; esp. Pacific oysters of the genera Saccostrea and Crassostrea.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Pelecypoda or Conchifera > [noun] > section Asiphonida > family Ostreidae > member of (oyster) > that grows in particular place or way
rock oyster1634
tree-oyster1768
bunch-oyster1881
1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 24 The Ile affords Buffols, Goats.., Pease, berries, good Rock Oysters.
1683 J. Pettus Ess. Metallick Words at Conglutinate, in Fleta Minor ii Upon little Rocks..there were Oysters sticking fast to them..so as we were forc't to beat them off with a Chizel and Hammer, and these they call'd Rock Oysters, the Shells being almost as firm as the Rock it self.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VII. 51 The oysters..found sticking to rocks at the bottom of the sea, usually called rock-oysters.
1887 Auckland Weekly News 26 Feb. 20 The Northern rock oyster was found only north of the East Cape.
1949 C. Benham Diver's Luck 207 On the rocks were oysters nearly as good as the famous rock oysters of Sydney.
2005 GQ Sept. 81/4 (heading) Tempura of rock oysters with chorizo, fennel and apple.
† rock-piercer n. Obsolete rare (a) [compare French perce-roche] a tube-worm of the family Terebellidae; (b) = pholas n. (cf. rock borer n., stone-piercer n. at stone n. Compounds 2b).
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Pelecypoda or Conchifera > [noun] > section Siphonida > sinu-pallialia > family Pholadidae > member of
Teredo1398
tree-worm1398
broma1555
worm1621
pholas1661
pirot1686
piddock1696
file1705
pholad1708
pileworm1733
file-shell1752
file-fish1774
ship-worm1778
rock-piercer1783
borer1789
pholadean1842
1783 J. Barbut Genera Vermium I. 63 10th Genus. The Rock Piercer... The body is filiform.
1853 Eclectic Rev. Dec. 660 The pholas feels he is a rock-piercer, as the man feels he is a biped.
rock rabbit n. (a) chiefly South African = rock hyrax n.; (b) North American = pika n.1
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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > [noun] > order Hyracoidea or genus Procavia > procavia capensis (rock rabbit)
coneya1425
rock rabbit1809
rock hyrax1903
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) > [noun] > ochotona princeps (pika)
pika1827
little chief hare1828
piping hare1877
rock rabbit1962
1809 Q. Rev. Nov. 436 If the ashkoko be considered as the rock rabbit, the sibsib may lay claim to the appellation of rock squirrel.
1878 J. H. Beadle Western Wilds 457 The rock rabbits..ran from covert to covert with a peculiar low moaning cry.
1931 Times Educ. Suppl. 22 Aug. p. iv/3 Hyraxes, known also as ‘Dassies’, or ‘Rock-rabbits’, the conies of the Bible.
1962 Field, Horse & Rodeo (Calgary, Alberta) Nov. 15/3 The Pika (or Rock Rabbit) spends most of the daylight hours cutting and gathering vegetation.
2002 S. Afr. Archaeol. Bull. 57 26/2 The Natal red rock rabbit (Pronolagus crassicaudatus), despite having smaller ears and a more rounded body, is similar [to the scrub hare].
rock seal n. †(a) the common or harbour seal, Phoca vitulina (obsolete); (b) (in the fur trade) the skin of a fur seal (genus Arctocephalus) (now rare).
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1850 P. C. Sutherland Jrnl. 21 June (1852) I. v. 143 It was the rock seal, which is a variety of the common seal (Phoca vitulina).
1884 J. A. Allen in G. B. Goode et al. Fisheries U.S.: Sect. I 62 The Harbor Seal..is also often termed Bay Seal,..and also Rock Seal (Steen-Kobbe).
1936 Times 14 Sept. 15/6 Rock seal dyed café au lait colour is used for a little box jacket with long sleeves.
1954 F. G. Ashbrook Furs Glamorous & Pract. vii. 59 (table) Rock Seal. South America. Short fur; flat hair, brown and resembles pony skin.
rock serpent n. now rare any of various snakes that frequent rocky places; esp. a python (cf. rock snake n. 1).
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1819 European Mag. & London Rev. Mar. 209/1 The music sunk into the softest sound of the flutes used to charm the rock-serpent and cobra-capella.
1890 Cent. Dict. Rock-serpent, 1. A rock-snake. 2. A venomous serpent of the genus Bungarus.
1940 Folk-lore 51 219 The umpires, Mojo the great black rock serpent, and Niao the bee, had chosen Yongoli the chameleon and Euaki the chimpanzee.
1981 Associated Press Newswire (Nexis) 28 July The 5-foot-long Indian Rock serpent was gone when the zoo opened Saturday.
rock shell n. †(a) a fossil mollusc shell (obsolete rare); (b) any of various marine gastropod molluscs of the families Muricidae and Thaididae.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Gastropoda > [noun] > unspecified types of
snail?1541
rock shell1674
white-ear1854
1674 M. Lister Let. 12 Mar. in H. Oldenburg Corr. (1975) X. 497 As for rock-shells they come in to me in greater Numbers, than I could ever have imagined.
1758 Gentleman's Mag. Apr. 156/2 An extraordinary rock-shell, all over beset with tubercles which terminate in the likeness of dogs teeth.
a1801 R. Pulteney Gen. View Writings Linnæus (ed. 2) (1805) 229 Rock-shell. Aperture terminating in a straight spout.
1898 Land of Sunshine Mar. 180 Many of the rock shells are aglow with color within the aperture, and their exterior is frilled and ‘spined’ in the most wonderful fashion.
1966 P. A. Morris Field Guide Shells Pacific Coast (ed. 2) 82 Family Muricidae: Rock Shells... These are active, carnivorous snails, preferring rocky or gravelly bottoms.
1990 Biblical Archaeologist 53 100/3 (caption) Spiny dye-murex (Bolinus brandaris) and the rock shell Thais haemastoma, both used for making red-purple.
rock slater n. an isopod crustacean of the family Ligiidae, inhabiting rocky shores (cf. sea-slater n. at sea n. Compounds 6d).
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1869 W. S. Dallas tr. F. Müller Facts & Arguments for Darwin viii. 69 The Rock-Slaters (Ligia) may serve as an example of the development of the Isopoda.
1987 Jrnl. Animal Ecol. 56 315 Populations of the rock slater, Ligia oceanica (L.) are found on both sheltered and exposed coasts.
2003 L. Watling et al. Life Between Tides ii. 47 Ligia oceanica, the rock slater, is the more difficult species to find. It generally hides during the day in cracks..above the high water mark.
rock snail n. any of various snails that inhabit rocky places; esp. either of two European land snails, the lapidary snail, Helicogona lapicida, and (in later use) the very small Pyramidula rupestris.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Gastropoda > [noun] > order Pulmonifera > Inoperculata > family Helicidae > genus Helix > helix lapidica
rock snail1777
1777 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. (ed. 4, quarto) IV. vi. 132 Helix... Lapicida... Rock [Snail]... A land shell. Inhabits clefts of rocks.
1866 R. Tate Plain & Easy Acct. Mollusks Great Brit. iii. 45 In the Rock Snail it becomes so in the adult.
1901 E. Step Shell Life xix. 349 The Rock Snail (H. rupestris)..attains a diameter of one-seventh of an inch.
1971 D. Nichols Oxf. Bk. Invertebr. 50/2 Pyramidula (Rock Snail) is always found on stone walls, buildings or rocks, especially limestone.
2003 Birmingham News (Alabama) (Nexis) 20 July The plicate rocksnail is a cornerstone species upon which all the other animals living in the river depend.
rock squid n. now rare any of various kinds of squid or (esp.) cuttlefish.
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1839 T. Beale Nat. Hist. Sperm Whale 68 It was that species of sepia, which is called by whalers ‘rock-squid’.
1874 C. Nordhoff Life on Ocean ii. xiv. 168 With..the liquor obtained from the cuttle fish, or rock squid, as it is called by sailors, my friend was covered from head to foot with a solid mass of fanciful figures.
1912 H. W. L. Way Round World for Gold vi. 78 Among these little islands were several rock squids, with horrible looking arms and suckers, three to four feet long.
rock squirrel n. any of various ground squirrels that frequent rocky places; esp. (U.S.) the variegated ground squirrel, Spermophilus variegatus, of arid areas in southern North America.In quot. 1852: the Sri Lankan giant squirrel, Ratufa macroura.
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1809 Q. Rev. Nov. 436 If the ashkoko be considered as the rock rabbit, the sibsib may lay claim to the appellation of rock squirrel.
1852 E. F. Kelaart Prodr. Faunæ Zeylanicæ 49 Sciurus Macrourus. Forster. The common Rock Squirrel.
1920 Condor 22 171 A rock squirrel runs along a ledge above her, sits up meditatively, drops again, and scampers into a crevice.
1992 G. B. Corbet & J. E. Hill Mammals Indomalayan Region 279/2 Sciurotamias Chinese rock squirrels... Sciurotamias davidianus Père David's rock squirrel.
2009 Albuquerque (New Mexico) Jrnl. (Nexis) 10 Apr. 1 Rock squirrels usually live in burrows underground, but they can and do burrow their way into buildings, too.
rock wallaby n. any of various small Australian wallabies constituting the genera Petrogale and Peradorcas, inhabiting rocky areas (frequently with distinguishing word); cf. rock kangaroo n.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Implacenta > subclass Marsupialia (marsupials) > [noun] > family Macropodidae > wallaby > genus Petrogale (rock wallaby)
badger1803
rock kangaroo1826
rock wallaby1841
rock kangaroo1846
1841 J. Gould Monogr. Macropodidæ i. pl. 5 The Great Rock Wallaby..inhabits summits of sterile and rocky mountains.
1884 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Old Melbourne Mem. viii. 58 A light active chap, spinning over the stones like a rock-wallaby.
1935 F. Birtles Battle Fronts Outback 141 Rock wallabies, in frantic haste, bounded up the hillsides.
2002 G. M. Eberhart Mysterious Creatures II. 625/1 Proserpine rock wallaby, Petrogale persephone. The largest rock wallaby, discovered in 1976 near Proserpine, Queensland.
rock whelk n. now rare the common dog whelk, Nucella lapillus (cf. rock shell n. (b)).
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1819 W. Turton Conchol. Dict. 14 Buccinum Lapillus, Rock Whelk.
1847 H. Miller First Impressions Eng. xi. 195 They lie amid sea-shells of the existing species,—the common oyster, the edible cockle and periwinkle, island-cyprina, rock-whelk (purpura lapillus), and a host of others.
1954 Systematic Zool. 3 123/1 Thais lapillus Linné, the common rock whelk of our New England coast and northern Europe, lays its eggs in small vertical capsules.
† rock whistler n. Canadian Obsolete rare the hoary marmot, Marmota caligata (see whistler n. 2b).
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1865 J. K. Lord in Intellectual Observer 7 113 It was not the cry of the rock whistler (A[r]ctomys), that sound I knew too well.
1866 J. K. Lord Naturalist in Vancouver Island II. ix. 190 The Hoary Marmot (Arctomys okanaganus), or, as it is styled by the fur-traders, the ‘Rock Whistler’, lives on the very summit of the Rocky Mountains.
rock worm n. any of various marine polychaete worms; spec. (in later use) those of the family Eunicidae, related to palolos.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Annelida > [noun] > class Chaetopoda > order Polychaeta > suborder Nereidiformia > member of family Eunicidae
rock worm1865
1865 J. C. Wilcocks Sea-fisherman 52 The larger kind of Mud Worm is frequently known as the Rock Worm, as it is found in the sand, clay, or gravel, close to rocks, or under large stones.
1963 R. P. Dales Annelids 14 Some relatives of the eunicid rockworms..are surprisingly like earthworms.
2002 G. M. Eberhart Mysterious Creatures II. 542/1 Rock worms (Family Eunicidae) are omnivorous polychaetes that live in coral reefs.
c. In names of birds.
rock-babbler n. now rare = rock jumper n.
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1875–84 R. B. Sharpe Layard's Birds S. Afr. 217 Chætops aurantius. Orange-breasted Rock-Babbler.
1902 Avicultural Mag. Jan. 43 Of the far more beautiful Rock-Babblers, the Rufous-breasted Rock-Babbler is said to be widely distributed.
rock bunting n. either of two Old World buntings of the genus Emberiza (family Emberizidae) inhabiting rocky mountainsides: †(a) the cinnamon-breasted bunting, E. tahapisi, of Africa (obsolete); (b) a Eurasian bunting, E. cia, having a grey head with black streaks and a brown body.
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1875–84 R. B. Sharpe Layard's Birds S. Afr. 490 Fringillaria tahapisi (Smith). Rock Bunting.
1910 A. Chapman & W. J. Buck Unexplored Spain xxxv. 348 But the sun shone bright, and from a poplar softly warbled a rock-bunting.
1957 Behaviour 10 192 In the Snow Bunting and Rock Bunting also, the tail-flick has been more conservative than the gait.
2008 Sunday Express (Nexis) 17 Aug. 18 Species such as rock sparrow, rock bunting and the grey-headed woodpecker..could all find refuge here.
rock-cock n. [compare German Felsenhahn (1777 or earlier)] now rare a cock-of-the-rock (genus Rupicola, family Cotingidae); cf. rock manakin n.
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1810 A. von Sack Voy. Surinam Appendix. 263 The rock-cock is of the size of a pigeon... The bird is of a yellow colour; the head is ornamented with a comb of feathers of the same colour.
1860 M. Reid Odd People 141 Brilliant feathers of rock-cock and macaw are planted behind the ears and twisted in the hanging tresses.
1922 E. Pound tr. R. de Gourmont Nat. Philos. Love xviii. 131 The female of the rock-cock of Brazil is tawny and without beauty.
rock cormorant n. †(a) (perhaps) the shag, Phalacrocorax aristotelis, or a variety of the cormorant, P. carbo (obsolete); (b) a black and white cormorant, Phalacrocorax magellanicus, which breeds on the coasts of southern South America.
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a1682 Sir T. Browne in Notes & Lett. Nat. Hist. Norfolk (1902) 11 The Rock cormorant..breedeth in the rocks in northerne countries & cometh to us in the winter, somewhat differing from the other in largeness & whiteness under the wings.
1890 T. Southwell Stevenson's Birds Norfolk III. 291 Sir T. Browne's idea evidently was that the ‘rock cormorant’ was distinct from the bird which he knew to breed in trees in Norfolk.
1970 R. M. de Schauensee Guide Birds S. Amer. 21/1 Rock Cormorant Phalacrocorax magellanicus... Head, neck and upperparts glossy greenish black, breast and belly white.
2004 T. Wheeler Falklands & S. Georgia Island 51 The rock cormorant stays in the Falklands year-round and is not found on South Georgia.
Rock Cornish n. (more fully Rock Cornish hen, Rock Cornish game hen) a stocky domestic fowl of hybrid origin which is kept for its meat (see quot. 2002).
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1947 U.S. Egg & Poultry Mag. Aug. 24/2 Other winners..were..Mrs. H. W. Linhart, Chillicothe, Mo., White Rocks; Everett Nelms, Montgomery, La.,White Rock-Cornish.
1979 M. G. Swift Looking at Cooking 246 Roast Rock Cornish Hen.
2002 Backwoods Home Mag. July–Aug. 81/1 Rock Cornish game hens are a cross between White Rocks and Cornish hens.
† rock crow n. Obsolete (a) the Siberian jay, Perisoreus infaustus, of northern Eurasia (cf. rock shrike n.); (b) the common rock thrush, Monticola saxatilis, of southern Eurasia.These two species are much confused in the synonymies of early works. In quot. 1862 (which is much copied), rock is an error for rook.
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1784 T. Pennant Arctic Zool. I. p. lxxv This great tract has very few birds which are not found in Britain. We may except the..Rock Crow.
1785 T. Pennant Arctic Zool. II. ii. 252 Rock..C[row]... With crown, and neck above, and coverts of wings, brown and dirty white.
1792 J. Leslie tr. Comte de Buffon Nat. Hist. Birds III. 309 The Rock Blackbird. Le Merle de Roche, Buff... The Rock Crow, Penn... Found in many parts of Germany, in the Alps, in the mountains of Tyrol.., &c.
1817 J. F. Stephens Shaw's Gen. Zool. X. i. 265 Rock Thrush. (Turdus infaustus.)... The upper parts of the plumage are dark brown.
1829 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom VI. 735 In the high mountains of the south of Europe are found: The Rock Crow. T. Saxatilis.., and the Solitary Thrush. T. Cyaneus.
1862 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 23 243 The most innocent and useful members..are the jackdaw (Corvus monedula) and the rock crow [sic] (Corvus frugilegus).]
rock duck n. †(a) [after Dutch bergeend shelduck (1682 in the text translated in quot. 1704)] a shelduck (in quot. 1704: the South African shelduck, Tadorna cana) (obsolete rare); (b) North American the harlequin duck, Histrionicus histrionicus.
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the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Merginae (duck) > [noun] > histrionicus histrionicus (harlequin duck)
rock duck1704
lord and lady1766
harlequin1772
mountain duck1831
1704 tr. J. Nieuhof Voy. E.-Indies in A. Churchill & J. Churchill Coll. Voy. II. 185/2 This Country [sc. the Cape]..abounds in..Rock-ducks [Du. bergh-enden] with yellow necks, Teal [etc.].
1884 J. H. Langille Our Birds in their Haunts xix. 487 Shooting the ‘Rock Ducks’, as they call them here, is the rarest sport of the season.
1965 E. Richardson Living Island 185 The handsomest duck I have seen..the male harlequin or rock-duck.
rock fowl n.
Brit. /ˈrɒk faʊl/
,
U.S. /ˈrɑk ˌfaʊl/
,
West African English /ˈrɔk ˌfaul/
(a) gen. a bird that frequents rocks; esp. a seabird that breeds on cliffs (now rare); (b) spec. either of two long-necked songbirds constituting the genus Picathartes and family Picathartidae, having a brightly coloured bare head and nesting in colonies on cliffs in the forests of West Africa (also called bald crow).
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1703 M. Martin Descr. W. Islands Scotl. 295 It is ordinary with a Fowler after he has got his Purchase of Fowls, to pluck the Fatest, and carry it home to his Wife as a mark of his Affection, and this is called the Rock-Fowl.
1858 E. Capern Ballads & Songs 131 When the rock-fowl dropped from their granite homes To prey on the brit below.
1902 C. J. Cornish Naturalist on Thames 150 Of the rock-fowl, the puffins fly away to the Mediterranean.
1948 D. A. Bannerman Birds Trop. W. Afr. VI. 113 A glance at Mr Lodge's picture in this volume will give..some idea of the remarkable appearance of one of the species of Bare-headed Rock-Fowls—the colloquial name which I suggest may henceforth be applied to it.
1991 P. Matthiessen Afr. Silences ii. 56 Then comes the shoebill stork, the lyre-tailed honeyguide and the bare-headed rock fowl.
rock goose n. now historical the kelp goose, Chloephaga hybrida.
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1839 C. Darwin in R. Fitzroy & C. Darwin Narr. Surv. Voy. H.M.S. Adventure & Beagle III. xii. 257 The rock-goose, so called from living exclusively on the sea-beach (Anas antarctica), is common both here [in the Falklands] and on the west coast of America.
1876 Proc. Zool. Soc. 369 It lives exclusively on rocky parts of the sea-coast; hence the name ‘Rock-Goose’, given to it by sailors.
1942 Jrnl. Heredity 33 136/2 Darwin commented on the same sort of sexual color dimorphism in the wild Rock Goose, Bernicla antarctica.
rock grouse n. (a) = rock ptarmigan n. (now historical); †(b) (in India) a sandgrouse (genus Pterocles) (obsolete).
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the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Tetraonidae (grouse) > [noun] > genus Lagopus > lagopus mutus (ptarmigan)
ptarmigan1599
white partridge1610
snow-hen1648
white game1678
lagopus1693
grey fowl1712
rype1744
white grouse1771
rock grouse1785
tanmerack1792
ripa1830
snow-grouse1884
lagopode1901
the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Columbiformes (pigeons, etc.) > [noun] > family Pteroclidae (sand-grouse) > pterocles namaqua (Namaqua sandgrouse)
Namaqua partridge1790
Namaqua grouse1801
rock grouse1864
Namaqua sandgrouse1891
1785 T. Pennant Arctic Zool. II. ii. 312 Rock..Grous... Never takes shelter in the woods, but sits on the rocks, or burrows in the snow.
1831 Richardson in Wilson's Amer. Ornith. IV. 330 The rock grouse, in its manners and mode of living, resembles the willow grouse.
1864 T. C. Jerdon Game Birds & Wild Fowl of India 8 The Sand-grouse or Rock-grouse [are] commonly called Rock-pigeons in India.
1885 E. Balfour Cycl. India (ed. 3) III. 302/2 Pterocles.., the sand grouse or rock grouse of Europeans in India.
1889 M. Reid Young Voyageurs (new ed.) xxxiv. 327 It is a larger bird than the other, which is ‘the rock-grouse’ (Tetrao rupestris). Both are sometimes, though erroneously, called ‘ptarmigan’.
1921 A. F. R. Wollaston Life Alfred Newton x. 176 Edwards described and figured under the name of ‘Rock Grouse’ a Ptarmigan from Hudson's Bay.
rock hawk n. chiefly Scottish (now rare) the merlin, Falco columbarius.The name was supposed by some authors (as in quot. 1792) to refer to a bird distinct from the merlin.
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1792 New Syst. Nat. Hist. II. ii. 123 It [sc. the merlin] nearly resembles the hobby, the rock hawk, and the kestril; these small species run so near into each other, that naturalists can hardly distinguish the species from the varieties of the same bird.
1840 W. Macgillivray Hist. Brit. Birds III. 317 Falco Æsalon, the Merlin Falcon. Stone Falcon. Rock Hawk.
1863 H. G. Adams Birds of Prey 46 The Merlin..makes its..nest..in the holes generally amid pieces of rock, hence one of its common names, Stone or Rock Hawk.
1902 A. Thomson Lauder & Lauderdale xxviii. 276 Merlin. Falco æsalon—Rock Hawk. By no means rare in Lauderdale.
rock jumper n. any of several South African songbirds of uncertain affinity, now usually treated as two species of the genus Chaetops (family Chaetopidae), the males of which have boldly marked heads and rufous underparts; spec. C. frenatus (which incorporates the former C. aurantius); cf. rock-babbler n.
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1901 A. C. Stark Birds S. Afr. II. 165 Mr Andersson gives the following account of the habits of this Rock-Jumper in Damara Land.
1973 Auk 90 22 The star performers are the Morning Warbler..(Cichladusa arquata) and the Damara Rock Jumper (Achaetops pycnopygius).
1997 B. McCrea et al. S. Afr.: Rough Guide 310 The region is especially good for raptors (notably the rare lammergeier and Cape vulture), as well as orange-breasted rock jumpers and ground woodpeckers.
rock-lark n. now rare the rock pipit, Anthus petrosus; (also, by confusion) the meadow pipit, A. campestris.
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > non-arboreal (larks, etc.) > [noun] > family Motacillidae > genus Anthus > anthus spinoletta (water-pipit)
sea-lark1602
rock-lark1771
rock pipit1830
water pipit1831
shore pipit1837
sea-titling1872
tang-sparrow1880
1771 T. Pennant Tour Scotl. 1769 36 Besides these birds, I observe the following [in the Farn Islands]:..Jackdaws, which breed in rabbet-holes, Rock Pigeons, Rock Larks.
1822 Ann. Philos. New Ser. 4 301 Alauda Campestris... Field or Rock Lark... A better arrangement,—of at least vernacular names, might be contrived... This would lead to the expunging of rock lark, as the bird cannot be one and the other.
1831 J. Rennie Montagu's Ornithol. Dict. (ed. 2) 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.
1888 J. M. E. Saxby Lads of Lunda 259 I'll never kill a rock-lark while I live.
1911 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 219/1 The mud-lark, rock-lark, tit-lark and tree-lark are pipits.
† rock manakin n. Obsolete the Guianan cock-of-the-rock, Rupicola rupicola.
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > [noun] > family Pipridae (manakin)
manakin1743
rock manakin1783
1783 J. Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds II. ii. 518 Rock Manakin, Pipra rupicola,..inhabits various parts of Surinam, Cayenne, & Guiana, in rocky situations.
1852 T. Ross tr. A. von Humboldt Personal Narr. Trav. Amer. II. xix. 210 The rock-manakin with gilded plumage (Pipra rupicola), one of the most beautiful birds of the tropics.
1855 C. Kingsley Westward Ho! xxiii. 406 The rock manakin, with its saffron plumage, flitted before him from stone to stone, calling cheerily, and seeming to lead him on.
rock martin n. any of several martins and swallows that frequent cliffs, rocky outcrops, etc.; spec. (originally) the crag martin, Ptyonoprogne rupestris, or (in later use) the dark brown P. fuligula of Africa, which also nests on man-made structures; cf. rock swallow n.
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1842 Penny Cycl. XXIII. 363/1 The European species of this family are the Swift..; the Rock-Martin [etc.].
1883 A. Newton in Encycl. Brit. XV. 581/2 The Rock-Martin of Europe, Hirundo or Biblis rupestris.
1947 Jrnl. Animal Ecol. 16 205/2 In the swallows and rock-martins there is danger in nests not under continuous observation that first flyings will go undetected.
2009 Guardian Unlimited (Nexis) 9 Mar. It is the female Taita falcon.., busily devouring some unfortunate rock martin which passed too close.
† rock martinet n. Obsolete rare a martin or swift that frequents rocks, buildings, etc.
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1544 W. Turner Avium Præcipuarum sig. F2 Minores [apodes] Angli uocant rok martinettes or chirche martnettes... Tertium genus, quod in ripis nidulatur, Angli a bank martnet..nominant.
rock parakeet n. (a) the rock parrot, Neophema petrophila, of Australia; (b) the black-capped parakeet, Pyrrhura rupicola, of South America.
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1844 J. Gould Birds Austral. (1848) V. Pl. 40 Euphema petrophila, Gould. Rock Grass-Parrakeet... Rock Parrakeet, Colonists of Swan River.
1905 Emu 4 131 Neophema petrophila (Rock-Parrakeet)... For a nesting site it takes advantage of any natural hollow in the limestone rock.
1970 R. M. de Schauensee Guide Birds S. Amer. 102/2 Rock Parakeet Pyrrhura rupicola... Tail entirely green... Subtropical zone.
1985 B. R. Hutchins & R. H. Lovell Austral. Parrots 165 Rock Parrot Neophema petrophila (Gould). Also known as rock grass-parrakeet, rock-parrakeet and rock elegant.
2003 B. Box & A. Murphy Peru Handbk. (ed. 4) 547 Then..a brightly coloured group of, say, Rock Parakeets dashes out of a fruiting tree.
rock parrot n. a parrot that frequents rocky places; spec. a mainly olive-coloured grass parrot, Neophema petrophila, found on coasts and islands of south and south-west Australia; cf. rock parakeet n.
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1860 M. Reid Ran Away to Sea xvii. 103 There are rock-parrots both in Africa and America, as well as those that dwell only in trees.
1867 ‘Colonist’ Life's Work 118 Many of the parrots are most gorgeous in plumage..blue mountain parrots, rock parrots, ground parrots.
1929 A. H. Chisholm Birds & Green Places 98 The rock-parrot, a small bird confined to the coast of south-west Australia, breeds in cavities in rocks and earth.
2008 Canberra Times (Nexis) 30 Apr. a4 The award-winning film partnership has filmed..rock parrots braving gale-force salt-laden coastal winds.
rock partridge n. any of various game birds that frequent rocky places; esp. (a) any of several partridges of the genus Alectoris of Eurasia and North Africa, spec. A. graeca of southern Europe; (b) chiefly Newfoundland the rock ptarmigan, Lagopus mutus.
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1724 B. Stibbs Jrnl. 22 Feb. in F. Moore Trav. Inland Afr. (1738) 287 Thereabouts are great Stocks of diverse Sorts of Game, particularly Rock Partridges: I call them so, as being mostly amongst Rocks and Precipices.
a1792 S. Hearne Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort (1795) x. 416 Rock Partridges. This species of Grouse are in Winter of the same colour as the former [sc. Willow Partridges].
1841 Jrnl. Royal Geogr. Soc. 11 9 We..dined upon rock partridges (perdix petrosa) killed at Ḳal'ah Sherḳát.
1876 J. P. Howley Geogr. Newfoundland 60 Rock Ptarmigan..inhabiting only the highest and barest mountain ridges; it is called here ‘Rock’ or ‘Mountain Partridge’.
1951 H. S. Peters & T. D. Burleigh Birds Newfoundland 152 Local names: Partridge, Ptarmigan, Rock Partridge, Rocker.
1993 Acta Ornithologica 28 97 (title) Nesting biology of the rock partridge Alectoris graeca graeca in northern Greece.
rock plover n. (a) U.S. regional and Caribbean the ruddy turnstone, Arenaria interpres; †(b) Irish English the grey plover, Pluvialis squatarola (obsolete); (c) U.S. regional the purple sandpiper, Calidris maritima (cf. rock sandpiper n., rock snipe n.) (rare).
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1778 C. Blagden Let. in Bull. N.Y. Publ. Libr. (1903) 7 431 Rock-Plover, confounded also under the comprehensive name of beach-bird. It frequent[s] the rocky parts of the sea coast & the grassy fields near it.
1847 Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 20 375 Strepsilas interpres, Linn. (Rock Plover.)... Migratory and very rare [on Tobago].
1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 181 Grey Plover... Its habit of frequenting the sea-shore has obtained for it the names..Stone plover (North and South Ireland). Rock plover (Wexford).
1888 G. Trumbull Names & Portraits Birds 182 It [sc. the Purple Sandpiper] is the Rock-bird, Rock-Plover, and Rock Snipe at Rowley and Salem, Mass.
1918 D. B. Macmillan Four Years in White North Appendix VI. 408 Arenaria interpres interpres. Turnstone. Calico-back. Chicken plover. Rock-plover. Brant-bird. Checkered snipe. Red-legged plover.
1998 Facts (Clute, Texas) 15 Feb. 3 c/1 The rock plover. A bird that comes in a variety of sizes and can be found squatting on the beaches of South Texas, usually at dawn.
rock ptarmigan n. (originally) a ptarmigan of the main North American subspecies Lagopus mutus rupestris, formerly thought to be a distinct species, L. rupestris; (in later use) the common ptarmigan, L. mutus; cf. rock grouse n., rock partridge n.Now used as the standard name for L. mutus in international listings.
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1819 J. F. Stephens Shaw's Gen. Zool. XI. ii. 290 Rock Ptarmigan. (Lagopus rupestris.).
1872 E. Coues Key to N. Amer. Birds 235 Rock Ptarmigan. Tail black,..with a black transocular stripe.
1937 Auk 54 22 The Rock Ptarmigan is a common breeding bird on all the islands of the Button group.
2003 Birder's World Apr. 31 The tundra is also home to such cold-weather birds as the Gyrfalcon.., Snowy Owl, Rock and Willow Ptarmigan, and..Snow and McKay's Buntings.
rock sandpiper n. (originally) †the purple sandpiper, Calidris maritima (obsolete); (in later use) the very similar C. ptilocnemis, of rocky shores on the coasts of the North Pacific; cf. rock plover n., rock snipe n.
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the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Scolopacidae (snipes, etc.) > [noun] > genus Calidris > calidris maritima (purple sandpiper)
stone-pecker1731
red-legged sandpiper1785
red-leg1798
purple sandpiper1802
rock snipe1835
rock sandpiper1842
rock-bird1917
the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Scolopacidae (snipes, etc.) > [noun] > genus Calidris > calidris ptilocnemis (rock sandpiper)
rock snipe1835
rock sandpiper1842
1842 W. Jardine Nat. Hist. Birds Great Brit. & Ireland (Naturalist's Libr.: Ornithol. XII) III. 236 (heading) The Purple or Rock Sandpiper.
1862 C. A. Johns Brit. Birds Index Rock Sandpiper, the Purple Sandpiper.
a1899 E. Coues Key to N. Amer. Birds (1903) II. 817 Feather-leg Sandpipers. Rock Sandpipers.
1990 Condor 92 709 The [Yukon-Kuskokwim] delta supports large fractions of the Pacific Rim or world populations of Bar-tailed Godwits..and Rock Sandpipers.
† rock shrike n. Obsolete the Siberian jay, Perisorius infaustus; cf. rock crow n. (a).
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1781 J. Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds I. i. 176 Rock S[hrike]. Lanius infaustus, Lin... This is met with in many parts of Europe, from Italy on the one hand, to Russia on the other.
1809 G. Shaw Gen. Zool. VII. ii. 302 Rock shrike. Lanius infaustus... This bird is a native of the north of Europe, and is found as high as Lapland.
rock snipe n. U.S. regional the purple sandpiper, Calidris maritima; cf. rock plover n., rock sandpiper n.
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the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Scolopacidae (snipes, etc.) > [noun] > genus Calidris > calidris maritima (purple sandpiper)
stone-pecker1731
red-legged sandpiper1785
red-leg1798
purple sandpiper1802
rock snipe1835
rock sandpiper1842
rock-bird1917
the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Scolopacidae (snipes, etc.) > [noun] > genus Calidris > calidris ptilocnemis (rock sandpiper)
rock snipe1835
rock sandpiper1842
1835 J. J. Audubon Ornithol. Biogr. III. 558 Their marked predilection for rocky shores has caused them to be named ‘Rock Snipes’ by the gunners of our eastern coast.
1888 G. Trumbull Names & Portraits Birds 182 It is the Rock-bird, Rock-Plover, and Rock Snipe at Rowley and Salem, Mass.
1917 T. G. Pearson Birds Amer. I. 232 Purple Sandpiper... Other Names.—Rock Sandpiper; Rock Snipe.
1956 Bull. Mass. Audubon Soc. 40 19 Purple Sandpiper... Rock Snipe (Maine, Mass. It frequents sea-washed rocks.).
rock sparrow n. (a) any of several brownish grey Old World sparrows of (or formerly of) the genus Petronia (family Ploceidae), which frequent rocky country (frequently with distinguishing word); esp. P. petronia, found from Portugal and Morocco to Central Asia; (b) U.S. a rufous-crowned sparrow of the subspecies Aimophila ruficeps eremoeca (family Emberizidae) (now rare).
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1862 C. R. Bree Hist. Birds Europe III. 121 The Rock Sparrow is an inhabitant of the warm and temperate regions of Europe.
1892 Wilson Q. 4 32 Peucœa ruficeps eremœca. This rare south-western sub-species is recorded..as accidental at Decatur, Texas.
1932 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 1931 83 73 Gymnoris pyrgita massaica Neum. Kenya Rock-Sparrow. 1 ♂, Serronea River, Ikoma region, Tanganyika Territory.
1942 Condor 44 115 Aimophila ruficeps eremoeca. Rock Sparrow. Fairly common summer resident of the canyons.
1992 Sandgrouse 14 51 (title) A record of pale rock sparrow Carpospiza brachydactyla in Yemen.
rock swallow n. now rare any of various swallows and martins that nest on cliffs; esp. the crag martin, Ptyonoprogne rupestris; cf. rock martin n.
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > non-arboreal (larks, etc.) > [noun] > family Hirundinidae > genus Hirundo > other types of
rock swallow1783
1783 J. Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds II. ii. 569 Hirundo rupestris,..Rock Sw[allow].
1880 L. Wallace Ben-Hur 7 Lark and chat and rock-swallow leaped to wing.
1938 Bird-banding 6 162 (heading) Observations on the life history of the rock swallow.
2000 Bull. School Oriental & Afr. Stud. 63 250 Despite Zoetmulder's initial identification of the didali as a kind of rock-swallow.., he is more careful in his dictionary.
rock swift n. U.S. (now rare) the white-throated swift, Aeronautes saxatalis, of south-western North America (more fully white-throated rock swift).
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1853 S. W. Woodhouse in Rep. Exped. Zuni & Colorado Rivers (U.S. Army Corps Topogr. Engineers) 35 I propose for it the name of the Rock Swift, (Acanthylis saxatilis).
1874 E. Coues Birds Northwest 265 White-throated or Rock Swift.
1923 Amer. Catholic Q. Rev. 48 321 In America there is the white-throated rock swift found in the south-western states of Wyoming, Utah and Nevada.
rock warbler n. a small Australian songbird, Origma solitaria (family Acanthizidae), having brown upperparts and rufous underparts, and inhabiting rocky gullies and caves in New South Wales.
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1813 J. W. Lewin Birds New S. Wales 3 Rock Warbler..frequents caverns inaccessible to Mankind, and deep rocky Gullies, creeping in the Cavities and Chasms.
1864–5 J. G. Wood Homes without Hands (1868) xii. 215 The bird..is called indifferently the Rock Warbler, or the Cataract Bird.
1945 C. Barrett Austral. Bird Life 195 With headquarters in the neighbourhood of Sydney, the rock-warbler (Origma rubricata) is confined to the Hawkesbury sandstone area.
1986 Sydney Morning Herald 15 Jan. 13/3 The rock warbler, a diminutive reddish-brown bird with a golden voice.
rock wren n. (a) a wren, Salpinctes obsoletus (family Troglodytidae), with pale underparts, found in western North America and in Central America; (b) a New Zealand wren, Xenicus gilviventris (family Acanthisittidae or Xenicidae), with a very short tail, of alpine and subalpine areas of South Island.
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > non-arboreal (larks, etc.) > [noun] > family Troglodytidae > other types of
marsh wren1791
rock wren1838
cactus wren1869
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > [noun] > family Acanthisittidae (rock wren)
New Zealand wren1861
rifleman1871
bush-wren1887
rock wren1966
1838 J. J. Audubon Ornithol. Biogr. IV. 443 Rock Wren. Troglodytes Obsoletus, Say.
1882 W. L. Buller Man. Birds N.Z. 15 Xenicus Gilviventris, Rock-wren.
1946 D. C. Peattie Road of Naturalist (U.K. ed.) iii. 39 The rock wrens and the canyon wrens..watered the air with rapture.
1966 R. 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.
2007 J. L. Gould & C. G. Gould Animal Architects vii. 218 Rock wrens, one species of phoebe, and a wheatear do the same.
d. In names of fishes.
rock bass n. (a) any of various sea basses (family Serranidae); esp. (in later use) those of North American waters such as the kelp bass, Paralabrax clathratus; (b) any of various American freshwater sunfishes of the family Centrarchidae; spec. Ambloplites rupestris, which is found chiefly in rocky streams.
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?1740 Importance Jamaica to Great-Brit. 39 There are also Spanish Mackerell.., Drummers, Rock-bass Herrings, Barracodas, [etc.].]
1792 J. Watkins Ess. Hist. Bideford i. 9 There is a kind of Bass peculiar to this river, called Rock-Bass, which is of a most delightful flavour.
?1811 C. A. Lesueur Hist. Poissons iii. 88 Le centrarchus..sous le nom anglais de ‘rock basse’.
1884 D. S. Jordan in G. B. Goode et al. Fisheries U.S.: Sect. I 413 The Cabrilla—Serranus clathratus. This species is called at Monterey..the ‘Kelp Salmon’; farther South it is known to the ‘Americans’ usually as ‘Rock bass’.
1920 L. St. John Pract. Fly Fishing 116 The rock bass is a willing riser to the fly.
1994 Outdoor Canada Summer 57/2 We ended up at Piper's Dam, a great spot for rock bass and channel catfish.
† rock-beard n. Obsolete rare an American fish with barbels around the mouth (not identified).
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1704 Nat. Hist. iii, in L. Wafer New Voy. & Descr. Isthmus Amer. (ed. 2) 196 The Rock-beard. Is fat and good Meat, easily skinn'd.
rock blackfish n. †(a) U.S. the rock sea bass, Centropristis philadelphica (family Serranidae) (obsolete); (b) the black drummer, Girella elevata (family Kyphosidae), of rocky coastal waters of Australia and New Zealand.
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1793 J. Morse Amer. Geogr. 202/3 (table) Rock black fish.
1884 G. B. Goode in G. B. Goode et al. Fisheries U.S.: Sect. I 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.
1908 D. G. Stead Edible Fishes New South Wales 52 When freshly taken, the Rock Blackfish is of a dull slaty-blue.
1992 Jrnl. Fish Biol. 41 749 (title) Patterns of increment width and strontium:calcium ratios in otoliths of juvenile rock blackfish, Girella elevata.
rock codling n. a young or small cod, usually Gadus morhua, that frequents rocky places, esp. (Scottish) when of a red colour.
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1754 A. Cook Professed Cookery 110 Take a Rock Codling and cut out the Back-bone.
1836 J. Richardson Fauna Boreali-Americana III. 246 The rock codling.., which they take near Cape Isabella.
1883 All Year Round 12 May 441/1 Clean run salmon, cod.., flounders, rock-codling, and many another, are carefully collected by the fishers.
1999 Evening News (Edinb.) (Nexis) 12 June 23 Shore fishing at Eyemouth and St Abbs is producing some rock codling.
rock eel n. (a) = rock gunnel n.; (b) British (a fishmongers' name for) the lesser spotted dogfish or rough hound, Scyliorhinus canicula.
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the world > animals > fish > subclass Elasmobranchii > order Pleurotremata > [noun] > family Scyliorhinidae > member of genus Scyliorhinus (rock-fish)
dogfishc1450
rough hound1602
morgya1667
robin huss1836
rock salmon1928
rockfish1934
rock eel1969
rock1977
the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > [noun] > suborder Blennioidei > anarrhicas lupus (wolf-fish)
sea-wolf1390
wolf's-foot1443
wolf-fish1569
swine-fish1598
sea-cat1601
catfish1620
stone-biter1731
rock salmon1831
swine1844
Murray catfish1873
rock eel1969
1861 C. B. Bagster Progress & Prospects Prince Edward Island xviii. 97 The Angecillidæ [sic], or Eel family,..comprise the common Eel, the Sea Eel, the Rock Eel, the American Sand Launce, and doubtless several kinds yet to be added.
1890 Science Apr. 212/1 The sea-raven, the rock-eel, and the wry-mouth, which inhabit these brilliant groves, are all colored to match their surroundings.
1950 Auk 67 483 The chick takes the rock eel head first from the parent's bill and swallows it whole.
1969 A. Wheeler Fishes Brit. Isles & N.-W. Europe 46/1 The dogfish..is sold as rock eel and rock salmon.
2008 Northern Echo (Nexis) 12 Feb. 36 By 1pm we were eating rock eel and chips.
rock flounder n. any of several flatfishes, spec.: (a) the lemon sole or smear dab, Microstomus kitt (now rare); (b) U.S. the rock sole, Lepidopsetta bilineata.
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1746 R. Griffiths Ess. Jurisdict. Thames 289/2 Index Rock Flounders. See Flounder.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Craig-flook, the smear-dab, or rock-flounder.
1911 S. W. Mitchell John Sherwood ix. 111 We anchored in the lee of the island..and had a prosperous take of cod, haddock and rock flounders.
2006 Progressive Grocer (Nexis) 1 Sept. The nine most common commercial flounders and soles are as follows:..Lemon sole (winter flounder): North Atlantic... Rock sole (rock flounder) Pacific Ocean. [etc.]
rock goby n. either of two gobies of rocky coastal waters of the north-east Atlantic and Mediterranean: (a) English regional (south-western) the black goby, Gobius niger (now rare); (b) the similar G. paganellus, which is greyish-black.
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1838 J. Couch Cornish Fauna i. 37 Rock Goby, Gobius niger..Miller's Thumb, Black Goby.
1863 J. Couch Hist. Fishes Brit. Islands II. 153 An example..which differed..greatly in appearance from what is usual with the Rock Goby.
1963 R. M. Nance Gloss. Cornish Sea-words 115 Mole, the black goby, Gobius niger Linn. and the rock goby, Gobius paganellus Linn. (Couch).
2003 Cornishman (Nexis) 28 Aug. 7 Rock-poolers were able to see velvet swimming crabs, hermit crabs, sucker fish, rock gobies and various anemones.
rock grenadier n. rare the round-nosed grenadier or rat-tail, Coryphaenoides rupestris (family Macrouridae), of the North Atlantic.
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1836 J. Richardson Fauna Boreali-Americana III. 254 Macrourus rupestris, Rock Grenadier.
1981 Copeia No. 3. 570/1 (caption) Lactate dehydrogenase isozymes of the rock grenadier (Coryphaenoides rupestris).
rock gunnel n. originally North American a small elongated fish, Pholis gunnellus (family Pholidae), which is reddish-brown with a row of black eyespots, found commonly off rocky shores of the North Atlantic; also called butterfish, rock eel.
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1960 List Common & Sci. Names Fishes U.S. & Canada (Amer. Fisheries Soc. Special Publ. No. 2) (ed. 2) 43 Rock gunnel..Pholis gunnellus (Linnaeus).
1961 E. S. Herald Living Fishes of World 239/2 The rock gunnel, Pholis gunnellus, sometimes called butterfish, is a common 6- to 12-inch inshore species found on both sides of the North Atlantic.
1999 S. E. Goodman Ultimate Field Trip 3: Wading into Marine Biol. 13 (caption) Rock gunnels hide in crevices and under rocks and seaweed.
rock gurnard n. (a) the streaked gurnard, Trigloporus lastoviza (family Triglidae), of the eastern Atlantic; (b) New Zealand the red gurnard perch, Helicolenus percoides (family Sebastidae) (rare); cf. rock gurnet n.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > order Scorpaeniformes (scorpion-fish) > [noun] > family Triglidae (gurnards) > genus Trigla > trigla lineata (French gurnard)
French gurnard1836
rock gurnard1836
rabbitfish1880
1836 W. Yarrell Hist. Brit. Fishes I. 41 French Gurnard, and Rock gurnard.
1880–4 F. Day Fishes Great Brit. & Ireland I. 57 Streaked gurnard:..rock gurnard: rabbit fish.
1981 J. C. Wilson N.Z. Fisherman's Bible 118 The Sea Perch is sometimes called a Rock Gurnard.
1986 Jrnl. Appl. Ichthyol. 2 75 The rock gurnard stock was overfished in Saronikos Gulf.
rock gurnet n. Australian (now rare) †(a) the sergeant baker, Aulopus purpurissatus (family Aulopidae) (obsolete rare); (b) the red gurnard perch, Helicolenus percoides (family Sebastidae); cf. rock gurnard n.; (c) the fortescue, Centropogon australis (family Tetrarogidae) rare.Sense (c) is apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.
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1872 Proc. Zool. & Acclimatisation Soc. Victoria 1872 173 There are only two specimens [of Aulopus purpurissatus] I have seen; one was called by a fishmonger Rock Gurnet.
1882 Papers & Proc. Royal Soc. Tasmania 1881 79 The Rock Gurnet (Sebastes percoides), found more abundantly in the northern coasts, is held in great esteem for the table.
1906 D. G. Stead Fishes Austral. 192 The Red Gurnet-Perch is not uncommon along the coasts of New South Wales and Victoria... In Tasmania it is known as ‘Rock Gurnet’.
1911 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Rock-gurnet, the fortescue.
rock hind n. an edible grouper of the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean, Epinephelus adscensionis, having olive brown coloration with dark spots.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > family Serranidae (sea-bass) > [noun] > member of genus Serranus
comber1769
serran1803
rock hind1836
gaper1889
1836 T. Rolph Brief Acct. W. Indies iv. 38 There is a great quantity of fish caught on this coast, the grouper, the snapper, the rock hind, the kingfish.., &c.
1883 Official Catal. Internat. Fisheries Exhib. (ed. 4) 179 Flying Fish and Jack Fish are good eating, and likewise the Rock Hind.
1942 National Geographic Mag. June (Picture Insert) (caption) Displayed for sale on a bed of weed are parrotfish, angelfish, rock hind, [etc.].
1995 Bull. Marine Sci. 56 784 The maximum age estimated for red hind was 11 years, compared with 12 years for rock hind.
† rock-native n. Australian Obsolete a large snapper or squirefish, Chrysophrys auratus (family Sparidae); = native n. 7d.
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1880 Rep. Comm. Fishing New S. Wales 11 At a still greater age the Schnapper..becomes what is known as the ‘Native’ and ‘Rock Native’, a solitary and sometimes enormously large fish.
1898 E. E. Morris Austral Eng. 392/1 Rock-Native or Native, a name given to the fish called a Schnapper when it has ceased to ‘school’.
rock perch n. (a) any of several North American freshwater fishes; esp. the white bass, Morone chrysops (family Moronidae); †(b) Australian a damselfish, the Victorian scalyfin, Parma victoriae (family Pomacentridae) (obsolete); (c) any of various scorpionfishes (family Scorpaenidae) of the Indo-Pacific.
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1704 Nat. Hist. iii, in L. Wafer New Voy. & Descr. Isthmus Amer. (ed. 2) 202 The Rock-Pearch. Its Head is covered with a rough Crust, Flesh coloured, the rest silvery.
1843 C. B. Trego Geogr. Pennsylvania i. viii. 79 Rock-perch (Perca chrysops) is rare.
1863 Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 11 116 Glyphidodon Victoriæ... The ‘Rock-Perch’ of the Colonists.
1898 E. E. Morris Austral Eng. 392/2 Rock-Perch, the name given in Melbourne to the fish Glyphidodon victoriæ,..family Pomacentridæ, or Coral-fishes. It is not a true Perch.
1904 J. R. A. Davis Nat. Hist. Animals VII. lxv. 171 (caption) Indian Rock Perch (Minous inermis) with Commensal Polypes (Stylactis minoi).
1970 J. H. Sorensen Nomencl. N.Z. Fish 40 Perch, (two species) (a) Scientific name: (i) Scorpaena cardinalis... (c) Other common names: (i) Rock Perch; Jock Stewarts.
2000 Independent on Sunday (Nexis) 5 Nov. (Sport section) 15 As well as largemouth bass, the ponds hold rock perch, golden shiners, bluegills, pickerel, pumpkinseeds, channel catfish and carp.
† rock podler n. Obsolete rare the pollack Pollachius pollachius.
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1769 J. Wallis Nat. Hist. Northumberland I. 384 Whiting-Pollack.., Rock Podler.
† rock pouter n. Obsolete rare the pouting or bib, Trisopterus luscus.
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1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 16 Nov. 6/3 Small haddocks and rock pouters—cheap, common fish—are often..sold at a high price for whiting.
rock sea bass n. a small sea bass, Centropristis philadelphica (family Serranidae), of the western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.
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1896 D. S. Jordan & B. W. Evermann Fishes N. & Middle Amer. (Bull. U.S. National Mus. No. 47) i. 1201 Centropristes philadelphicus (Linnæus). (Rock Sea Bass.)
1944 Copeia No. 2. 89 Centropristes philadelphicus (Linnaeus): rock sea bass.—recorded from a location approximately due south of Galveston and due east of Rockport.
2007 P. Johnson Fish Forever 51/1 Black sea bass is more likely to be sold in upscale markets... The rock sea bass (C. philadelphica) and bank sea bass (C. oxyura) are found from south of the Carolinas into the Gulf of Mexico... From a culinary standpoint, all can be treated alike.
rock-shark n. now rare the nurse hound, Scyliorhinus stellaris.
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1804 G. Shaw Gen. Zool. V. 336 Rock shark, Squalus stellaris... Native of the European seas.
1858 A. M. Redfield Zoöl. Sci. 587 The species S[cyllium] catulus is sometimes called the Rock-Shark.
1900 Ann. Sc. Nat. Hist. 52 The species is known as hound dog-fish or rock-shark, S. catulus.
rockskipper n. any of various small blennies (family Blenniidae) of the Indo-Pacific which are able to scramble over rocks by means of stout pectoral fins; cf. mudskipper n.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > [noun] > suborder Gobioidei > family Gobiidae > member of genus Periophthalmus (mud-skipper)
mudskipper1860
mudhopper1896
rockskipper1905
1905 D. S. Jordan Guide 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.
1966 C. 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.
1998 S. Afr. Jrnl. Zool. 33 115 A larger and more diverse group of blennies.., some of which are called rockskippers, occur in mainly rocky habitats.
rock sole n. (a) Scottish and Irish English the common sole, Solea solea, or a variety of it; (b) the flatfish Lepidopsetta bilineata (family Pleuronectidae), found off North Pacific coasts.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > order Pleuronectiformes (flat-fish) > [noun] > family Pleuronectidae > miscellaneous types of
sandnecker1835
town-dab1836
rock sole1850
sand-sucker1862
Greenland halibut1872
whiff1873
greenback1947
1850 in Proc. Nat. Hist. Soc. Dublin 1 (1860) 134 Mr. O'Connell had noticed this character of sole taken on long lines off Darrynane, where it was known by the name of rock-sole.
1867 Edinb. Evening Courant 14 Oct. 4/7 (table) Edinburgh Provision Market... Fish... Rock Soles, each. 0 4.
1882 Proc. U.S. National Mus. 1881 4 68 Lepidopsetta bilineata (Ayres) Lock.—Rock Sole.
1903 G. Sim Vertbr. Fauna of Dee 248 Solea vulgaris... ‘Common Sole’. ‘Rock Sole’... Not an abundant species.
1965 A. J. McClane Standard Fishing Encycl. 730/2 Rock sole are only occasionally taken by hook and line.
1998 Jrnl. Sea Res. 39 113 When habitat overlap occurred between the species, it was most often due to rock sole moving offshore in the winter.
† rock sparus n. Obsolete rare the goldsinny wrasse, Ctenolabrus rupestris (family Labridae).
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1803 G. Shaw Gen. Zool. IV. ii. 448 Rock Sparus. Sparus Rupestris... Native of the Northern seas, frequenting the shores: size of a small Perch: from the eyes to the mouth on each side three blue stripes.
rock sturgeon n. North American any sturgeon found in lakes; esp. the lake sturgeon, Acipenser fulvescens.
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the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > subclass Actinopterygii > [noun] > infraclass Chondrostei > order Acipenseriformes > member of genus Acipenser
sevruga1591
sterlet1591
acipenser1614
hausen1745
osetr1753
rock sturgeon1842
1842 Z. Thompson Hist. Vermont i. 150/1 This fish [sc. Acipenser oxyrhynchus] is occasionally taken in lake Champlain, and is here known by the name of Rock Sturgeon.
1877 C. Hallock Sportsman's Gazetteer i. 329 Rock Sturgeon.—Acipenser rubicundus. This is the sturgeon of the great lakes.
1941 Copeia No. 3. 160 The rangers at Sturgeon Lake had pictures of a rock sturgeon, about 4 feet in length.
1983 G. C. Becker Fishes Wisconsin 221 Lake Sturgeon... Other common names..rock sturgeon (usually the long-snouted, obviously plated young).
rock-sucker n. any of various fishes that attach themselves to rocks with a sucker, or that feed by sucking among rocks.Frequently as a gloss of the genus name Petromyzon (sea lampreys).
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1844 W. S. W. Ruschenberger Elements Herpetol. & Ichthyol. Gloss. 141/1 Petromyzon, from the Greek petra, rock, and muzô, I suck. Rock-sucker. Systematic name of the lampreys.]
1851 Rep. State Colonial Possessions 314 in Parl. Papers XXXIV. 99 [Trading junks] from various ports of the coast, reaching from Tien-tsin to Hainan Island..[carrying] betel-leaf, dried fish, blubber-fish, rock-suckers, biche-de-mer, [etc.].
1879 tr. E. Haeckel Evol. Man I. xiii. 427 The other group is formed by the well-known Lampreys, or Rock-Suckers (Petromyzonta).
1883 Trans. Ottawa Field-naturalists' Club No. 4. 38 The rock Sucker (a variety [of the common sucker]) has a firm flesh, and is freer from small bones.
1935 Ecol. Monogr. 5 274 (list) Biome Prevalents or Predominants... Influents... With preference for open sandy areas... Liparis fucensis Gir., rock sucker.
1985 A. Wheeler World Encycl. Fishes (ed. 2) 157/2 Chorismochismus dentex Rock-sucker. Gobiesocidae... This is the largest of the whole family of clingfishes.
rock toadfish n. U.S. (now rare) the sea raven, Hemitripterus americanus.
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1884 G. B. Goode in G. B. Goode et al. Fisheries U.S.: Sect. I 258 There is also..a large, brilliantly colored form [of sculpin], known as the ‘Sea raven’, ‘Rock Toad-fish’, or ‘Deep-water Sculpin’.
1908 C. Bradford Angler's Guide p. xxviii Rock Toad-Fish: See Sea Raven.
rock trout n. (a) New Zealand any of several New Zealand freshwater fishes of the genus Galaxias (family Galaxiidae), esp. the giant kokopu, G. argenteus, and the inanga, G. maculatus (now historical); (b) U.S. any of various greenlings (family Hexagrammidae) of the east Pacific, esp. of the genus Hexagrammos (now rare).
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1843 J. E. Gray in E. Dieffenbach Trav. N.Z. II. 219 Galaxias alepidotus... Named by the natives of Dusky Bay ‘He-para’, and by Cook's sailors ‘Rock-trout’.
1867 Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 20 305 The settlers of at least some parts of New Zealand have dignified the larger kinds with the name of ‘trout’ or ‘rock-trout’.
1876 G. B. Goode Animal Resources U.S. 65 Rock trout (Chirus constellatus).
1945 J. H. Beattie Maori Place-names Canterbury 63 The panako is the rock trout, and is nearly extinct.
1955 Gloss. (U.S. Arctic Information Center) 67 Rock trout, an Alaskan term for several marine food fishes of the genus Hexagrammos of the North Pacific coasts.
1956 D. H. Graham Treasury N.Z. Fishes (ed. 2) 118 Minnow or Whitebait (Inanga) Austrocobitis attenuatus... The early settlers called it Maori Trout, Native Trout, Rock Trout and Minnow.
rock whiting n. †(a) any of several fishes of the family Gadidae; esp. the young of the saithe, Pollachius virens (obsolete); (b) any of several fishes of the family Odacidae, esp. Haletta semifasciata of southern Australian waters.In quot. 1845: a whiting of the genus Sillago (family Sillaginidae).
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1726 Gentleman Angler 132 (heading) Of Rock-Whiting. This Fish is a Species of the Whiting and Whiting-pollock, but differs from both.
1740 R. Brookes Art of Angling ii. xxxii. 145 The young ones of this Kind [sc. the Coal-Fish] are called Billards, Pollards, and Rock-Whitings.
1845 E. J. Eyre Jrnls. Exped. Discov. Central Austral. I. App. 420 Sillago.—Native name, Murdar. ‘Rock whiting’ of the settlers.
1878 Proc. Linn. Soc. New S. Wales 3 390 Odax semifasciatus..is called ‘rock whiting’ at Sydney, and is fourteen inches long; obtained in May.
1966 T. C. Roughley Fish & Fisheries Austral. (rev. ed.) 91 The rock whiting (Haletta fasciata) belongs to the small and unimportant family Odacidae.
2005 Proc. Royal Soc. B. 272 994/2 Both the parrotfish (scarines) and rock whitings (represented by Odax) are nested deeply within labrid clades.
e. In names of plants.
rock alyssum n. now rare the gold dust, Aurinia saxatilis (formerly Alyssum saxatile), commonly grown as a rockery plant for its bright yellow flowers.
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1837 D. C. Macreight Man. Brit. Bot. 17 A[lyssum] saxatile... Rock Alyssum.
1870 W. Robinson Alpine Flowers ii. 125 The brilliant colour and free-flowering properties of the well-known Rock Alyssum.
1921 Amer. Botanist 27 154 Another ‘madwort’ is Alyssum saxatile. This latter is also called ‘rock alyssum’.
rock brake n. (also †rock brakes) any of several ferns that grow in rocky habitats; esp. either of two parsley ferns (genus Cryptogramma), the European C. crispa, and (more fully American rock brake) C. acrostichoides of North America.
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the world > plants > particular plants > ferns > [noun] > other ferns
mountain parsley1578
female fern1597
rock parsley1597
spleenwort1597
marsh fern1686
prickly fern1764
parsley fern1777
sensitive fern1780
lady fern1783
stone-brake1796
mountain fern1800
rock brake1802
walking leaf1811
todea1813
shield-fern1814
Woodsia1815
mangemange1817
cinnamon fern1818
climbing fern1818
bladder-fern1828
king fern1829
filmy fern1830
ostrich fern1833
New York fern1843
mokimoki1844
rhizocarp1852
film-fern1855
nardoo1860
gymnogram1861
holly-fern1861
limestone-polypody1861
elk-horn1865
Gleichenia1865
lizard's herb1866
cliff brake1867
kidney fern1867
Christmas fern1873
Prince of Wales feathers1873
Christmas shield fern1878
buckler-fern1882
crape-fern1882
stag-horn1882
ladder fern1884
oleander fern1884
stag fern1884
resam1889
lip-fern1890
coral-fern1898
bamboo fern1930
pteroid1949
fern-gale-
1802 J. E. Smith Eng. Bot. XIV. 1160 (heading) Pteris crispa. Curled or Rock Brakes.
1845 A. Wood Class-bk. Bot. ii. 463 P. atropurpurea. Rock Brake.
1868 Amer. Naturalist 2 523 We do not have this pretty fern [sc. the parsley fern], but it is represented in our Allosorus acrostichoides, or Rock-brake of Lake Superior.
1930 Amer. Fern Jrnl. 20 109 On low rocks about the lake grew parsley fern, so much like the American rock brake, familiar from Lake Superior.
2008 W. Cullina Native Ferns, Moss & Grasses i. 46/1 The rock brakes are a small genus of mountain ferns native to the cooler regions of North and South America as well as Eurasia.
† rock button-flower n. Obsolete rare a flowering plant from southern Africa, probably belonging to the genus Gomphia (family Ochnaceae); cf. buttonflower n. at button n. Compounds 2b.
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?1711 J. Petiver Gazophylacii IX. Table 90 Rock Button-Flower..growing luxuriently wild, about that Fertile Promontory the Cape of Good Hope.
rock candytuft n. any of several shrubs of the chiefly Mediterranean genus Iberis (see candytuft n.); esp. I. saxatilis, which has white flowers and is sometimes cultivated as a rockery plant.
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1812 W. T. Aiton Hortus Kewensis (ed. 2) IV. 84 Iberis..saxatilis... Rock Candy-tuft.
1878 W. Robinson Hardy Flowers (ed. 3) 148/1 Iberis saxatilis (Rock Candytuft).—A small evergreen shrub, the commonest and one of the most useful of the evergreen Candytufts.
1913 W. P. Wright New Gardening (new ed.) vi. 105 Sempervirens is perhaps the best known of the perennial rock Candytufts.
1996 B. W. Ellis & F. M. Bradley Handbk. Nat. Insect & Dis. Control i. 122/2 Rock candytuft (I. saxatilis) is even more compact, reaching heights of 3″–6″.
rock cantaloupe n. now rare (more fully rock cantaloupe melon) a large variety of cantaloupe melon with green knobbly skin.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > gourd > melon > other types of melon
melopepon1555
muskmelon1573
macock1588
sugar-melon1600
cantaloupe1739
rock cantaloupe1776
rock melon1789
nutmeg melon1811
citron1826
pie melon1857
sweet melon1883
spanspek1886
honeydew1916
pepino1922
Ogen melon1967
1776 T. Ellis Gardener's Pocket-calendar i. 56 Rock Cantaleupe Melon, July to October.
1840 Gardener's Mag. Aug. 423 He..considered the netted and rock cantaloups as the best for the general, and the Romana as a good sort for early crops.
1955 E. Jenkins Ten Fascinating Women i. 24 At the dinner party, there was placed before Lord Sandwich the largest rock cantaloup melon ever grown in England.
rock chestnut oak n. North American any of several North American oak trees, esp. Quercus prinus, native to rocky habitats in the eastern United States, which has deeply fissured bark and large acorns.The taxonomic position of Quercus prinus is disputed, some authors treat it as a variety of the closely related species, Q. michauxii.
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > oak and allies > [noun] > other oaks
red oakOE
cerre-tree1577
gall-tree1597
robur1601
kermes1605
live oak1610
white oak1610
royal oak1616
swamp-oak1683
grey oak1697
rock oak1699
chestnut oak1703
water oak1709
Spanish oak1716
turkey-oak1717
willow oak1717
iron oak1724
maiden oak1725
scarlet oak1738
black jack1765
post oak1775
durmast1791
mountain chestnut oak1801
quercitron oak1803
laurel oak1810
mossy-cup oak1810
rock chestnut oak1810
pin oak1812
overcup oak1814
overcup white oak1814
bur oak1815
jack oak1816
mountain oak1818
shingle-oak1818
gall-oak1835
peach oak1835
golden oak1838
weeping oak1838
Aleppo oak1845
Italian oak1858
dyer's oak1861
Gambel's Oak1878
maul oak1884
punk oak1884
sessile oak1906
Garry oak1908
roble1908
1810 F. A. Michaux Histoire des 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.
1900 H. L. Keeler Our Native Trees 338 Chestnut Oak. Rock Chestnut Oak. Quércus prìnus. A mountain tree though found in the low lands, usually sixty to seventy feet high, sometimes one hundred.
2004 G. Sternberg & J. W. Wilson Native Trees for N. Amer. Landscapes 387 Rock chestnut oak is among the few white oaks available from many nurseries.
rockcist n. now rare a rock rose, esp. one of the genus Helianthemum (see rock rose n. 3).
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1858 G. Bentham Handbk. Brit. Flora 107 Rockcist. Helianthemum. Low or diffuse undershrubs or herbs.
1872 D. Oliver Lessons Elem. Bot. (new ed.) ii. 141 Many species of Rockcist are commonly cultivated in shrubberies and on rock-work.
1890 E. H. Barker Wayfaring in France 403 The yellow flowers of the common rockcist brightened the banks.
1922 G. C. Nuttall Beautiful Flowering Shrubs xxvii. 195 They have no representative in our native British flora, their nearest and only close relatives being our four little Rockcists (Helianthemum).
rock cistus n. = rock rose n. 3.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > rock-rose and allies
sunflower1597
rock rose1731
rock cistus1741
helianthemum1822
sun rose1822
1741 M. Catesby Let. 25 Feb. in J. Bartram Corr. (1992) 151 Your beautiful Rock Cistus..last July we were favoured with a sight of its elegant flowers.
1873 W. A. Hayne in Land of Moab 392 Here and there a gorgeous tulip was in flower, and two rock cistuses.
1919 F. G. Wolseley Gardens 250 As the train dashes in and out amidst an eternity of tunnels, we have time to see the Mediterranean heath, rock cistus, and rosemary.
2008 Canberra Times (Nexis) 26 Aug. a4 Rock cistus grew near the wharf.
rock clubmoss n. any of various clubmosses occurring in rocky habitats, esp. the chiefly North American plant, Selaginella rupestris (formerly included in the genus Lycopodium).
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1771 J. R. Forster Flora Amer. Septentrionalis 48 Lycopodium rupestre, rock Club-moss.
1824 J. Bigelow Florula Bostoniensis (ed. 2) 413 Lycopodium rupestre. L. Rock Club Moss... A little plant, remarkable for the square form of its spikes.
1952 Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 79 485 Also on the shale was the rather rare rock club-moss, Selaginella rupestris.
2006 R. H. Mohlenbrock This Land 95 Rock clubmoss..is a dwarf evergreen plant closely related to ferns.
rock elm n. any of several North American elms, esp. the cork elm, Ulmus thomasii, of the Midwest and parts of Canada; (also) the hard heavy timber of this tree, formerly much used for shipbuilding.
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > elms > [noun]
wycheOE
elmc1000
ulm-treec1000
witch hazela1400
all-heart1567
ulme1567
white elm1580
wych elm1582
witchen1594
weeping elm1606
trench-elm1676
smooth-leaved elm1731
witch elm1731
water elm1733
slippery elm1748
Scotch elm1769
wahoo1770
American elm1771
red elm1805
witches' elm1808
moose elm1810
cork-elm1813
rock elm1817
swamp elm1817
planer tree1819
Jersey elm1838
winged elm1858
sand elm1878
Exeter-elm1882
1817 W. Smart Let. Dec. in R. Gourlay Statist. Acct. Upper Canada (1822) I. 518 The timber, excepting great quantities of rock elm, is the same as other townships.
1853 S. Moodie Life in Clearings 26 Its rocky banks..are fringed with..rock-elm, that queen of the Canadian forest.
1903 S. B. Green Princ. Amer. Forestry ix. 165 Even the slower growing deciduous trees, such as the Red, White, and Bur Oak.., and Rock Elm, increase very rapidly in good soil.
2000 Jrnl. Soc. Archer-Antiquaries 43 88/1 The mallets to all sets were of Canadian rock elm ‘introduced by Mr Buchanan, and used by him in bow-making.’
rock flower n. a flowering plant that grows on or among rocks.
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1799 Naturalist's Pocket Mag. 6 Index p. ii/1 Rock-Flower, of New South Wales.
c1820 S. Rogers Italy (1839) 32 Every where gathering rock-flowers.
1882 Cent. Mag. May 153/2 There is apparently no rock-flower in Britain that compares with it.
1904 Garden 12 Mar. 183/1 Those who have thick mossy old walls possess a paradise for many a rock flower.
2007 G. Price Shorter Walks in Dolomites 191 A trickling stream keeps you company, as do some startlingly colourful rock flowers such as yellow Rhaetian poppies.
† rock germander n. Obsolete any of several kinds of speedwell (genus Veronica), found in rocky habitats.
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1633 T. Johnson Gerard's Herball (new ed.) ii. ccxiii. 659 Teucrium petræum pumilum. Dwarfe Rocke Germander.
1719 tr. J. Pitton de Tournefort Compl. Herbal I. 195/2 Veronica petræa... Ever-green Rock Speedwell, or Rock Germander.
1841 S. Maunder Sci. & Lit. Treasury (new ed.) 320/1 Germander, in botany, the name of several plants, as the rock germander, of the genus Veronica.
rock hair n. now rare any of several hair-like lichens found on rocks; esp. Bryoria fuscescens (formerly included in the genus Alectoria), common in northern England and Scotland.
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the world > plants > particular plants > lichen > [noun] > of unspecified or various types
white moss?a1425
rock hair1724
crotal1777
1724 J. J. Dillenius Ray's Synopsis Methodica Stirpium Brit. (ed. 3) 65 Rock Hair. On the highest Rocks in Charley Forest Leicestershire.
1757 Philos. Trans. 1756 (Royal Soc.) 49 858 Muscus corallinus saxatilis,..Rock Hair.
1759 B. Stillingfleet tr. Misc. Tracts 145 The lichen jubátus, or rock-hair, in exulcerations of the skin.
1861 H. Macmillan Footnotes from Nature 94 A very curious lichen called rock-hair (Alectoria jubata), which covers with its beard-like tufts the trunks of almost every tree.
1913 Sc. Mountaineering Jrnl. June 273 Alectoria jubata, the ‘tree’ or ‘rock hair’, is dark in colour.
rock herb n. (a) = rock plant n. 2; †(b) a kind of seaweed, perhaps one of the genus Fucus (obsolete rare).
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the world > plants > by habitat or distribution > [noun] > growing on or among stone or rock
rock herb1626
rock plant1694
rupestral1847
ruderal1873
stone-plant1883
lithophyte1895
chasmophyte1900
vertical1902
chomophyte1909
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §570 There be likewise Rock-Herbs; But I suppose those are where there is some Mould or Earth.
1694 Narbrough's Acct. Several Late Voy. iii. xi. 68 The Leaves of the great Rock Herb, are very like unto a Man's Tongue.
1833 J. Pardoe Traits & Trad. Portugal II. 194 I began to doubt whether it were not some small rock-herb which was cheating us with the hope of richer vegetation.
1909 Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 36 660 Rock herbs: The characteristic rock flora of these ravines includes Aquilegia canadensis, Campanula rotundifolia, [etc.].
2006 L. Nagy et al. in P. Shaw Nat. of Cairngorms xiv. 227/2 This is accompanied by a great variety of ledge and rock herbs such as Alpine Saxifrage,..Rock Sedge and Mountain Bladder-fern.
rock kelp n. now rare = rockweed n.
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1832 B. Morrell Narr. Four Voy. i. iii. 51 They..feed on shellfish and rock kelp, which gives their flesh a very unpleasant flavour.
1919 V. Z. Wheeler Creed of her Father xii. 214 Oceans of water broke over them, beating them down till they felt the brush of rock-kelp, far beneath the surface.
1986 R. Finch Outlands 6 The..roots of beach grass trailed down into the foamy water like strands of rock kelp pulled seaward on granite shores.
† rock knotweed n. Obsolete the rock plant, Persicaria vaccinifolia (formerly included in the genus Polygonum), native to the Himalayas but cultivated widely in gardens for its dense spikes of deep pink flowers.
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1870 W. Robinson Alpine Flowers ii. 277 Polygonum vaccinifolium.—Rock Knotweed.
1893 Garden 1 Apr. 251 One little rock plant seldom made good use of is charming beside the water here, viz., the little Rock Knotweed (Polygonum vaccinifolium).
rock lily n. (a) any of various flowering plants which grow among or on rocks; esp. (Australian) the Australian orchid, Dendrobium speciosum, and (North American) the pasque flower, Pulsatilla patens; (b) a clubmoss of tropical America, Selaginella convoluta (obsolete rare).
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1807 La Belle Assemblée July 333/1 A very beautiful dress; the petticoat elegantly embroidered with silver sprigs, and tastefully ornamented with rock lily.
1846 J. Lindley Veg. Kingdom 70 So also the rock-lily, a name sometimes given to Selaginella convoluta.
1879 H. N. Moseley Notes by Naturalist on ‘Challenger’ xi. 270 (New S. Wales) A luxuriant vegetation, with huge masses of Stagshorn Fern (Platycerium) and ‘rock lilies’ (orchids).
1896 Jrnl. Amer. Folklore 9 179 Anemone patens, var. Nuttalliana, Gray, wind-flower, rock-lily, wild crocus.
1968 Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin) 3 Apr. (Green) 1/3 Sometimes they're [sc. Amenone patens] known as badgers, maybe because they like the limestone hillsides. Sometimes they're rock lilies.
2008 Southern Gaz. (Perth) (Nexis) 16 Sept. 2 The grand champion was a dendrobium speciosum, commonly known as rock orchid or rock lily.
rock lychnis n. now rare any of several similar plants of the genus Lycnhis; esp. sticky catchfly, L. viscaria and the alpine catchfly, L. alpina.
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1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. at Lychnis The dwarf juniper leaved rock lychnis.
1849 Cottage Gardener 23 Aug. 270/2 Lychnis viscaria (Rock Lychnis).—A rare and beautiful perennial, herbaceous plant,..thriving equally well on rock-work or the flower border.
1918 L. B. Wilder Color in My Garden 362 Lychnis..alpina—Alpine Campion, Rock Lychnis.
rock madwort n. now rare = rock alyssum n.
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1784 J. Abercrombie Propagation & Bot. Arrangem. Plants & Trees II. 392 Alyssum..saxatile. Rock, Yellow Madwort of Crete.
1868 Christian World Mag. Apr. 308 It [sc. A. saxatile] is commonly called Yellow Alyssum, or Rock Madwort; its effect when contrasted with the snowy whiteness of Arabis albida..is most brilliant.
1905 Garden 10 June 342/1 Few plants are better known or more valued in the garden than the typical Rock Madwort.
rock maple n. chiefly North American = sugar maple n.
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > maples > [noun]
maple treeOE
maplec1385
plane tree1562
great maple1597
sycamore-tree1597
sycamore1598
sugar-tree1705
sugar maple1731
red maple1767
scarlet maple1768
rock maple1774
white maple1774
silk wood1775
moosewood1778
mountain maple1785
box elder1787
acer1793
sycamore maple1796
mock plane1797
Montpellier maple1797
water maple1803
soft maple1806
sugar-wood1809
swamp maple1810
low maple1813
maple bush1821
Neapolitan maple1833
snake-bark1838
moose-maple1839
sap-tree1843
Manitoba maple1887
Japanese maple1898
curly maple1909
Queensland maple1915
paperbark maple1927
Amur maple1934
1774 in Rep. Bd. Trustees Publ. Arch. Nova Scotia (1945) 34 This town..affords a great store of fine timber..white and black ash; white mapple; rock mapple.
1866 J. G. Whittier 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.
1999 Furnit. & Cabinetmaking July 9/2 Whenever I have a piece to make which requires great strength and stability, I use well-dried rock maple.
rock melon n. chiefly Australian and New Zealand any of several kinds of melon, esp. the cantaloupe (cantaloupe n.).
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the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > gourd > [noun] > melon > musk melons
muskmelon1573
sugar-melon1600
cantaloupe1739
rock melon1789
mango1866
sweet melon1883
spanspek1886
honeydew1916
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > gourd > melon > other types of melon
melopepon1555
muskmelon1573
macock1588
sugar-melon1600
cantaloupe1739
rock cantaloupe1776
rock melon1789
nutmeg melon1811
citron1826
pie melon1857
sweet melon1883
spanspek1886
honeydew1916
pepino1922
Ogen melon1967
1789 H. Abbott Jrnl. Trip Aleppo to Bussora 86 Here we could only get..a few rock-melons, which the natives called musk-melons.
1841 Sydney Herald 6 Mar. 2/6 The rock and water melons are even superior to what you see in Sydney.
1929 Times 2 Aug. 14/1 Melon or bailer shells..are almost exactly the same shape, size and colour as rock melons, or canteloups.
2000 Sun-Herald (Sydney) 18 June (Tempo section) 17/3 In America, horticultural scientists have crossed the honeydew with the rockmelon creating a new melon variety known as the ‘honeyrock’.
rock mint n. English regional (Somerset) (now rare) wood sage, Teucrium scorodonia.
ΚΠ
1863 A. Pratt Haunts Wild Flowers iii. 50 It is common not only in woods and hedges, but also on dry rocky places; about Bristol, where it is called rock-mint.
1886 J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names 337 Teucrium Scorodonia..is Rock Mint in Som. and Wild Mint in Suss.
rock moss n. now rare any of several lichens from which orchil, a red or purple dye, is obtained, esp. Rocella tinctoria.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > plants used in dyeing > lichens or fungi used in dyeing > [noun] > archil lichen
archil1551
stone-moss1681
argol1759
orchil1759
rock moss1763
orchilla1790
1763 in 6th Rep. Deputy Keeper Public Rec. App. ii. 132 Making Orchell from Rock or Stone Moss.
1861 H. Macmillan Footnotes from Nature 116 The most useful and best known of our native dye-lichens is the rock-moss or cudbear (Lecanora tartarea).
1887 C. A. Moloney Sketch Forestry W. Afr. 527 Orchella weed, dyer's weed, rock moss.
1924 Times 28 May 11/3 The colours are all vegetable dyes, some from rock moss and some birch bark.
rock oak n. = rock chestnut oak n.
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > oak and allies > [noun] > other oaks
red oakOE
cerre-tree1577
gall-tree1597
robur1601
kermes1605
live oak1610
white oak1610
royal oak1616
swamp-oak1683
grey oak1697
rock oak1699
chestnut oak1703
water oak1709
Spanish oak1716
turkey-oak1717
willow oak1717
iron oak1724
maiden oak1725
scarlet oak1738
black jack1765
post oak1775
durmast1791
mountain chestnut oak1801
quercitron oak1803
laurel oak1810
mossy-cup oak1810
rock chestnut oak1810
pin oak1812
overcup oak1814
overcup white oak1814
bur oak1815
jack oak1816
mountain oak1818
shingle-oak1818
gall-oak1835
peach oak1835
golden oak1838
weeping oak1838
Aleppo oak1845
Italian oak1858
dyer's oak1861
Gambel's Oak1878
maul oak1884
punk oak1884
sessile oak1906
Garry oak1908
roble1908
1699 in C. J. Hoadly Public Rec. Colony of Connecticut (1868) IV. 304 Running eastward three hundred rod to a rock-oak tree markt.
1750 W. Douglass Summary State Brit. Settlements N.-Amer. II. 195 By an Act of the Assembly of Connecticut, in building of Vessels, no Timbers or Plank to be allowed other than white Oak and rock Oak, except for the Deck and Ceiling.
1860 Hunt's Merchants' Mag. Jan. 115 On some of the Alleghany Mountains it [sc. the rock chestnut oak] constitutes nine-tenths of the forest growth. Hence the name ‘rock oak’ by which it is known on the banks of the Hudson.
1949 G. H. Collingwood & W. D. Brush Knowing your Trees 224 Sometimes this tree is called rock oak or mountain oak because it grows on high, rocky slopes.
1960 R. Vines Trees, Shrubs, & Woody Vines Southwest 193 Texas Oak... Also known under the names of Texas Red Oak, Rock Oak.
2004 Centre Daily Times (State College, Pa.) (Nexis) 24 Oct. 9 b White and chestnut oak (also called rock oak) appear to be the biggest acorn producers this autumn.
rock onion n. (a) the spring onion A. fistulosum (now rare); (b) (North American) a North American wild onion, A. macrum.
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1809 Curtis's Bot. Mag. 30 §1230 By the Russians it is called ‘Rock Onion’ or ‘Stoneleek’; and is a very favourite article of food with them.
1923 L. Abrams Illustr. Flora Pacific States I. 385 Allium macrum..Rock Onion... Barren rocky soil..Blue Mountains of eastern Washington and Oregon.
1958 H. E. Jaques How to Know Econ. Plants 38 It [sc. A. fistulosum] is grown from seed. The flavor is mild; the leaves are used for seasoning. Other names are Ciboule, Spring Onion and Rock Onion.
2008 K. Robson et al. Encycl. Northwest Native Plants 98 Olympic onion (A. crenulatum), rock onion (A. macrum), and Robinson's onion (A. robinsonii) are a few of our other native species that occur in rocky, dry habitats.
rock parsley n. [in sense (a), after French persil de roc (1611 in Cotgrave); compare Middle French persil de roches (1550), persil des rochers (1562 in du Pinet's translation of Pliny), and earlier stone-parsley n.] now rare (a) any of several kinds of parsley (genus Petroselinum), or similar plants of the family Apiaceae ( Umbelliferae); (formerly) esp. stone-parsley, Sison amomum; †(b) the European parsley fern, Cryptogramma crispa (obsolete).
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the world > plants > particular plants > ferns > [noun] > other ferns
mountain parsley1578
female fern1597
rock parsley1597
spleenwort1597
marsh fern1686
prickly fern1764
parsley fern1777
sensitive fern1780
lady fern1783
stone-brake1796
mountain fern1800
rock brake1802
walking leaf1811
todea1813
shield-fern1814
Woodsia1815
mangemange1817
cinnamon fern1818
climbing fern1818
bladder-fern1828
king fern1829
filmy fern1830
ostrich fern1833
New York fern1843
mokimoki1844
rhizocarp1852
film-fern1855
nardoo1860
gymnogram1861
holly-fern1861
limestone-polypody1861
elk-horn1865
Gleichenia1865
lizard's herb1866
cliff brake1867
kidney fern1867
Christmas fern1873
Prince of Wales feathers1873
Christmas shield fern1878
buckler-fern1882
crape-fern1882
stag-horn1882
ladder fern1884
oleander fern1884
stag fern1884
resam1889
lip-fern1890
coral-fern1898
bamboo fern1930
pteroid1949
fern-gale-
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Umbelliferae (umbellifers) > [noun] > hog's fennel and allies
swine's fennel?a1425
swine's finkle?a1450
hog's fennel1525
dog fennel1526
harstrang1562
mountain parsley1578
sow-fennel1578
sulphurwort1578
much good1597
rock parsley1597
milky parsley1640
brimstone-wort1678
marsh milkweed1787
milk parsley1787
sea sulphur-wort1807
sea sulphur-weed1850
sulphur-weed1850
sea hog's-fennel1855
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Umbelliferae (umbellifers) > [noun] > stone-parsley
stone-parsley1548
black parsley1562
rock parsley1597
mountain stone parsley1719
stonewort1796
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. ccclxxxii. 863 Rocke Parsley..is called..in Latine Multibona: (in English Much good) for it is so named because it is good & profitable for many things.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Persil de Roc,..Rocke Parseley, stone Parseley.
1744 J. Wilson Synopsis Brit. Plants 72 Peucedanum, Rock Parsley.
1859 A. Pratt Brit. Grasses & Sedges 168 Curled Rock-brake, Mountain Parsley, or Rock Parsley.
1889 C. Peters Girl's Own Outdoor Bk. 319 The Allosorus crispus, or rock parsley, is a most charming little fern. It grows freely in the North of England.
1926 Classical Jrnl. 21 449 Of other vegetable foods the Romans had many of native origin and also cultivated. These were mushrooms and truffles, beets.., parsley and rock-parsley.
rock pine n. now rare (a) any of several North American pine trees; esp. a subspecies of the Ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa subsp. scopulorum, of the Rocky Mountain area. †(b) any of several Australian cypress trees of the genus Callitris (formerly Frenela) (obsolete).
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1832 R. Mudie Bot. Ann. vii. 356 Perhaps the species which has the most northerly locality is Pinus Banksiana, the Hudson's Bay pine, or rock pine.
1889 J. H. Maiden Useful Native Plants Austral. 546 Frenela robusta..is known as ‘Rock Pine’ in Western New South Wales.
1930 J. E. Kirkwood N. Rocky Mt. Trees & Shrubs 20 The Rock Pine (Pinus scopulorum Lemmon) closely resembles the Western Yellow Pine, and there is considerable doubt as whether or not it should stand as a separate species.
rock rampion n. now historical and rare a campanula, Campanula pyramidalis, native to parts of southern and eastern Europe but cultivated elsewhere as an ornamental; also called chimney bellflower.
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1633 T. Johnson Gerard's Herball (new ed.) ii. cxviii. 455 (caption) Rocke Rampion.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory 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.
1756 J. Hill Brit. Herbal 73/1 (heading) Rock Rampion.
1923 Bot. Gaz. 75 320 Among the plants used for human food are the rock rampion, which ‘is eaten in the manner of radishes’, and the dandelion, which is used for salads.
rock sage n. †(a) ironwort, a plant of the genus Sideritis (obsolete rare); (b) Salvia pinguifolia (family Lamiaceae), a north American shrubby sage with purple flowers, found in rocky habitats; (c) any of several plants of the tropical genus Lantana (family Verbenaceae), esp. L. involucrata , a small evergreen shrub with white to yellowish tubular flowers with yellow centres, native to the southern states of the United States and parts of Central America.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > labiate plant or plants > [noun] > ironwort
stony sage1548
wall sage1548
ironwort1562
rock sage1562
smith's balm1597
glidewort1640
mountain ironwort1822
siderite1828
1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 135 Thys kinde [of sideritis]..may be called in English Yronwurt or Rock Sage.
1830 J. D. Maycock Flora Barbadensis 247 Wild Sage with white Flowers. Browne. Rock-Sage. Button-Sage.
1946 Southwestern Jrnl. Anthropol. 2 222 Emetic ingredients... Juniper,..sage,..rock sage.
1979 Southwestern Naturalist 24 127 (table) Salvia pinguifolia... rock sage.
1996 N. Beaubaire Native Perennials 86 S. pinquefolia, rock sage—Native to desert foothills, reaches 4′ tall and 2′ wide with wine-colored flowers.
rock samphire n. (a) common samphire, Crithmum maritinum; (b) marsh samphire or glasswort, genus Salicornia.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Chenopodiaccae (goose-foot and allies) > [noun] > glasswort or barilla
glass-weed1568
alkali1578
kali1578
glasswort1597
rock samphire1597
saltwort1597
soda1658
barilla1766
kelpwort1787
Salsola1801
roly-poly1857
Russian thistle1884
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 427 Rocke Sampier hath many fat and thicke leaues.
1652 N. Culpeper Eng. Physitian Enlarged 214/1 The Rock Sampire groweth up with a tender green Stalk, about half a yard or two foot high at the most, branching forth almost from the very bottom.
1744 J. Wilson Synopsis Brit. Plants 13 Salt~wort is used for a pickle at Newcastle upon Tyne, where they call it Rock-sampire.
1803 F. W. Blagdon tr. P. S. Pallas Trav. Southern Provinces Russ. Empire II. 449 Crithmum, the genuine rock-samphire of the English [Ger. den rechten Rock-Samphire der Engländer].
1877 F. Ross et al. Gloss. Words Holderness Rock-semper,..rock samphire. A favourite dish with those living on the banks of the Humber.
2008 BBC Good Food Sept. 135/2 He employs a forager, so there's always fresh, interesting ‘wild food’ on the menu—look out for whimberries, rock samphire and wood sorrel.
† rock savory n. Obsolete a savory, a plant of the genus Satureja (see savory n.).
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1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. clxv. 461 (heading) Rocke Sauorie.
1633 T. Johnson Gerard's Herball (new ed.) ii. clxxxviii. 605 The leaues stand by couples at the ioynts, beeing long and narrow; of the bignesse and similitude of those of the wilde Pinks, or Rocke Sauorie.
1728 R. Bradley Dict. Botanicum at Satureia Satureia spicata Juliana, Rock Savoury.
1822 S. Clarke Hortus Anglicus II. 96 Satureia Rupestris, Rock Savory.
rock scorpion-grass n. now rare the European alpine forget-me-not, Myosotis alpestris, commonly cultivated as a rockery plant for its clusters of blue flowers.
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1814 J. E. Smith Eng. Bot. XXXVI. 2559 (heading) Myosotis rupicola. Rock Scorpion-grass.
1855 A. Pratt Flowering Plants & Ferns Great Brit. IV. 47 Rock Scorpion-grass... This beautiful species is a mountain plant.
1906 T. Fox How to find & name Wild Flowers (1908) 114 Rock Scorpion-grass.—..flowers bright pale blue in leafless 1-sided clusters.
rock sedge n. any of several sedges (genus Carex), which grow in rocky habitats; esp. C. rupestris, native to northern Europe and northern and central parts of the United States.
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1837 D. C. Macreight Man. Brit. Bot. 255 C[arex] rupestris. (Allion.) Rock Sedge.
1859 A. Pratt Brit. Grasses & Sedges 25 Rock Sedge,..a very rare plant, from 3–6 inches high.
1924 W. H. Fitch et al. Illustr. Brit. Flora (ed. 5) 278 Carex rupestris All. Rock sedge.
1996 A. H. Zwinger & B. E. Willard Land above Trees (ed. 4) xiv. 152 Rock sedge thrives where there is no snow cover and soils are well drained.
rock speedwell n. any of several kinds of speedwell (genus Veronica), which grow in rocky habitats; esp. V. fruticans, which has bright blue flowers and is found in mountainous regions of Europe.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Scrophulariaceae (figwort and allies) > [noun] > Veronica or speedwell
lemkea1300
God's eye?a1350
waterlink?a1425
brooklimea1450
fluellin1548
Paul's betony1548
wood-penny1570
water pimpernel1575
ground-hele1578
speedwell1578
wild germander1578
germander chickweed1597
leper's herb1600
lime-wort1666
water purpy1683
water-speedwell1690
beccabunga1706
rock speedwell1719
Welsh speedwell1731
germander speedwell1732
St. Paul's betony1736
vernal speedwell1796
wall speedwell1796
cat's-eye1817
wellink1826
skull-cap1846
forget-me-not1853
veronica1855
angels' eyes1862
horse-cress1879
faverel1884
St. Paul's betony1884
1719 tr. J. Pitton de Tournefort Compl. Herbal I. 195/2 Veronica petræa... Ever-green Rock Speedwell, or Rock Germander.
1855 A. Pratt Flowering Plants & Ferns Great Brit. IV. 91 Blue Rock Speedwell..is a mountain flower.
1907 Jrnl. Hort. & Home Farmer 12 Dec. 560/2 Rock Speedwell (V. Saxatilis), flowering in July. The flowers are few and large, rich blue, pink in the centre.
1996 Chiltern Seeds Catal. 240 Rock Speedwell. This is probably the best of the dwarf European (if you're lucky you can find it growing on high mountain rocks in mid-Scotland) Veronica species for the rock garden.
rock stonecrop n. a European stonecrop, Sedum reflexum, with greyish foliage and yellow flowers, commonly cultivated as a rockery plant.
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1781 S. Fullmer Young Gardener's Best Compan. 154 Rock Stone-crop.
1864 M. Plues Rambles in Search of Wild Flowers (ed. 2) 122 Another member of the family, the Rock Stonecrop (S. rupéstre), grows on those same cliffs. It has a handsome cyme of yellow flowers.
1916 F. Klickmann Flower-patch among Hills 81 The Rock Stonecrop, with its blue-green stems and leaves (looking almost like a huge moss) fills every shady spot it can find.
2005 J. A. Gardner & K. Bussolini Elegant silvers iv. 240 S. reflexum, rock stonecrop, a European species, grows into a 12 in...high mat of linear gray foliage crowned with bright yellow flowers.
rock tripe n. [after French †trippe de roches, †tripe de roches (1744 or earlier)] any of several edible lichens of northern latitudes; esp. those of the genus Umbilicaria (family Umbilicariaceae), found in arctic and alpine habitats of northern North America and Europe.
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the world > plants > particular plants > moss > [noun] > other mosses
golden maidenhair1578
polytrichon1578
bryon1597
maidenhair moss1597
mountain coralline1598
chalice-moss1610
purple bottle1650
water moss1663
fern-moss1698
hypnum1753
Mnium1754
rock tripe1763
feather-moss1776
scaly water-moss1796
screw moss1804
hog-bed1816
fringe-moss1818
caribou moss1831
apple moss1841
bristle-moss1844
scale-moss1846
anophyte1850
robin's rye1854
wall moss1855
fork-moss1860
thread-moss1864
lattice moss1868
robin-wheat1886
1763 tr. P. de Charlevoix Lett. to Dutchess of Lesdiguieres (new ed.) xxvi. 238 (margin) Of the Rock Tripe, and rotten Wheat.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 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.
1907 St. Nicholas July 847/1 ‘Rock-tripe’, another lichen, has been eaten in the arctic regions in times of famine.
2007 Owen Sound (Ont.) Sun Times (Nexis) 20 Oct. b1 Frank and I gather and boil some rock tripe and reindeer moss as a food supplement.
rock-vine n. chiefly poetic (now rare) a climbing or twining plant that grows among rocks.In quot. 1922: the grapevine, Vitis rupestris, of the southern and western United States.
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1869 H. Kendall Leaves from Austral. Forests 83 And amongst the oozing forelands many a glad green rock-vine runs.
1922 Rep. Coll. Agric. University Calif. (Bull. 331) 84 Varieties of Rupestris—the rock vine—are in a general way suited to deep soils and hot climates.
1927 J. Joyce Flood in Pomes Penyeach Goldbrown upon the sated flood The rockvine clusters lift and sway.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

rockn.2

Brit. /rɒk/, U.S. /rɑk/
Forms: Middle English roc, Middle English rocche, Middle English rocck, Middle English rok, Middle English roke, Middle English rokk, Middle English rokke, Middle English–1600s rocke, Middle English– rock, 1800s– rack (English regional (Suffolk)); Scottish pre-1700 roc, pre-1700 roik, pre-1700 1700s– rock, pre-1700 (1900s– Shetland) rok, 1700s– roke.
Origin: Of uncertain origin. Perhaps a word inherited from Germanic. Perhaps a borrowing from Dutch. Perhaps a borrowing from Middle Low German. Perhaps a borrowing from German. Perhaps a borrowing from Icelandic. Perhaps a borrowing from Norwegian. Perhaps a borrowing from Swedish. Perhaps a borrowing from Danish. Etymons: Dutch rocke; Middle Low German rocke; German roc; Icelandic rokkr; Norwegian rokk; Swedish rokker; Danish rooc.
Etymology: Either cognate with, or perhaps borrowed < one of, Middle Dutch rocke, (in late sources, probably from inflected forms) rocken (Dutch rokken, †rok), Middle Low German rocke, Old High German roc, rocco, roccho, rocho (Middle High German rocke, German Rocken), Old Icelandic rokkr, Norwegian rokk, Old Swedish rokker (Swedish rock), Old Danish rooc (Danish rok), all in sense ‘distaff’; further etymology uncertain and disputed (see below). Compare Old Occitan roca (c1250), Spanish rueca (13th cent.), Portuguese roca (15th cent.), Italian rocca (a1321).The dominant view is that the Romance words represent early borrowings from the base of the Germanic words, more specifically, from an unattested Gothic form *rukka (which would have diffused with the Visigoths in Italy and Spain). However, while this view poses no phonological problems for the Occitan and Italian words, it encounters difficulties with regard to the Spanish and Portuguese words, since these presuppose a common ancestor with open o (which regularly diphthongized in Spanish), which is difficult to reconcile with the suggested Gothic etymon, and equally difficult to explain as a borrowing from West Germanic. It has been suggested that the different vowel quality in Spanish and Portuguese (which is paralleled outside the Iberian peninsula by Rhaeto-Romance) might be explained by influence of the classical Latin synonym colus (see colulus n.). In addition, if the word is held to be originally Germanic, its further etymology is unclear, as no fully convincing cognates have been found for the Germanic words (a connection with the Germanic words cited at rochet n.1 has sometimes been suggested, but is very doubtful). See further J. Corominas Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico (1981) at rueca, with detailed discussion. An alternative etymology derives both the Germanic and the Romance words from an unattested post-classical Latin form *rotica , a derivative of classical Latin rota wheel (see rota n.) or rotāre rotate v., the distaff being so called on account of its rotating motion. However, this etymology is not generally accepted.
1. A distaff. Occasionally also: a spindle. Now archaic and historical.to have tow on one's rock: see tow n.1 2b.Perhaps originally spec. the distaff forming part of the spinning wheel (introduced into England during the 14th cent.), but subsequently sometimes denoting the forked stick used in the earlier method of hand spinning.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture of thread or yarn > [noun] > spinning > distaff
distaffc1000
rocka1325
spin-rock1484
rockstick1821
rockstaffa1825
a1325 (?a1300) in G. H. McKnight Middle Eng. Humorous Tales (1913) 23 (MED) Wit my roc y me fede; Cani do non oyir dede.
c1350 Nominale (Cambr. Ee.4.20) in Trans. Philol. Soc. (1906) 17* Conoil trahul et ramoun, Rokke reel and besme.
c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1905) II. 290 (MED) He made his doghters to be clothe-makers & for to lere at spyn on þe rokk.
?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1871) III. 33 (MED) Sardanapallus..was founde..drawenge purpulle of a rocke.
1519 W. Horman Vulgaria xxviii. f. 237v A rocke or a distaffe lade with flexe or wolle.
1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique f. 80v When wilt thou come to my house swete wenche, with thy rocke & thy spindle?
1616 B. Jonson Entertainm. at Theobalds 39 in Wks. I The three Parcae,..the one holding the rocke, the other the spindle, and the third the sheeres.
a1687 H. More Contin. Remark. Stories (1689) 424 Once as Alice sat spinning, the Rock or Distaff leapt several times out of the wheel.
1725 A. Ramsay Gentle Shepherd iv. i. 59 Speak that again, and trembling dread my Rock.
1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations I. i. xi. 310 The exchange of the rock and spindle for the spinning wheel..will perform more than double the quantity of work. View more context for this quotation
1851 Art 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.
1870 W. Morris Earthly Paradise: Pt. IV 41 Coarse and brown The thread was that her rock gave forth.
1913 Times 22 Sept. 7/2 The simple spindle or ‘rock’, as it was called,..was still to be seen in remote districts in England in 1857.
2003 J. H. Munro in D. Jenkins Cambr. Hist. Western Textiles I. 184 The yarns, spun by either the ‘rock’ or the ‘wheel’, were..strong and tightly twisted.
2.
a. A distaff together with the wool or flax attached to it; a quantity of wool or flax placed on a distaff to be spun; esp. in to spin off a (also one's) rock. Now historical and rare.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > treated or processed textiles > [noun] > quantity placed on distaff for spinning
rocka1568
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture of thread or yarn > [noun] > spinning > distaff > distaff and material attached to it
rocka1568
a1568 Wyf of Auchtirmwchty in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS. (1928) II. 322 Than hame he ran to ane rok of tow And he satt doun to say the spynning.
?1615 G. Chapman tr. Homer Odysses (new ed.) vi. 77 Her mother..at [the] fire, who had to spin A rock, whose tincture with sea-purple shin'd.
1648 H. Hexham Groot Woorden-boeck Een Rocke, ofte rocksel, a Rock of yarne, or the yarne hanging on the Rock.
a1746 E. Chicken Collier's Wedding (1764) 12 Now it will be Twelve o'Clock And more, for I've spun off my Rock.
1768 A. Ross Fortunate Shepherdess 129 How loot ye the low take your rock by the beard?
1827 T. Carlyle tr. J. A. Musæus in German Romance I. 100 She had just spun off a rock of flax.
1851 D. Paul Poems 85 Syne up he took a rock o' tow, An' doun he sat to try to spin.
1963 R. E. Habenicht John Heywood's Dialogue Prov. 235 To spin off a rock is to finish off a quantity of material on the distaff.
†b. Scottish. to come over with one's rock: to make a social visit. Cf. rocking n.3 Obsolete. rare.
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1793 J. Sinclair Statist. Acct. Scotl. 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.

Compounds

Rock Day n. British historical the day after Epiphany (i.e. January 7th), commemorated in a similar manner to Rock Monday (Rock Monday n.); cf. distaff's day n. at distaff n. Compounds 2.
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1817 N. Drake Shakespeare & his Times i. vi. 135 Between Twelfth Day and Plough-Monday, a period was customarily fixed upon for the celebration of games in honour of the Distaff, and was termed Rock-Day.
1841 R. T. Hampson Medii Ævi Kal. 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.
1998 J. Matthews Winter Solstice 202/1 This day was known as St. Distaff's Day (or sometimes..as Rock Day) because it was more often than not on this day that they had to return to the humdrum working world.
† Rockfeast n. English regional (Norfolk) Obsolete a festival following Epiphany, traditionally the day on which women resume their spinning and other tasks after the Christmas holidays; cf. Rock Monday n.
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1474 Churchwardens' Accts., Snettisham (Norfolk Rec. Office PD/24/1) Item ffrom Nortyn hylle Rokfest—xs.
1514 Churchwardens' Accts., Snettisham (Norfolk Rec. Office PD/24/1) Item de Willelmo Grene pro Southgate Rocfest—xxs.
1546 Churchwardens' Accts., Snettisham (Norfolk Rec. Office PD/24/1) Item de Joanne Redhedd de le Rockefest de Sowthgate—iijs iiijd.
† rock guard n. English regional (Cumberland) Obsolete rare a young man escorting a young woman to or from a gathering of friends to spin together and chat.
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society > travel > aspects of travel > guidance in travel > [noun] > attendance in the capacity of an escort > escort a lady
rock guard1804
escort1936
1804 J. Stagg Misc. Poems 118 Frae house to house the rock gairds went.
Rock Monday n. British (now historical) the first Monday after Epiphany, traditionally the day on which women resume their spinning and other tasks after the Christmas holidays, marked in certain parts of the country by various festivals and other customs; cf. Plough Monday n., Rock Day n., Rockfeast n.
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society > faith > worship > liturgical year > feast, festival > specific Christian festivals > Epiphany (6 January) > [noun] > Monday following
Rock Monday1589
1589 W. Warner Albions Eng. (new ed.) v. xxiiii. 108 Rock, & plow Mondaies gams sal gang, with Saint-feast & kirk-sights.
1602 W. Warner Albions Eng. xvi. ciii. 80 I'le duly keepe for thy delight Rock-Monday, and the Wake, Hawe Shrouings, Christmas-gambols, with the Hokie and Seed-cake.
1841 R. T. Hampson Medii Ævi Kal. I. 139 The Monday following Twelfth day, was..denominated Rock Monday.
2000 M. Davis in R. T. Lambdin & L. C. Lambdin Encycl. Medieval Lit. 191 Plough Monday, or Rock Monday,..seems to have originated in another festival celebrating the fertility of the soil.
rock-spun adj. hand-spun using a forked stick (cf. sense 1), as opposed to a wheel.
ΚΠ
1502 in J. C. Tingey Rec. City of Norwich (1910) II. 106 And that every pece of x hundreth rok sponne conteyne in brede xj quarters and on lenght xiij elles.
1635 in Kirkcudbright Town Council Rec. (1948) II. 510 Worset ȝairne halff quheill and halff rock spun.
1769 Dublin Mercury 16–19 Sept. 2/2 Superfine rockspun and common poplins.
1846 Littell's Living Age 5 Sept. 453/2 His stockings of rockspun silk, drawn without a wrinkle over a leg that must once have been shapely enough.
2003 J. H. Munro in D. Jenkins Cambr. Hist. Western Textiles I. ii. iv. 202 Wheel-spun yarns cost much less to produce than ‘rock’-spun yarns.
rockstick n. chiefly English regional (now historical) = sense 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture of thread or yarn > [noun] > spinning > distaff
distaffc1000
rocka1325
spin-rock1484
rockstick1821
rockstaffa1825
1821 L. Morrissy Cruel & Dangerous Inquisitorial Syst. 220 They took the rock-sticks of their spinning wheels and concealed them in the chimney of the room they worked in.
1897 R. M. Gilchrist Peakland Faggot 82 Wi' pretty braan curls, like rock-sticks.
1906 Rutland Mag. 2 177 The competitors..span for an hour and as soon as their ‘rocksticks’ were cleared,..would decorate them with ribbons and flowers.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

rockn.3

Brit. /rɒk/, U.S. /rɑk/
Forms: see rock v.1
Origin: Probably of multiple origins. Partly formed within English, by conversion. Partly formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Probably also partly a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymons: rock v.1; rack n.5; rock 'n' roll n.
Etymology: < rock v.1 Compare earlier rocking n.1 In sense 1b probably a folk-etymological alteration of rack n.5 (see by rack of eye at rack n.5 6). In sense 2b short for rock 'n' roll n.
1.
a. The action of rock v.1; a movement to and fro or a swaying from side to side; (also) a spell of this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > [noun] > rocking > an instance or spell of
rock1559
tailȝeveya1568
1559 J. Heywood tr. Seneca Troas i. ii. sig. B.iiiv Whom dawne of day, hath seen in high estate before sonnes set, alas hath had his fall The cradelles rocke, apointes the lyfe his date from setled ioy, to sodayn funerall.
a1635 T. Randolph Poems (1638) 40 Me thinks already I espy The cradles rock, the babies cry, And drousy Nurses Lullaby.
1823 T. Chalmers Let. in W. Hanna Mem. T. Chalmers (1851) III. 4 I dislike the idea of him getting such a rock upon the occasion [of a voyage].
1876 S. Smiles Life Sc. Naturalist iv. 61 Giving the cradle a final and heavy rock, he left the house.
1907 Wilson's Photogr. Mag. 44 62/1 It should remain [in the dish of dye] for three minutes; occasionally give it a rock to and fro.
1954 G. Lamming Emigrants i. 99 The ship was steady but for a gentle rock from side to side.
2007 S. Baxter Emperor 280 Her stomach churned with every tip and rock of the boat.
b. rock of eye: estimation, as opposed to accurate measurement; guesswork; cf. by rack of eye at rack n.5 6.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > [noun]
i-sightc888
seneOE
lightOE
eyesightc1175
sightc1200
rewarda1382
seeingc1390
viewc1390
outwitc1400
starec1400
speculation1471
eyec1475
vision1493
ray1531
visive power1543
sightfulnessa1586
outsight1605
conspectuitya1616
visibility1616
optics1643
rock of eye1890
visuality1923
1890 A. Barrère & C. G. Leland Dict. Slang II. 183/2 Rock of eye and rule of thumb (tailors), refers to doing anything which requires scientific treatment by guesswork.
1957 N. 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.
2005 S. Haywood French National Cinema (ed. 2) ii. 79 Editing techniques were not terribly sophisticated in these early days and the final effect was more the result of rock of eye than anything else.
2. Originally U.S.
a. Musical rhythm characterized by a strong beat.In later use difficult to distinguish from sense 2b.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > duration of notes > proportion of notes or rhythm > [noun] > action of putting into rhythm > types of rhythm
swing1829
sprung rhythm1877
dance-rhythm1880
ragtime1896
slow drag1901
rumba1912
polymetre1922
cross-rhythm1926
tangana1926
counter-rhythm1927
ride1935
walking beat1935
ricky-tick1937
rock1937
shuffle rhythm1940
isorhythm1954
shuffle beat1955
tango rhythm1966
makossa1973
1937 Down Beat Mar. 3/1 He produces a rock you won't find in another drummer in the country.
1946 M. Mezzrow & B. Wolfe Really Blues vii. 90 The Cotton Pickers..came on with a steady rock that was really groovy.
1952 R. 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.
1970 P. 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. Originally (also with capital initial): = rock 'n' roll n. 2a. Now chiefly: a genre of popular music which evolved from rock 'n' roll during the mid to late 1960s, characterized by a strong beat, the use of the (esp. electric) guitar, and (esp. initially) musical experimentation, having a harsher sound than pop and often regarded as more serious or complex.Also as the second element in compounds denoting a particular style or genre of this music.acid, country, folk-, hard-, glam-, progressive rock, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > pop music > [noun] > rock
rock 'n' roll music1945
r'n'r1955
rock 'n' roll1955
rock1956
1956 Daily Defender (Chicago) 18 Dec. 14 Easily the most socksational exponent to hit the byways with ‘Rock’ is Presley.
1957 Beat 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.
1959 Daily Mail 17 Feb. 4/4 Yellow Dog Blues played in basic style by Joe Darensbourg's band..unexpectedly popped up among the rock.
1960 M. Spark Ballad of Peckham Rye iv. 76 Findlater's rooms were not given to rowdy rock but concentrated instead upon a more cultivated jive, cha-cha and variants.
1968 National 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.
1976 New 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.
1989 C. S. Murray Crosstown Traffic iv. 101 David Bowie and The Sex Pistols [had demonstrated] that a thorough knowledge of rock's subtexts and devices could be exploited by the media-wise for riches, fame and controversy.
1994 M.E.A.T. Sept. 24/2 This time around there's a definite slant towards '70s heavy rock as opposed to the grindcore of the past.
2003 Wall St. Jrnl. 13 Oct. b1/1 The site also lists major musical genres, like rock and soul, and breaks them down into subgenres.

Compounds

C1. (In sense 2b.)
a. General attributive.
rock album n.
ΚΠ
1966 Crawdaddy! Nov. 24 This is perhaps the best rock album ever produced.
1994 Rolling Stone 25 Aug. 64/3 Hamilton sold all his rock albums and turned to jazz, sitting out the punk explosion with jazzbos like George Benson and Miles Davis.
rock artist n.
ΚΠ
1962 Billboard Music Week 24 Feb. 18/2 Some writers..have always striven for recordings of their tunes by ballad artists as well as rock artists over the years.
2003 J. Dawson & S. Propes 45 RPM xviii. 150 The LP—especially the ‘concept LP’—became the primary platform for rock artists in the late 1960s.
rock ballad n.
ΚΠ
1956 Billboard 22 Sept. 75 ‘Bring Me Love’ features echoes by high fem group in the backing with the ace group easily lilting its way thru an above-average rock-ballad.
2000 R. Middleton in J. Potter Cambr. Compan. Singing iii. 32 In the rock ballad at its best, rhythmic focus is added to what might otherwise be bland sentiment.
rock band n.
ΚΠ
1966 Billboard 8 June 3/2 A new album by the hard rock band is due in July.]
1966 Billboard 12 Nov. 26/1 The veteran music man feels there is potential for someone to develop a rock band to get kids in a ‘big band’ frame of mind.
2002 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 1 Sept. ix. 6/3 Joining a rock band ‘used to be the most rebellious thing you could do’.
rock beat n.
ΚΠ
1957 Daily Defender (Chicago) 17 June 17/2 Calypso beats can come and go, but the Rock beat will go on rolling along.
2008 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 25 Nov. c5/4 Orchestral arrangements plumped up with..a stolid rock beat.
rock club n.
ΚΠ
1965 M. Morse Unattached v. 177 A ‘rock’ club was started for younger teenagers.
2003 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 9 Nov. ix. 5/1 I'm sure the 22-year-olds that do go out and are creative and cool would rather be at a divey rock club in the Lower East Side or Williamsburg.
rock concert n.
ΚΠ
1964 Billboard 15 Feb. 44/3 All rock concerts in Czechoslovakia are sell-out dates.
2007 R. Maconie Way of Music iv. 111 By convention an audience at a rock concert is noisier, because of the amplification, than an audience at a classical concert.
rock critic n.
ΚΠ
1968 Rolling Stone 28 Sept. 8/4 The young rock critics of today..are more concerned with the cultural trappings..than with the music.
2003 L. Starr Amer. Pop. Mus. xi. 309 Rock critics tend to regard most ‘soft rock’..as the musical equivalent of pond scum.
rock criticism n.
ΚΠ
1968 Washington Post 11 Aug. g5 Richard Goldstein of the Village Voice, the grand old man of rock criticism,..wrote that style and not substance is the key to success for rock bands.
2006 P. Auslander Performing Glam Rock vi. 198 It still exemplifies the treatment of female rock musicians as mere sex objects rife in rock culture and rock criticism.
rock culture n.
ΚΠ
1967 Economist 8 Apr. 144/1 This is politics fashioned for the young: ‘the rock culture’, it is being called.
1996 W. Carter in P. Trynka Rock Hardware 40/1 Rock culture does not begin with a western singer and his curly forelock, or with a wild sax solo and cranked-up guitars. Rock culture begins with the greasy ducktail and the sideburns.
rock group n.
ΚΠ
1960 Daily Defender (Chicago) 28 June a17/3 Rock 'n roll has been the main item along the southside via the Regal theatre where Jackie Wilson..and an allstar rock group appear.
1977 It May 10/1 Perhaps there are also rock groups who would be prepared to perform at benefit concerts.
2001 Times 22 Mar. i. 5/1 Once such exploits were a rite of passage for every self-respecting rock group.
rock guitarist n.
ΚΠ
1968 Crawdaddy! Jan. 12 Robin Trower must now be counted among the important rock guitarists.
2007 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 7 Jan. ii. 17/4 If every aspiring three-chord rock guitarist can accompany himself, why should it be so very hard..for a singer performing a few Schubert songs to play the piano as well?
rock history n.
ΚΠ
1966 Los Angeles Times 29 Oct. iii. 7/6 Very likely..the duo will go down in rock history for having discovered at this concert the ‘sickest of sick songs’: ‘Teen-age Cremation’.
1996 Time Out 31 July 102/4 Bob Neuwirth is a minor figure and a famous footnote in the margins of rock history.
rock idiom n.
ΚΠ
1959 Billboard 26 Oct. 46/3 Little Bo Peep—A jumping rocker adapts the nursery fable to the rock idiom.
2001 Sight & Sound Sept. 45/2 They can be excused for occasionally sliding brazenly from the rock idiom into the schlockier sentiments of showbusiness.
rock legend n.
ΚΠ
1971 Charleston Gaz. 27 Nov. 12/3 Mayall is departing drastically from the pet art form which he almost singlehandedly developed, becoming a rock legend in the process.
2007 G. Case Jimmy Page 198 Page was now in the midst of a transformation from guitar hero to rock legend, comfortably wealthy and assured of deferential treatment everywhere he went.
rock lyric n.
ΚΠ
1965 Billboard 28 Aug. 46/4 Johnny Mercer said he didn't think he could write rock lyrics.
2003 C. J. Watson Everything Songwriting Bk. iv. 45 A good rock lyric is emotionally charged, dynamic, and forceful.
rock movement n.
ΚΠ
1967 Billboard 6 May 22/1 They are guiding the destinies of the city's newest musical fad, the ‘psychedelic’, ‘turned on’, ‘acid’ rock movement.
2006 J. Simmonds Encycl. Dead Rock Stars 521/2 ARE Weapons were the hottest new band to emerge in 2001 from the rock movement known as ‘electroclash’.
rock movie n.
ΚΠ
1958 Daily Inter Lake (Kalispell, Montana) 8 June 13/1 (headline) Tom Sands stars in ‘rock’ movie.
1971 It 4–18 Nov. 19/1 The financial success of cheap rock movies.
2003 R. Crouse 100 Best Movies you've never Seen 172 The concert scenes have a filmic feel to them that many rock movies miss.
rock music n.
ΚΠ
1955 Bridgeport (Connecticut) Post 1 Apr. 23/1 (headline) ‘Rock’ music fad will pass.
1973 Black World Mar. 62 Pulsating rock music seemed to control the flashing neon signs.
2006 Guardian 6 Jan. (Film & Music section) 2/3 The stripped-down, gloriously simple, thrillingly gonzoid form that is rock music.
rock musical n.
ΚΠ
1966 N.Y. Times 30 Nov. 95/1 ‘The Golden Screw’, Tom Sankey's folk-rock musical about the corruption of a popular singer.]
1967 Billboard 4 Nov. 20/4 ‘Hair’ is a hippie rock musical of varying quality.
2005 T. Brookes Guitar 310 Rock musicals..scored for electric guitar and bass, drums, sax, the whole caboodle.
rock musician n.
ΚΠ
1967 Billboard 18 Nov. 24/2 Rock musicians are taking greater cognizance of jazz, and jazz musicians are gaining popularity among rock fans.
1988 L. Green Music on Deaf Ears viii. 107 The rock musician plays by ear, composing as he is performing.
2001 M. Azerrad Our Band could be your Life ii. 74 D. Boon did not look like a rock musician, especially in those days of Spandex and poofy hair.
rock number n.
ΚΠ
1957 Sat. Rev. (U.S.) 5 Oct. 6 You feel it in a beat—in jazz—real cool jazz or a good gutty rock number.
1981 D. Anderson Rough Layout xx. 159 He ordered Mumm's Champagne all night and danced a stately two-step with Adele, except for the times Lexie took her off for lively rock numbers.
2008 Daily Record (Glasgow) (Nexis) 12 Dec. 18 This is nice mid-tempo rock number but doesn't bring anything to the party.
rock press n.
ΚΠ
1969 Win 15 Feb. 17/2 He announced to the rock press that at all major Rascal gigs ‘from now on, half the performers will be black, half will be white, or we stay home’.
2009 Time Out (Nexis) 1 Jan. 87 He has faced a less enthusiastic reception from the rock press.
rock show n.
ΚΠ
1958 N.Y. Times 6 May 21/4 (headline) Boston, New Haven ban ‘rock’ shows... Rock 'n' roll musical shows in public auditoriums were banned.
2002 E. White Fast Girls vii. 151 Christine feels that the music scene and the rock shows save her from the ‘totally backward’ kids at school.
rock singer n.
ΚΠ
1957 Blytheville (Arkansas) Courier News 27 Apr. 2/6 What happens when a big-name rock singer..goes back to his hometown and runs into a bunch of squares who don't want him and his band around.
1973 J. Jones Touch of Danger xxvii. 164 I met this boy and dropped out with him. He wanted to be a rock singer.
2007 A. Theroux Laura Warholic xxxix. 639 He thought if she were seeing anybody, it would be a rock singer, some slacker in tight pants and a guitar probably in a big-hair band.
rock singing n.
ΚΠ
1964 Tri-City Herald (Pasco, Washington) 11 Nov. 31/1 Jimmy O'Neill emcees this lively half-hour of rock singing and rhythm dancing.
2000 R. Middleton in J. Potter Cambr. Compan. Singing iii. 28 Rock singing..is typically thought of in terms of its extreme emotive and dramatic qualities..at times so insistent as to occasion pain.
rock song n.
ΚΠ
1960 Times 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.
1983 C. Hamm Music in New World xx. 647 The lyrics of rock songs are rarely direct political statements but tend rather to mirror internal struggles.
2001 Independent on Sunday (Nexis) 13 May 10 It contains probably the finest lyrics ever written for a rock song, a superb example of controlled vitriol, self-examination and self-hatred.
rock thing n.
ΚΠ
1959 C. MacInnes Absolute Beginners 56 The days when the Rock thing first broke.
2003 Daily Star (Nexis) 11 Dec. 17 For many years I was doing the rap thing, but now I'm into the rock thing.
b. Instrumental.
rock-dominated adj.
ΚΠ
1968 Sunday Light (San Antonio, Texas) 9 June e18/3 He continues to make the kind of melodic music which..was getting but marginal acceptance on today's rock dominated scene.
2008 A. Ham Madrid (Lonely Planet) 208/2 This great venue is for a largely bohemian crowd with a rock-dominated programme leavened with flamenco.
rock-tinged adj.
ΚΠ
1977 Rolling Stone 7 Apr. 26/2 His first solo album,..a fine mixture of love ballads with jazz- and rock-tinged soul, has been selling short of hit status.
2005 A. A. Fox in C. K. Wolfe & J. E. Akenson Country Music goes to War xi. 170 They were earning record contracts and national exposure playing rock-tinged versions of honky-tonk, western swing, and bluegrass.
C2.
rock chick n. colloquial a female performer or fan of rock music.
ΚΠ
1972 Courier News (Blytheville, Arkansas) 5 July 14/1 (heading) Rock chick Alex is making it.
1996 Company Dec. 45/3 His wealth and cool outweigh his potato head and monobrow, so he can pull a gorgeous rock chick.
2006 Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch (Nexis) 20 Oct. c6 There was no entourage..simply a couple of rock chicks huddled in a group of people.
rockfest n. originally U.S. colloquial = rock festival n.; (also) a prolonged or intense rock performance or recording.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > a performance > [noun] > music festival
stethva1612
festival1753
music festival1790
musical festival1804
Eisteddfod1822
Sängerfest1865
mod1891
Oireachtas1896
songfest1903
biennial1928
pop festival1951
folkfest1963
fleadh1966
rockfest1966
fleadh cheoil1972
festie1988
1966 Appleton (Wisconsin) Post-Crescent 14 June b1/1 Participating in the rock fest were the Orions; Little Chute; the Head Choppers; the Star-lites and the Out Fronts from New London.
1973 National 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.’
1997 N.Y. Mag. 23 June 91/1 McLachlan was behind schedule on her next album, Surfacing, but went ahead and whipped together a high-watt, girls-only rockfest.
2009 West Austral. (Perth) (Nexis) 5 Jan. It was yet another display of controlled hedonism at the New Year rockfest.
rock festival n. an open-air rock concert featuring many different performers, typically spread over two or three days and having a campsite and other amenities and forms of entertainment provided at the venue.
ΚΠ
1968 Rolling Stone 12 Oct. 1/3 The Sky River Rock Festival and Lighter Than Air Show was not dampened by the rain that fell over Labor Day weekend.
1985 C. Jencks Mod. Movements in Archit. (ed. 2) i. 92 The ‘instant city’, produced by rock festivals, showed what potential existed within society for self-organization—at least for a long weekend.
2001 N. Jones Rough Guide Trav. Health ii. 175 A number of cases [of trench foot] have been reported after rain-sodden outdoor rock festivals.
rock god n. a highly successful and widely admired (male) rock musician.
ΚΠ
1971 Edwardsville (Illinois) Intelligencer 6 Mar. 3/1 The temporary loss of a rock god like Conrad Birdie was crisis enough.
1994 Arena Sept.–Oct. 13/2 I once met someone who'd been at Woodstock, neither a celebrity nor an addled rock god,..no, just an ordinary punter.
2008 H. Kureishi Something to tell You 168 As one would with a rock god, I had an informative discussion with Jagger about good private schools in West London.
rock opera n. a work of rock music consisting of a series of songs that form a unified narrative; (also) a film or theatrical play in which rock songs provide the main narrative; a rock musical.
ΚΠ
1966 RPM Music Weekly (Toronto) 4 July 1/1 Hawkins manages The Children, Ottawa's fast rising folk-rock group... One of their members, Bruce Cockburn[,] and Mr. Hawkins are working on a Rock Opera, operating on the premise that to write you need only ‘something to say’.
1969 Newsweek 9 June 95 It was almost inevitable that the British group The Who should write the first rock opera.
1983 T. Hopko Lenten Spring xxii. 89 In the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar there is at least one good scene.
1992 Independent 30 Oct. 15/4 At Which Witch, the Norwegian rock-opera,..there was an astonishingly enthusiastic standing ovation.
2002 Big Issue 17 June 29/4 Muse..add a hefty dose of prog absurdity to the mix. A rock opera about spacesuited goblins is surely only an album away.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

† rockn.4

Origin: Of unknown origin.
Etymology: Origin unknown. Perhaps compare French roquet kind of small dog (see roquet n.1).
Obsolete. rare.
A type or breed of dog.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > dog > [noun] > unspecified types
butcher's doga1425
water-ruga1616
grindle-taila1625
rock1719
poligar dog1788
tiger-hound1880
poligar hound1907
1719 T. D'Urfey Wit & Mirth II. 331 With deep mouth'd Jowlers too, and Rocks.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2021).

rockv.1

Brit. /rɒk/, U.S. /rɑk/
Forms: Old English roccian, early Middle English rokky (south-west midlands), early Middle English ruokeden (plural past indicative), Middle English rocky (Kent), Middle English rok, Middle English roke, Middle English rokke, Middle English rooke, Middle English–1600s rocke, 1500s– rock; Scottish pre-1700 rok, pre-1700 1700s– rock.
Origin: Probably a word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Probably < the same Germanic base as rich v.2 (see discussion at that entry), on the assumption that the present word shows a weak Class II formation (hence without i-mutation). Perhaps compare Dutch rokken to stir, to cause to move (17th cent.), early modern German (rare) rocken to wiggle (the buttocks), which are generally considered variants of the more usual verbs cited at rich v.2, and perhaps also early modern Danish, Danish rokke to move to and fro, to wobble, to sway, to dodder, to cause to sway, Swedish regional rocka, (usually) rucka to move to and fro, to sway, to cause to sway (late 17th cent.).With the senses in branch III. compare rock 'n' roll n., and see discussion at that entry.
I. To move to and fro in a gentle and soothing manner, and related senses.
1.
a. transitive. To move (a child) gently to and fro in a cradle, etc., in order to soothe it or send it to sleep.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > calmness > compose or make calm [verb (transitive)] > by rocking > specifically in a cradle
rocklOE
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > [verb (transitive)] > put to or cause to sleep > induce or lull to sleep > by rocking > specifically a child
rocklOE
lOE tr. R. d'Escures Sermo in Festis Sancte Marie Virginis in R. D.-N. Warner Early Eng. Homilies (1917) 137 Heo hine baðede, & beðede, & smerede, & bær, & frefrede, & swaðede, & roccode.
c1350 in Trans. Philol. Soc. (1906) 402 F. bercelet berce W. childe in cradul rokkith.
1372 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 70 (MED) Als i lay vp-on a nith..Me þouthe i sau a wonder sith, A maiden child rokking.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 159 Gentil men children beeþ i-tauȝt to speke Frensche from þe tyme þat þey beeþ i-rokked in here cradel.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 436 Rokke chylder, yn a cradyle, cunagito, motito.
c1450 (c1398) in C. Horstmann Sammlung Altengl. Legenden (1878) 187 (MED) Ther she laye als innocente In credylle rokkede.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 693/1 Go rocke the chylde, here you nat howe he cryeth.
1593 W. Shakespeare Venus & Adonis sig. Hv Lo in this hollow cradle take thy rest, My throbbing hart shall rock thee day and night. View more context for this quotation
1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge ii. ii. sig. D2 That's not my natiue place, where I was rockt.
1656 A. Cowley Nemæan Ode in Pindaric Odes vi The big-limm'd Babe in his huge Cradle lay, Too weighty to be rockt by Nurses hands.
1730 Robin Hood iii. 30 My neighbour Ticklewell is gone to Market—and has begg'd us to rock the Child in our Cradle.
1792 J. Almon Anecd. Life W. Pitt (octavo ed.) II. xxix. 125 I have no local attachments; it is indifferent to me, whether a man was rocked in his cradle on this side or that side of the Tweed.
1867 G. MacDonald Ann. Quiet Neighbourhood III. ii. 23 I remember rocking you in your cradle.
1909 J. Curtin Journey in S. Siberia xi. 136 His father put him in the cradle, rocked him, talked to him, soothed him, but all to no purpose.
1973 P. Vlčko In Shadow of Tyranny xxx. 539 He had the awful feeling..that the woman who absent-mindedly rocked the baby was a stranger to him.
2004 A. Raanan & C. Walder Stories Straight from Avi's Heart 12 Avi watched his mother take care of Tammy... She lay her down to sleep and rocked her in the bassinet.
b. transitive. figurative and in figurative contexts.
ΚΠ
1575 J. Banister Needefull Treat. Chyrurg. To Rdr. sig. ** v Lulled with the sleepie songes of selfloue, and rocked in the lustles cradle of securitie.
1595 F. Sabie Flora's Fortune sig. E Shalt thou be rockt with windes and raging waues, In steed of milde and gentle lullabies?
1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge iii. iv. sig. F3v To rock your baby thoughts in the Cradle of sleepe.
1673 R. Leigh Transproser Rehears'd 141 A geographer born and bred,..rockt from his child-hood on the seas.
1785 W. Cowper Tirocinium in Task 44 Spring hangs her infant blossoms on the trees, Rock'd in the cradle of the western breeze. View more context for this quotation
a1852 J. H. Payne Ital. Bride (1940) ii. 105 Oh, gulf of Ischia, whose waves rocked my infancy in the fishing bark of my father!
1877 T. De W. Talmage Serm. 256 It was rocked in the cradle of the wind.
1936 Delineator 129 10/1 Swing and jazz were rocked in the same cradle.
1954 D. J. Enright in New Statesman & Nation May 704/1 Rocked by the drunken earth, and bullied by that maddened wind.
2006 J. Jarzębski in P. Swirski Art & Sci. Stanislaw Lem vi. 106 People are creatures gently rocked in the cradle of a natural world that is generally amicable towards them.
2. transitive. To make (a cradle, etc.) swing gently to and fro, in order to soothe a child or send it to sleep. Also figurative.In quot. ?c1225 intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > oscillate [verb (transitive)] > rock > a cradle
rock?c1225
trillc1425
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > [verb (transitive)] > put to or cause to sleep > induce or lull to sleep > by rocking > specifically a cradle
rock?c1225
trillc1425
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 67 Þilke þenne þe stureð hire tunge ileasunge..makeð hire tunge cader to þe deoueles bearn. & rockeð fulȝeorne ase nurice [c1230 Corpus Cambr. rockeð hit ȝeornliche as his nurrice].
c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. x. 79 To ryse to þe ruel to rocke the cradel.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Reeve's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 237 The Cradel at hir beddes feet is set To rokken and to yeue the child to sowke.
?1533 G. Du Wes Introductorie for to lerne Frenche sig. Giii v To rocke the cradel, berchér.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. vi. sig. Gg8v All the Graces rockt her cradle being borne.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. xxviii. iv. 303 To procure sleepe, by lying in some pretie bed that may be rocked too and fro.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) ii. iii. 136 Hee'le watch the horolodge a double set, If drinke rocke not his cradle. View more context for this quotation
1763 A. Murphy Citizen i. ii. 13 Then he rock'd the cradle, hush ho! hush ho!
1798 M. G. Lewis Castle Spectre i. ii. 16 The very air which the Lady Evelina used to sing while rocking her little daughter's cradle.
1864 Ld. Tennyson Enoch Arden in Enoch Arden, etc. 11 Lightly rocking baby's cradle.
1898 Westm. Gaz. 20 Sept. 4/1 He has rocked the cradles of more than one fresh world.
1935 B. Perry And Gladly Teach i. 12 Sister Grace used to lie on the floor, rocking the cradle of the latest baby with one hand, and turning the pages of Dickens with the other.
1971 Amer. Polit. Sci. Rev. 65 758/2 In such a case, the hand that rocked the cradle might be responsible for the way the world is ruled, but it would not rule the world.
2003 M. B. Duberman Haymarket 205 He..gently rocked the crib of his sleeping baby girl for a few moments.
3.
a. transitive. With to, into, or asleep as complement. To bring into a state of slumber, rest, or calm by gentle movement to and fro. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > calmness > compose or make calm [verb (transitive)] > by rocking
rockc1400
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > [verb (transitive)] > put to or cause to sleep > induce or lull to sleep > by rocking
cradlea1400
rockc1400
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xv. 11 (MED) Resoun hadde reuthe on me and rokked me aslepe.
1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) xvi. 376 We ben noo children for to be rokked a slepe.
1584 J. Lyly Sapho & Phao iii. iv I shoulde bee quickly rocked into a deepe rest.
1599 R. Linche Fountaine Anc. Fiction sig. Kii Rockt asleep with the illecebrous blandishments thereof.
1607 S. Hieron Triall of Adoption in Wks. (1620) I. 317 It is one of Sathans principall businesses to rocke men asleepe in it.
1635 F. Quarles Emblemes i. xiv. 58 Blow Ignorance, O thou, whose idle knee Rocks earth into a Lethargie.
1686 J. Scott Christian Life: Pt. II II. vii. 628 To chase them from our minds, and rock our selves into a deep security.
1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 739 As the working of a sea Before a calm, that rocks itself to rest.
1792 S. Rogers Pleasures Mem. ii. 92 Oft in the saddle rudely rocked to sleep.
1819 P. B. Shelley Cenci iv. ii. 66 Ye conscience-stricken cravens, rock to rest Your baby hearts.
1867 C. Dickens & W. Collins No Thoroughfare i. iii. 16 I have rocked you to sleep, on my bosom, many and many a time when you were a boy.
1919 M. F. Youngs in Catholic Educ. Rev. (1920) 18 49 I'm awful big to rock to sleep, I'm nearly half-past five.
1979 N. Farah Sweet & Sour Milk iii. 53 He rocked her to silence as one would a child.
2001 L. J. McClusky Here, our Culture is Hard iii. 124 Justina has Ronny in her tumpline, gently bouncing up and down to rock her asleep.
†b. transitive. To maintain in a comforting state of security, plenty, hope, etc. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > cause to prosper or flourish [verb (transitive)] > maintain in easy circumstances
rock1581
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xxxvii. 148 He was rockt in ease, and his state vnassailed by any miscontentment.
1633 J. Ford Broken Heart iv. i. sig. I Rich fortuness guard to fauour of a Princesse, Rocke thee (braue man) in euer crowned plenty.
1813 Monthly Repository Theol. & Gen. Lit. Feb. 130/1 If she bore in her youth the yoke of adversity..her character was..more exemplary than if she had been rocked in luxury and self-indulgence.
1880 J. McCarthy Hist. our Own Times III. xliv. 333 Up to the last he had been rocked in the vainest hopes.
4.
a. transitive. To move or sway (a person, esp. a child) to and fro in a gentle or soothing manner. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > oscillate [verb (transitive)] > rock > a person
rock1568
1568 Newe Comedie Iacob & Esau v. x. sig. G.iij I would he were rocked or dandled in your lappe.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1593) iii. sig. Gg2v He..tooke her in his armes, and rocking her too and fro [etc.].
1649 Bp. J. Taylor Great Exemplar i. iii. 28 Her desires and his own necessities called her to take him, and to rock him softly in her arms.
1798 W. Sotheby tr. C. M. Wieland Oberon xii. 432 Sir Huon..rocks him on his knee in fond parental play.
1847 T. De Quincey Spanish Mil. Nun v, in 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.
1891 R. Kipling Light that Failed xi. 219 Torpenhow put his arm round Dick and began to rock him gently to and fro.
1922 J. Blewett Poems 29 You must not hold him in your arms or rock him on your knee.
1970 N. Bawden Birds on Trees Prol. 5 The child began to weep silently, and Mr Tilney rocked him, stroking the limp, silky hair.
1990 L. Ngcobo And they didn't Die iii. 25 He took her gently in his arms and rocked her like a child and slowly she began to grasp the reality of Durban.
b. transitive (reflexive). To sway to and fro in distress.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > oscillate [verb (reflexive)] > rock
rock1811
1811 Lady's Misc. 7 Dec. 99/1 Sitting rocking herself on her chair, with a face a yard long, to look woe-begone.
1859 ‘G. Eliot’ Adam Bede I. i. x. 195 After Lisbeth had been rocking herself and moaning for some minutes, she suddenly paused.
1865 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend II. iii. xv. 139 She rocked herself upon her breast, and cried, and sobbed.
1937 J. Steinbeck Of Mice & Men 131 He rocked himself back and forth in his sorrow.
1987 F. McGuinness Innocence 205 Whore rocks herself to and fro, weeping.
2007 J. T. Hospital Orpheus Lost iii. 89 He rocked himself on the bed like a frightened child.
II. Senses relating to swaying and shaking more generally.
5.
a. transitive. To cause to move backwards and forwards or from side to side, esp. violently; to shake; to sway. Also reflexive.In quot. c1450: to shake (a person) violently in a cradle-like instrument of torture.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > oscillate [verb (transitive)] > rock
rockc1325
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 2179 Þe romeins..nolde..hor poer so sende, Ne to rokky hom so in þe se.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 116 (MED) Þeruore bit sainte pawel his deciples þet hi by yzet ase tours, yroted ase trawes in loue, zuo þet non uondinge him ne moȝe refye ne rocky.
c1450 (c1398) in C. Horstmann Sammlung Altengl. Legenden (1878) 187 (MED) Foure mene rokede hire to & froo To make hire payne more violente.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1897–1973) 238 (MED) We shall..rok hym and with buffettys knok hym.
1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 153 I was..as ane fule mockit, Euill tocheit and rockit.
1598 G. Chapman tr. Homer Seauen Bks. Iliades vi. 111 The blacke Buls hide..was with his gate so rockt, That (being large) it (both at once) his necke and ankles knockt.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream iv. i. 85 Come, my queen, take hands with me, And rocke the ground whereon these sleepers be. View more context for this quotation
1675 Mistaken Husband iv. ii. 37 The Grocers daughter stands licking her lipps at the empty Goblet,..and rocks her self from one Legg to tother.
1686 J. Goad Astro-meteorologica i. vii. 23 Wind..rocking the lofty Towers, and shaking the best and lowest Architecture.
1718 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad IV. xiii. 68 The God whose Earthquakes rock the solid Ground.
1786 S. Henley tr. W. Beckford Arabian Tale 91 A sudden hurricane blew out our lights, and rocked our habitation.
1853 A. Ure 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.
1874 J. W. Long Amer. Wild-fowl Shooting xii. 174 The boat should then be ‘rocked’ continually to break the ice as it goes.
1913 A. Cambridge Hand in Dark 29 I feel the swaying of the ship In every gust that rocks the trees.
1962 R. Ruark Uhuru iii. 288 The rifle went off like the explosion of an ammunition dump, rocking the walls of the thorn-thatched blind.
1989 G. Vanderhaeghe Homesick viii. 112 Her roundhouse slap rocked him but didn't break his grip.
1999 Cathedral Music Apr. 31/1 To dance about on the timber logs seasoning in the river..and allow ourselves to be rocked on them by the wash of passing river steamers.
b. transitive. figurative. To cause to be emotionally or psychologically shaken; to render bewildered or distressed; to shock; to perturb; to dumbfound. Cf. to rock a person's world at Phrases 3.Frequently with a place, institution, etc., as object.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > state of being upset or perturbed > upset or perturb [verb (transitive)]
to-wendc893
mingeOE
dreveOE
angerc1175
sturb?c1225
worec1225
troublec1230
sturble1303
disturbc1305
movea1325
disturblec1330
drubblea1340
drovec1350
distroublec1369
tempestc1374
outsturba1382
unresta1382
stroublec1384
unquietc1384
conturb1393
mismaya1400
unquemea1400
uneasec1400
discomfita1425
smite?a1425
perturbc1425
pertrouble?1435
inquiet1486
toss1526
alter1529
disquiet1530
turmoil1530
perturbate1533
broil1548
mis-set?1553
shake1567
parbruilyiec1586
agitate1587
roil1590
transpose1594
discompose1603
harrow1609
hurry1611
obturb1623
shog1636
untune1638
alarm1649
disorder1655
begruntlea1670
pother1692
disconcert1695
ruffle1701
tempestuate1702
rough1777
caddle1781
to put out1796
upset1805
discomfort1806
start1821
faze1830
bother1832
to put aback1833
to put about1843
raft1844
queer1845
rattle1865
to turn over1865
untranquillize1874
hack1881
rock1881
to shake up1884
to put off1909
to go (also pass) through a phase1913
to weird out1970
the mind > emotion > suffering > state of being upset or perturbed > state of being shocked > be shocked at [verb (transitive)] > shock
startle1598
scandal1643
shock1656
scandalize1676
jar1789
rock1881
shake1943
traumatize1949
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > surprise, unexpectedness > surprise, astonish [verb (transitive)]
gloppena1250
abavea1400
ferlya1400
forferlya1400
supprisec1405
stonish1488
surprend1549
stagger1556
thunderbolta1586
admire1598
startle1598
thunderstrike1613
siderate1623
dumbfound1653
surprise1655
stammer1656
strange1657
astartlea1680
dumbfounder1710
knock1715
to take aback1751
flabbergast1773
to take back1796
stagnate1829
to put aback1833
to make (a person) sit up1878
to knock, lay (out), etc., cold1884
transmogrify1887
rock1947
to flip out1964
1881 J. W. Donovan Mod. Jury Trials 671 That time when the whole nation was rocked by the strong storm of financial upheaving.
1891 G. Meredith One of our Conquerors III. iii. 59 His mouth hardened as nature's electricity shot sparks into him from the touch [of a woman] and rocked him.
1927 Amer. Mercury Feb. 252/2 Great litigations have rocked the industry since its beginning in the old five-cent peep-shows.
1947 N. Marsh Final Curtain ix. 139 Has Troy seen about the Will?... It'll rock them considerably.
1977 B. Head Collector of Treasures 13 The village could be rocked from end to end by scandal.
2001 Sun 27 Jan. (TV Mag.) 40/4 The arguments..rocked the British Biotech medical research company.
6.
a. intransitive. To sway to and fro, esp. as the result of an impact or force; to move or swing from side to side; to shake; to wobble. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > oscillate [verb (intransitive)] > rock
rocka1398
tailyevey1513
totter1668
jow1816
sally1887
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. v. xx. 205 Somtyme teeþ rokken and waggen.
c1440 (?a1400) Sir Perceval l. 1375 Were þay wighte, were þay woke, Alle þat he till stroke, He made þaire bodies to roke.
c1450 (a1400) Libeaus Desconus (Calig. A.ii) (1969) l. 1621 Syr Lambard vp-ryȝt Sat and rokkede yn hys sadell As chyld doþ yn a kradell.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 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.
1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. C3 And how her hand in my hand being lockt, Forst it to tremble..and then it faster rockt . View more context for this quotation
1689 N. Lee Princess of Cleve iv. ii. 55 When coming close to my Bed-side, methought it rock'd to and fro like a great Cradle.
1695 R. Blackmore Prince Arthur iv. 100 He rocks with every Wind.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa VII. vi. 32 The bed rocking under him.
1798 S. Lee Young Lady's Tale in H. Lee Canterbury Tales II. 145 A tremendous shock followed... The earth rocked beneath his feet.
1861 Sat. Rev. 23 Nov. 534 The rapid fluctuations of prevalent belief..have necessarily set many minds rocking.
1898 Daily News 24 Nov. 7/3 Sharkey..sent his right straight in Corbett's face, making his head rock.
1931 E. Bliss Saraband iii. 130 Then there would be a lull, when the trees rocked uncertainly and the leaves would flutter trembling in a corner.
1962 C. M. H. Clark Hist. Austral. ii. ii. 74 The face also suggests..the strength to stand firm when the world rocks.
1980 P. Muldoon Why Brownlee Left 40 When I nudged the rocker on the porch It rocked as though it might never rest.
2001 J. Franzen Corrections 247 The caboose rocking saucily as the train finally receded up the tracks.
b. intransitive. spec. Of a vessel: to move from side to side with the motion of the water, esp. while at anchor. Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > action or motion of vessel > [verb (intransitive)] > roll
wallowc1300
rolla1325
welter1423
rocka1522
keel1867
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1957) v. xiv. l. 77 Prince Ene persauyt, by his rays, Quhou that the schip dyd rok and tailȝeve.
1695 R. Blackmore Prince Arthur v. 143 The Ships lay rocking, and their Masts bend more With Britons Breath, than with the Winds before.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine (1780) Rolling, the motion by which a ship rocks from side to side like a cradle.
1807 P. Gass Jrnls. 49 The waves ran very high and the boat rocked a great deal.
1873 W. Black Princess of Thule xxiv. 406 The..vessel that scarcely rocked in the water below.
a1875 C. Kingsley Psyche in Lett. & Memories of Life (1878) I. ii. 35 The sea-birds played about over the sea, or sat rocking on its bosom.
1906 A. Austin Door of Humility 50 The boats rock idly by the shore.
1970 G. W. Barrax Another Kind of Rain 34 Down into the harbor where the empty boats rocked with the pull of the moon.
2000 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Jan. 133/3 For two weeks, veering around thick ‘pancakes’ of ice, the Fedorov rocked and swayed madly.
c. intransitive. Scottish and English regional (Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Northamptonshire). To walk with a staggering gait; to reel. Usually in present participle, esp. in to go rocking. Sc. National Dict. (at cited word) records this sense as still in use in Shetland, northeast Scotland, and Kirkcudbright in 1968.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > walk, tread, or step [verb (intransitive)] > unsteadily
wiggle?c1225
walter1399
falterc1400
stammerc1400
dotterc1475
stavera1500
stumblea1500
reel1529
scamblec1571
halper1596
totter1602
folder1607
wamble1611
to make a Virginia fence1671
wandle1686
fribble1709
rock1718
stoit1719
stoiter1724
swagger1724
doddle1761
stotter1781
toit1786
doiter1793
stot1801
dodder1819
twaddle1823
teeter1844
shoggle1884
welter1884
warple1887
whemmel1895
1718 A. Ramsay Christ's-kirk on Green iii. 28 Some fell, and some gae'd rockin.
1801 W. Beattie Fruits Time Parings 16 Now the drink set some a rockin'.
1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel I. 106 As o'er the gay pasture went rocking a clown.
1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 179 He goes rocking along.
d. intransitive. To swing oneself to and fro, esp. while sitting in a rocking chair.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > oscillate [verb (intransitive)] > rock > specifically of a person
rock1798
1798 R. Southey Joan of Arc (ed. 2) I. i. 127 They [sc. fairies] love to lie and rock upon its leaves, And bask them in the moonshine.
1844 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit xliv. 507 During the whole dialogue, Jonas had been rocking on his chair.
1898 National 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.
1958 J. Barth End of Road vii. 118 Left to myself, I'd have sat rocking in my chair, buried in comfortable torpidity, until bedtime.
2001 F. D. Goodman Maya Apocalypse ii. 26 Reina watches them, rocking in her hammock.
e. intransitive. With adverbs or adverbial phrases indicating the direction in which an object travels with a rocking motion. Also figurative.
ΚΠ
1824 S. E. Ferrier Inheritance II. i. 3 She descried the identical old red hack-chaise..rocking up the avenue.
1858 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia I. ii. vii. 129 Germany was rocking down towards one saw not what.
1897 T. De Leon Bachelor's Box v. 44 Van muttered to himself, as the cab rocked and ricketed down the street.
1913 F. K. Ward Land of Blue Poppy ii. 16 The wind sent foam-crested waves rocking up the beach.
1927 ‘Barbecue Bob’ Hicks Motherless Chile Blues (transcript of song) in M. Taft Talkin' to Myself (2005) 233 If the blues overtake me[,] going to rock on away from here.
1977 M. Atwood Polarities in R. Weaver Canad. Short Stories (1978) 28 They..snorted and rocked away from him through the haunch-deep snowdunes.
1992 Which? Aug. 434/2 The swing is cemented into the ground to stop it from rocking over.
f. intransitive. Of a person or group: to sway or reel with a particular emotion or response, esp. laughter; (broadly) to be overcome with a feeling.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > laughter > laugh [verb (intransitive)] > sway with laughter or mirth
rock1843
1843 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Oct. 468/1 Albert, who rocked with laughter at each new prank.
1858 G. F. Pardon Rigoletto ii in Tales from Operas 225 Though he rocked with fear he came a step forward.
1916 J. L. Rickard Light above Cross Roads (1918) xxii. 254 ‘Go, go,’ said Sachs, rocking with emotion.
1919 M. Hine Hidden Valley ii. 28 A sudden joyous laugh broke from him... He rocked with mirth.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xii. [Cyclops] 297 That monster audience simply rocked with delight.
1942 Chicago Tribune 4 July 11/5 When ‘Citizen Kane’ was finished, and certain people [in the film industry] learned what the story was about, they rocked with terror.
1979 Washington Post 1 July d4/1 Tell that story to Peterson..and he rocks with laughter.
2004 Daily Mail (Nexis) 10 Dec. 54 A 20-year-old lad near me kept cackling and rocking with glee.
g. intransitive. U.S. (chiefly regional (south Midland)) colloquial. figurative. to rock along (also occasionally on): to go on steadily or habitually; to continue without interruption or change.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > continuing > continue doing or keep going in a course of action [verb (intransitive)] > in a typical fashion
roll1835
to rock along (also occasionally on)1858
1858 G. W. Harris in Nashville (Tennessee) Union & Amer. 30 June 1/6 Well, matters rocked along, all hands doin es they pleased.
a1897 F. B. Lloyd Sketches Country Life (1898) ii. 19 His mother didn't take the yarn..but she didn't have no dead sure proof, and so she lets things rock along so till further notice.
1946 Sun (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.
1958 J. M. Brewer Dog Ghosts 106 Gran'ma say dat things rocked on an' rocked on in dis fashion 'till one Saddy evenin' rolled 'roun'.
1972 J. S. Hall Sayings from Old Smoky 115 Everything is rockin' along just like when Lena was here.
2006 C. Cooper & R. Block Disaster 291 The city government of New Orleans rocked along through the fall and winter as an employer of last resort.
h. intransitive. Mountaineering and Rock Climbing. To work one's way up a chimney (chimney n. 8) by pressing against the opposite sides whilst rocking one's body. rare.
ΚΠ
1920 G. 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.
i. intransitive. colloquial (originally South African). to rock up (also occasionally in): to arrive, turn up, esp. casually, late, or unexpectedly. Cf. to roll up 7c at roll v.2 Phrasal verbs 1, to roll in 3 at roll v.2 Phrasal verbs 1. Dict. S. Afr. Eng. (1996) 600/1 records an oral use from 1974.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement towards a thing, person, or position > reaching a point or place > reach a point or place [verb (intransitive)] > arrive
comeOE
to come to townOE
yworthOE
lend11..
lightc1225
to come anovenonc1275
wina1300
'rivec1300
repaira1325
applyc1384
to come ina1399
rede?a1400
arrivec1400
attainc1400
alightc1405
to come to handc1450
unto-comec1450
apport1578
to be along1597
to drop in1609
to come ona1635
to walk in1656
land1679
engage1686
to come along1734
to get in1863
to turn up1870
to fall in1900
to lob1916
to roll up1920
to breeze in1930
to rock up1975
1975 Darling (Durban) 12 Feb. 119 There by the camping site the day we rock in, it's 95 in the shade.
1982 Sunday Times (Johannesburg) 6 June (Mag.) 4/6 This taxi rocks up with two old toppies.
1996 Women's Day (Sydney) 3 June 90/1 When the ballad beauty rocked up she was ushered swiftly to Jean-Claude's old suite.
2004 Rugby World Feb. 29/1 As they slumbered in the departure lounge, the England squad rocked up with the Webb Ellis cup in tow.
†7. transitive. Perhaps: to burnish by shaking in a barrel of sand. Compare earlier ruoken v. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with metal > work with metal [verb (transitive)] > other metalworking processes
burnishc1325
rockc1400
leadc1440
braze1552
run1650
stratify1669
shingle1674
snarl1688
plate1706
bar1712
strake1778
shear1837
pile1839
matt1854
reek1869
bloom1875
siliconize1880
tumble1883
rustproof1886
detin1909
blank1914
anodize1931
roll1972
c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) 2018 (MED) He clad hym in..his oþer harnays, þat holdely watz keped, Boþe his paunce & his platez piked ful clene, þe ryngez rokked of þe roust of his riche bruny.
8. transitive. Gold-mining. To shake (a cradle) back and forth in water, in order to separate the gold. Also intransitive: to use a cradle in this way. See cradle n. 14 and cf. sense 2. Now chiefly historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > mining > mine [verb (transitive)] > wash or stream > for gold
rock1825
pan1832
cradle1852
puddle1852
sluice1859
to wash up1869
yandy1937
to rock out1966
society > occupation and work > industry > mining > mine [verb (intransitive)] > by specific method > for gold
fossick1852
gulch1879
rock1884
1825 Gentleman's Mag. June 545/1 By rocking the cradle rapidly, the water is thrown overboard, loaded with as much mud as it is capable of suspending.
1849 Illustr. London 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’ Old Melbourne Mem. 168 Each man dug, or rocked, or bore, As if salvation with the ore Of the mine monarch lay.
1946 F. W. G. Miller There was Gold 41 It took two men to work the cradle satisfactorily—one to shovel and one to rock it violently..and at the same time to dash water on to it by means of a dipper fastened to a stick.
1963 Connecticut Hist. Soc. Jan. 7 The next step in mining was the use of the cradle, or rocker, whereby sand and gold were separated by pouring water into a sieve type of container, and shaking or rocking the cradle until gold settled down into a canvas container underneath.
1971 T. Bishop Gold! iii. 14 You will have to be adding water constantly and rocking at the same time.
2001 L. J. Swindle Fraser River Gold Rush of 1858 9 The water could be easily dipped up with one hand while the other rocked the cradle.
III. To perform or dance to music, and related senses.
9.
a. transitive. U.S. slang (esp. in African-American use). To thrill sexually; to have sexual intercourse with (a person, esp. a woman).In earlier use euphemistic, often having the ostensible meaning ‘to dance with’: see sense 9b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > engage in sexual activity with [verb (transitive)] > have sexual intercourse with
mingeOE
haveOE
knowc1175
ofliec1275
to lie with (or by)a1300
knowledgec1300
meetc1330
beliea1350
yknowc1350
touchc1384
deala1387
dightc1386
usea1387
takec1390
commona1400
to meet witha1400
servea1400
occupy?a1475
engender1483
jangle1488
to be busy with1525
to come in1530
visitc1540
niggle1567
mow1568
to mix one's thigh with1593
do1594
grind1598
pepper1600
yark1600
tumble1603
to taste of1607
compressc1611
jumble1611
mix?1614
consort?1615
tastea1616
bumfiddle1630
ingressa1631
sheet1637
carnal1643
night-work1654
bump1669
bumble1680
frig?c1680
fuck1707
stick1707
screw1719
soil1722
to do over1730
shag1770
hump1785
subagitatec1830
diddle1879
to give (someone) onec1882
charver1889
fuckeec1890
plugc1890
dick1892
to make a baby1911
to know (a person) in the biblical sense1912
jazz1920
rock1922
yentz1924
roll1926
to make love1927
shtupa1934
to give (or get) a tumble1934
shack1935
bang1937
to have it off1937
rump1937
tom1949
to hop into bed (with)1951
ball1955
to make it1957
plank1958
score1960
naughty1961
pull1965
pleasurea1967
to have away1968
to have off1968
dork1970
shaft1970
bonk1975
knob1984
boink1985
fand-
1922 T. Smith in J. Godrich & R. M. W. Dixon Blues & Gospel Records 1902–42 (1963) 648 (title of song) My man rocks me (with one steady roll).
1927 M. Copeland in R. M. W. Dixon et al. Blues & Gospel Records 1890–1943 (1997) 167 (title of song) Nobody rocks me like my baby do.
1929 E. Thompson West Virginia Blues (transcript of song) in M. Taft Talkin' to Myself (2005) 606 She used to rock me... Got another man[,] she don't rock me no more.
1945 ‘Big Bill Broonzy’ & A. Crudup Rock Me Mama (MS sheet music) 1 Please Rock me ma-ma Please rock me Ma-ma nice and slow, Please rock me ma-ma Rock me Ma-ma one more time before I go.
1950 E. Davis & A. Hunter Rock, Little Daddy (MS sheet music) 1 He..Rocked me so well he made me squeal... Rock little daddy Rock me and make me reel.
1987 M. Dewese Go See Doctor (song) in L. A. Stanley Rap: the Lyrics (1992) 185 The poontang was dope and you know that I rocked her.
2009 ‘Cairo’ Kat Trap 285 He rocked me slow, then fast, then deep, before slowly pullin' his dick out to the head, then plungin' it back in.
b. transitive. colloquial (originally U.S. Jazz slang). To cause to dance or move rhythmically to music; to enthuse or thrill with a musical performance. Also: to instil or inspire with energy or enthusiasm; (broadly) to impress.Also with a location as object.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > pulsation > cause to pulsate [verb (transitive)] > cause to move with musical pulse
rock1938
1938 C. Calloway Cat-ologue: Hepster's Dict. Rock me, send me.
1939 W. Hobson Amer. Jazz Music (1940) iii. 54 Albert Ammon's Boogie Woogie Stomp.., in jazz slang, might be said to ‘rock the joint’.
1939 W. Hobson Amer. Jazz Music (1940) 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.
1952 Rock Joint (song, perf. ‘Bill Haley & Comets’) in A. F. Moore Cambridge Compan. Blues & Gospel (2002) vi. 71 We're gonna rock this joint tonight.
1961 Jazz Notes Feb.–Mar. 39 I don't remember anyone who could ‘rock’ a Kenilworth audience before!
1977 Rolling Stone 7 Apr. 3/2 (advt.) Boston, man... They rocked the place apart.
1979 S. Robinson et al. Rapper's Delight (song, perf. ‘Sugarhill Gang’) in Hip Hop & Rap (2003) 340 Can he rock a party 'til the early light?
1980 ‘Treacherous Three’ New Rap Language (song lyrics) I rock your mind.
1986 Sunday Mail (Queensland) (Nexis) 16 Feb. Dylan toured the world in '78... The music which rocked fans across Australia was up tempo and heavily electric.
2000 Sleazenation Dec.–Jan. 105/1 The Speed Queen shindig rocked the masses into a sweat soaked state of pumpin' house insanity.
2008 ‘Grandmaster Flash’ & D. Ritz Adven. Grandmaster Flash 109 Cowboy rocked the crowd, Creole rocked the flow, Mel rocked the entire English language, Ness rocked the style, Rahiem rocked the ladies, and I rocked the turntables harder than ever.
10.
a. intransitive. To play or dance to popular music with a fast, vigorous rhythm and a strong beat, esp. exuberantly. Cf. to rock and roll at Phrases 1b.Originally used with reference to jazz; later chiefly of rock music (see rock n.3 2b).Sometimes (esp. in early use) with sexual connotations; cf. sense 9a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > engage in sexual activity [verb (intransitive)] > have sexual intercourse
playOE
to do (also work) one's kindc1225
bedc1315
couple1362
gendera1382
to go togetherc1390
to come togethera1398
meddlea1398
felterc1400
companya1425
swivec1440
japea1450
mellc1450
to have to do with (also mid, of, on)1474
engender1483
fuck?a1513
conversec1540
jostlec1540
confederate1557
coeate1576
jumble1582
mate1589
do1594
conjoin1597
grind1598
consortc1600
pair1603
to dance (a dance) between a pair of sheets1608
commix1610
cock1611
nibble1611
wap1611
bolstera1616
incorporate1622
truck1622
subagitate1623
occupya1626
minglec1630
copulate1632
fere1632
rut1637
joust1639
fanfreluche1653
carnalize1703
screw1725
pump1730
correspond1756
shag1770
hump1785
conjugate1790
diddle1879
to get some1889
fuckeec1890
jig-a-jig1896
perform1902
rabbit1919
jazz1920
sex1921
root1922
yentz1923
to make love1927
rock1931
mollock1932
to make (beautiful) music (together)1936
sleep1936
bang1937
lumber1938
to hop into bed (with)1951
to make out1951
ball1955
score1960
trick1965
to have it away1966
to roll in the hay1966
to get down1967
poontang1968
pork1968
shtup1969
shack1976
bonk1984
boink1985
society > leisure > dancing > types of dance or dancing > dances to specific popular music > [verb (intransitive)]
rag1896
jazz1919
rock1931
juke1933
boogie1944
boogaloo1966
to rock out1966
skank1973
disco1976
hip-hop1983
society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > perform music [verb (intransitive)] > perform specific type of music
serenade1671
prelude1680
fugue1783
pastoralize1828
preludize1829
symphonize1833
ran-tan1866
counterpoint1875
rag1896
ragtime1908
jazz1916
rock1931
jivec1938
bop1947
blow1949
rock-and-roll1956
skiffle1957
hip-hop1983
1931 D. Ellington (title of song) Rockin' in rhythm.
1934 Pittsburgh Courier 29 Sept. a8/4 Their Harlem temple of jazz, where all their friends may gather and rock in rhythm with the Duke and his famous orchestra.
1942 Yank 29 July 20 The rest of the band was, as they say, really rockin'.
1953 M. C. Freedman & ‘J. De Knight’ (title of song) Rock around the clock.
1974 Down 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.
1992 Alternative Press Jan. 67/1 Any band with a bassist like Flea..should rock harder than tempered steel.
2005 S. Macdonald D'Amour Road ii. 16 Lisa and I had fun dancing, drinking, and rocking to the band.
b. intransitive. Of popular music: to possess a fast, vigorous rhythm with a strong beat; to exhibit the energy and drive characteristic of such music. Cf. rock n.3 2, rocking adj. 4a.Originally used with reference to jazz; later chiefly of rock music.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > duration of notes > proportion of notes or rhythm > [verb (intransitive)] > type of rhythm
jumpc1938
rock1938
1938 Metronome July 21 Harry James' Lullaby in Rhythm really rocks.
1946 R. Blesh Shining Trumpets xiii. 309 The music..jumps rather than rocks.
1964 N.Y. Herald Tribune 10 Feb. 23/5 Without their shaggy-dog moptops and their sensational buildup, they would be four nice boys with a total of one weak voice and one weak beat that rolls more than it rocks.
1977 Rolling Stone 24 Mar. Waters has written six new tunes for the album,..but his standards and one old Willie Dixon tune rock the hardest.
1989 N.Y. Mag. 13 Nov. 114/3 The album rocks so hard that if it weren't for the trademark twang, it would be hard to tell that this is a Grateful Dead album.
2003 X-Ray May 56/2 In my opinion, it was so New Wave that it wasn't rock. I actually think as it's gotten dancier, it rocks more.
c. intransitive. colloquial (originally and chiefly U.S.). to rock out: to dance to rock music enthusiastically and in an improvised manner; (hence) to enjoy oneself wholeheartedly. Also of a musician or band: to play energetic rock music.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > types of dance or dancing > dances to specific popular music > [verb (intransitive)]
rag1896
jazz1919
rock1931
juke1933
boogie1944
boogaloo1966
to rock out1966
skank1973
disco1976
hip-hop1983
society > occupation and work > industry > mining > mine [verb (transitive)] > wash or stream > for gold
rock1825
pan1832
cradle1852
puddle1852
sluice1859
to wash up1869
yandy1937
to rock out1966
1966 Los Angeles Times 26 Aug. c9 It's [sc. dancing in one's partner's arms] much harder than our own California brand of ‘free expression’ type ‘rocking out’.
1972 B. Rodgers Queens' Vernacular 173 Rock out,..to enjoy oneself to the fullest.
1977 C. McFadden Serial (1978) lii. 110/2 Kate..went to find the Reverend Thurston on the dance floor, where he was rocking out with Marlene.
1984 Los Angeles Times 14 Oct. 86 ‘Slip It In’ is much more energetic, even thrashy at times. Black Flag is rocking out.
1993 Time 22 Mar. 74/2 He can rock out when he's of a mind and yet capture..certain fragile qualities that elude the rhythmic tonnage of most contemporary music.
2006 Time Out N.Y. 20 Apr. 24/1 We've seen you rocking out in front of the mirror, windmilling and finger-tapping to your heart's content.
d. intransitive. slang (originally U.S.). To be full of energy, life, and excitement; to be excellent. Frequently in exclamatory phrase —— rocks!
ΚΠ
1969 Van Wert Times-Bull. (Ohio) 3 Oct. 2 (advt.) Bored? Uptight? In a box? Weekend bowling really rocks!
1987 Maximum Rocknroll Sept. 64/2 Mr. Bungle serves a buffet of sounds from reggae to metal to funk, etc., which totally rocks. Cool stuff here.
1990 Club 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.
1998 Frame of Ref. Spring 21/2 Akira. This movie rocks.
2003 K. Couric in M. Moore Official ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ Reader (2004) 85 I just want you to know, I think Navy SEALs rock!
2005 Sowetan (Johannesburg) 11 Feb. 33/1 To the Pirates players, You Guys Rock BIG TIME.
11. intransitive. U.S. slang. To get going, begin, esp. with vigour and energy; = rock-and-roll v. 2. Chiefly in let's rock, ready to rock.
ΚΠ
1966 Los Angeles Times 17 Oct. iii. 6/3 All the Bruins [sc. an American Football team], as a matter of fact, should be back and ready to rock with the Bears... Grider and Erquiaga..figure to be able to return to the party in Strawberry Canyon.
1979 H. Gold Slave Trade 165 Someplace within I was full of pep for the trouble I had earned. Come on, I'm ready to rock.
1984 N.Y. Times 3 Jan. a16/1 ‘Let's rock,’ the actor commanded.
2000 Wired Jan. 98/3 The infrastructure is still in place, future-proofed and ready to rock.
2001 Orange Coast Sept. 46/1 Michael Bryan's attitude to painting reflects his attitude toward life. ‘Let's go, let's do more, let's rock!’
12. slang (originally U.S., esp. in the language of rap music).
a. transitive. To handle effectively and impressively; to use or wield effectively, esp. with style or self-assurance.
ΚΠ
1978 ‘Melle Mel’ in ‘Grandmaster Flash’ Live at Audubon Ballroom 12/23/1978 (transcription from cassette tape, www.youtube.com) (O.E.D. Archive) Like white on rice, he rock the mic.
1979 S. Robinson et al. Rapper's Delight (song, perf. ‘Sugarhill Gang’) in Hip Hop & Rap (2003) 339 I'm gonna rock the mic 'til you can't resist.
1986 ‘Beastie Boys’ Brass Monkey (transcript of song) in www.asklyrics.com (O.E.D. archive) Tilt your head back—let's finish the cup M.C.A. with the bottle—D. rocks the can.
1995 CMJ New Music Monthly Feb. 43 It's like taking a stroll to your favorite alternative-rock bistro to find Ed Gein's rockin' the mic.
2004 Vibe Oct. 58 ‘Mase rocks the pulpit,’..says Bronx-bred journalist Carlito, who welcomes Pastor Betha back to the game.
2005 Vibe Sept. 140 Dozens of Atlanta's best models rocked the V-Style runway in the hottest clothes and accessories.
2008 Ft. Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram 18 Dec. e1 He..teaches himself how to play guitar (he's started rockin' the axe in concert).
b. transitive. To perform or produce, esp. with confidence or flair; to accomplish.
ΚΠ
1979 S. Robinson et al. Rapper's Delight (song, perf. ‘Sugarhill Gang’) in Hip Hop & Rap (2003) 336 Rock the rhythm that'll make your body rock.
1979 S. Robinson et al. Rapper's Delight (song, perf. ‘Sugarhill Gang’) in Hip Hop & Rap (2003) 339 I rocked some vicious rhymes like I never did before.
1988 E. Sermon & P. Smith It's my Thing (song, perf. ‘EPMD’) in L. A. Stanley Rap: the Lyrics (1992) 109 Everytime I rock a rhyme, I can tell that you like it.
1991 L. Ware et al. Check Rhyme (song, perf. ‘Tribe Called Quest’) in Hip-hop & Rap (2003) 48 You recall when we used to rock Those fly routines on your cousin's block?
1993 ‘Us3’ I got it going on (song) in Hand on Torch (CD lyrics booklet) In school..I rocked an A average, so everything's cool.
2013 Self Apr. 45 (caption) There's no shame in rocking the running man [sc. a style of dancing].
c. transitive. To wear, esp. with panache; to display, flaunt, or sport (as a personally distinctive style, accessory, possession, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pride > ostentation > make ostentatious display of [verb (transitive)]
flourishc1380
show1509
ostent1531
ostentatec1540
to ruffle it1551
to brave out1581
vaunt1590
boasta1592
venditate1600
to make the most ofa1627
display1628
to make (a) parade of1656
pride1667
sport1684
to show off1750
flash1785
afficher1814
affiche1817
parade1818
flaunt1822
air1867
showboat1937
ponce1953
rock1987
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.
1992 Black Enterprise Dec. 67 Then, Run-DMC yelled out, ‘Okay, everybody in the house, rock your Adidas.’ On cue, three thousand pairs of Adidas shot in to the air.
1993 G. Grice et al. C.R.E.A.M. (song, perf. ‘Wu-Tang Clan’) in Hip-hop & Rap (2003) 28 A young youth, yo, rockin' the gold tooth.
1993 ‘Digable Planets’ Rebirth of Slick (song) in Hip-hop & Rap (2003) 348 Hip-hop kept some drama. When Butterfly rocked his light blue suede Pumas.
1995 Select Mar. 69/1 David Niven will totally rock the blazer and the turtleneck. Or he'd rock the cravat.
1997 ‘Mase’ in Can't Nobody hold me Down (song, perf. ‘Puff Daddy’) in Hip-hop & Rap (2003) 38 Brothers wanna rock the Rolls, rock my clothes, Rock my ice, pull out Glocks, stop my life.
2004 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 17 Oct. ix. 8/1 Cam was the first hard-core rapper to rock pink.
2005 Giant Robot No. 38. 30/2 I used to rock an old Transformers lunchbox.
2006 Cosmo Girl! Feb. 6/2 Rock the girlie-girl look with sweet hair and makeup.

Phrases

P1. to rock and roll. Inflected as two separate verbs. Cf. later rock-and-roll v., to which uninflected instances could belong.
a. To move with an unsteady, swaying motion, esp. on the sea. Also: to cause (something or someone) to move in such a way (occasionally as a euphemism for sexual intercourse). In quot. 1819 as part of an extended metaphor.
ΚΠ
1694 R. Franck Northern Mem. 169 She relinquished the brinish Ocean, to float in the slippery Arms of Ness. But to keep her steddy in her Passage, and preserve her from rocking and rolling by the way; they consulted no other Project than what I tell you.
1819 Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 25 Sept. 189 Thus, then, is the system fairly on the breakers. It has, ever since 1814, been endeavouring to get off; but, there it still lies, rocking and rolling, and beating itself about.
1879 Johnny Boker (song) in R. C. Adams On Board ‘Rocket’ 312 Oh do, my Johnny Boker, Come rock and roll me over, Do, my Johnny Boker, do.
1897 Brotherhood Locomotive Engineers Monthly Jrnl. Mar. 214/2 On it came..as fast as any train could run, rocking and rolling from one side of the track to the other.
1915 Harper's Mag. Dec. 101/2 Her plump body fairly rocked and rolled on a piano-stool several sizes too small for her.
1934 S. Clare Rock and roll (song) Rock and roll, roll and rock away, up and down round and round we'll sway with each swell in the spell of the rollin' rockin' rhythm of the sea.
2001 J. Braselton False Sense Well Being (2002) 318 ‘A water bed, lady?..Won't rock and roll you around all night. Course, if that's what you're after—’ He narrows his eyes and gives me a sidelong smirk.
2002 D. Lambdin Sea of Grey (2003) xxviii. 313 HMS Proteus fretfully rocked and rolled on the scend, three miles off Portland Point.
b. Originally: to dance or move rhythmically to music. In later use: spec. to play or dance to rock-and-roll music. Occasionally as a euphemism, with sexual connotations. Cf. sense 10a.Cf. quot. 1934 at Phrases 1a, in which dancing is compared to the rhythm of a ship's movement.
ΚΠ
1941 ‘B. Ram’ Rock & Roll (MS sheet music) ‘Rock and Roll’ while the band is playing ‘Rock and Roll’ Keep your shoulders swaying.
1944 N.Y. Amsterdam News 15 Apr. a7 Silhouetted figures rocked and rolled to mellow music. Harlem was dancing to the syncopations of Fletcher Henderson's band.
1948 T. McRae & L. Ray Rock & Roll (manuscript sheet music) 1 I've got a gal who's built so fine She nearly drives me out of my mind She likes to rock and roll... She said Look here daddy what makes you shout I said your good lovin' just knocks me out Come on let's rock and roll Come on let's rock and roll Come on let's rock and roll just rock it and roll it all night.
1956 N.Y. Times Mag. 4 Nov. 44/3 (heading) Europe rocks 'n' rolls.
1966 Listener 20 Oct. 568/1 There were already a dozen or so young people rocking and rolling wildly to some vintage discs of Elvis Presley.
1986 Jet 17 Nov. 122/2 Little Richard and Chuck Berry rocked and rolled to success.
2006 C. Gerard Over Line xiv. 184 Nothing had been normal since he'd seen her that first night onstage—rocking and rolling.
P2. figurative. to rock the boat: to disturb the equilibrium of a situation; to stir up trouble. Cf. to make waves at wave n. 3d.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > confusion or disorder > commotion, disturbance, or disorder > be in commotion or disorder [verb (intransitive)] > cause commotion or disorder
to make work?1473
perturb1543
hurly-burly1598
to throw (also fling) the house out of (also at) the window (also windows)1602
tumultuate1611
to beat up the quarters of1670
hurricane1682
larum1729
to kick up, make, raise a stour1787
stour1811
to strike a bustle1823
to cut shindies1829
to kick up a shindy1829
hurricanize1833
rumpus1839
to raise (Old) Ned1840
to raise hell1845
fustle1891
to rock the boat1903
1903 A. H. Lewis Peggy O'Neal ii. 60 The worst that both of us might do of public evil would hardly serve to rock the boat.
1931 F. L. Allen Only Yesterday vi. 156 Unfortunate publicity had a tendency to rock the boat.
1972 J. B. Keane Lett. Irish Parish Priest 108 The last thing I want to do is interfere with the running of the parish but Dick you are rocking the boat.
2001 R. Hill Dialogues of Dead (2002) xxv. 282 Having got back to something like an even keel with the super, it would be foolish to risk rocking the boat by letting personal dislike cloud his judgment.
P3. transitive. to rock a person's world: to stun, shock, or surprise a person profoundly (used with varyingly negative or positive connotations); (hence, contextually) to disorient a person distressingly; to upset a person deeply; to excite, delight, or captivate a person utterly.
ΚΠ
1934 Ada (Okla.) Evening News 2 Feb. 8/1 The thought that Tom would deliberately deceive her rocked her world.
1960 I. Noble Courage of Dr. Lister 56 He had so few intimates, so few people whom he loved deeply, that the loss of one could rock his world.
1988 L. F. Sylvers (song, perf. ‘Five Star’) (title of song) Rock my world.
1994 Vibe Nov. 26/2 If you give the Boogiemonsters a chance, it'll rock your world.
1999 Post Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) 19 Dec. b3 This has rocked my world. It has shaken the core of my very being.
2003 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 8 May e1/4 Positive comments like ‘she rocks my world’.
2007 Wired Oct. 181/3 I first saw Blade Runner when I was 16. It rocked my world.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

rockv.2

Brit. /rɒk/, U.S. /rɑk/
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: rock n.1
Etymology: < rock n.1
†1. transitive. To surround with rocks. Also in figurative context. In passive in quots. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > enclosing or enclosure > enclose [verb (transitive)] > with or as with rocks or stones
rock1600
stone1953
1600 E. Blount tr. G. F. di Conestaggio Hist. Uniting Portugall to Castill x. 309 The Iland was..rocked rounde about [It. aspra tutta all'intorno], and seated in the most inconstant sea that is.
1634 Noble Souldier iv. i. sig. F2 The mother Stands rock'd so strong with friends ten thousand billowes Cannot..shake her.
2. transitive. slang (originally and chiefly U.S. regional (southern and south Midland)). To throw stones at; to stone.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > assail with missiles [verb (transitive)] > stone
steenc950
heneOE
stonec1175
lapidate1816
brickbat1830
rock1836
1836 Public 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.
1848 in J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (at cited word) They commenced rocking the Clay Club House in June.
1872 O. W. Holmes Poet at Breakfast-table xii The boys would follow after him, crying, ‘Rock him! Rock him! He's got a long-tailed coat on!’
1899 R. Kipling Stalky & Co. 271 Did Stalky ever tell you how Rabbits-Eggs came to rock King that night?
1923 Dial. Notes 5 219 I rocked 'im off o' the place.
1968 M. Haun Hawk's done Gone 205 A bunch of boys around here had made it up to rock him.
1996 F. Chappell Farewell I'm bound to leave You (1997) 162 She..started showering those mean old boys with stones. Mercy, how she rocked them!
3. transitive. English regional (south-western). To remove the calcareous deposit or ‘fur’ from the inside of (a kettle). Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > cleaning other miscellaneous things > clean other miscellaneous things [verb (transitive)] > remove fur, scale, etc., from
fur1867
descale1875
rock1880
1880 T. Hardy Trumpet-major II. xvi. 4 The broken clock-line was mended, the kettles rocked,..and a new handle put to the warming-pan.
a1890 D. Boucicault Dot (1940) i. ii. 119 And now she be a-rocking the kettle. The lass be crazy sure.
1905 in Eng. Dial. Dict. V. 138/1 Kettle wants rocking.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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