c888 Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. xxxiv. §xi Gif þu þonne ænne stan toclifst, ne wyrð he næfre gegadrod swa he ær wæs.

c1175 Lamb. Hom. 9 Me þe sculde nimen and..þe al to-toruion mid stane.

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1604 He lay bi luzan ut on nigt, A ston under hise heued rigt.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 7531 He tok fiue stans rond.

c1412 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum 1805 A stoon no thyng ne felith.

1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 34 The sticks & the stones, go & gather vp cleene.

1686 W. Harris tr. N. Lémery Course Chym. (ed. 2) i. ix. 214 There have been who gazing too earnestly upon the Stars above, have not perceived the stone at their feet, that caused them to stumble.

1798 S. T. Coleridge Anc. Marinere i, in W. Wordsworth & S. T. Coleridge Lyrical Ballads 6 The wedding-guest sate on a stone.

1812 J. Playfair Outl. Nat. Philos. I. 310 The Stones which have..been ascertained..to fall down from the air.

1833 Penny Cycl. I. 150/1 Aerolites, called also Meteoric Stones.

1871 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues II. 55 Like a dog who..quarrels with the stones which are thrown at him.

1628 J. Hoskins Let. in N. Wallington Hist. Notices (1869) I. i. 14 As it is reported, there fell divers stones, but two is certain, in our knowledge.

1796 Gentleman's Mag. 66 845/1 Various instances are alleged of such falling stones, or, as they may be denominated, extinguished meteors.

1802 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 92 212 Have not all fallen stones, and what are called native irons, the same origin?.. Are all, or any, the produce or the bodies of meteors?

1809 Jrnl. Nat. Philos. July 233 Account of a meteoric stone..that fell in the circle of Ichnow.

1809 Jrnl. Nat. Philos. July 233 Several persons..got out the stone, which was above two feet beneath the surface of the snow... A professor of natural philosophy..considered it..as ferruginous.

1868 Geol. Mag. 5 75 The bodies which are comprised under the general name of meteorites have long since been arranged under two great divisions, the irons and the stones.

1920 Mineral. Mag. XIX. 56 In this scheme [of the author], meteorites are divided into four classes, viz. Irons, Stony-irons, Chondritic Stones, and Non-chondritic Stones.

1977 A. Hallam Planet Earth 24 Freshly fallen stones are usually quite cool to the touch.

1848 E. Ruskin Let. 10 May in W. James Order of Release (1947) v. 107 A stone silk dress with two broad flounces.

1865 M. Eyre Lady's Walks South of France i. 10 The colours most in vogue are some shade of grey, stone, or buff.

1890 Peel City Guardian 29 Mar. 3/5 We saw it in emerald green velvet to stone box cloth.

1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 157/2 Paints mixed ready for use... White, light stone, dark stone, middle stone, black.

1923 Daily Mail 2 June 1 In delightful shades of Fawn,..Dove Grey, Stone, Beaver.

1977 Times 18 Aug. 23/6 Rover 3·5 litre..blue with stone leather interior.

1154 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Canterb. MS.) ann. 1020 Se cyng..let timbrian ðar an mynster of stane & lime.

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 4129 Þatt cnif wass..Off stan. & nohht off irenn.

a1225 Leg. Kath. 266 Maumez of treo oðer of stan.

c1384 G. Chaucer Hous of Fame 70 The god of slepe..That dwelleth in a cave of stoon.

a1400 K. Horn (Harl.) 905 A chirche of lym & ston.

c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) i. 4 A brigg of stane þat es ouer þe ryuer.

1542 A. Borde Compend. Regyment Helth viii. sig. E.ii Stand nor syt long bareheed vnder a vawte of stone.

1590 in Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS: Var. Coll. (1907) IV. 284 Perceiving as well muche sand as stone..fetched from the sea-side.

1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 229 Mount Sinai..whose top..is hard stone of yron colour.

1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth I. 27 We find layers of stone often over the lightest soils.

1826 D. Booth Art of Brewing (ed. 2) 193 In Gloucestershire, and other parts of England, where stone is abundant.

1870 J. R. Lowell Cathedral 23 Imagination's very self in stone!

c1806 in Archæol. Jrnl. (1894) 2nd Ser. 1 111 The art of printing from stone called Polyautography.

1838 W. C. Harris Narr. Exped. S. Afr. (frontispiece) Moselekatse, King of the Amazooloo. On Stone by W. C. Harris.

1864 Scott. Metr. Psalter of 1635 (title page) Printed from stone, by Maclure and Macdonald, Lithographers to the Queen.

c1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 87 Of propertez of stones, and of vertuz of herbes.

1481 W. Caxton tr. Myrrour of Worlde 92 In Archade is a stone whiche in no wyse may be quenchyd after it is sette a fire.

1568 in J. Small Poems W. Dunbar (1893) II. 306 He knew the vertew of erb and stone.

1732 A. Bower Historia Litteraria 3 No. 16. 353 Semitransparent Stones, as Agat.

1794 R. Kirwan Elements Mineral. (ed. 2) I. 2 Stones differ from earths principally in cohesion and hardness.

1800 tr. E. J. B. Bouillon-Lagrange Man. Course Chem. I. 154 Many stones contain silex.

1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 173/2 The material is a white calcareous stone, obtained in the neighbourhood.

1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 88 This Ston..makth multiplicacioun Of gold.

1450 J. Lydgate Secrees 986 Al worldly tresour breeffly shet in Oon, Is declaryd in vertu of this stoon.

1612 B. Jonson Alchemist Argt. 11.

1822 Ld. Byron Werner iii. i. 328 Thou more than stone of the philosopher!

1635 Rates Merchandizes sig. F4 Whistles, Cocks or birds of stone.

1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 371/1 Of stone fruit there are now usually six street sellers... The fruit is principally made at Chesterfield in Derbyshire... The most saleable fruits are apples, pears, peaches, apricots, oranges, lemons and cucumbers. The cucumbers, which are sometimes of pot as well as of stone,..are sometimes made to serve for gin-bottles.

1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xxiv. 258 Lend me a looking glasse, If that her breath will mist or staine the stone, Why then she liues. View more context for this quotation

1722 Brit. Pat. 447 Thomas Ripley..and Richard Holt..have been at much labour..for the finding out and inventing ‘A certain compound liquid metall never before known and used by the Antients or Moderns, by which artificiall stone and marble is made.’

c1778 (title) Coade's lithodipyra or artificial stone manufactory. For all kinds of statues, capitals, vases, tombs, coats of arms, & architectural ornaments &c. &c.

1868 Building News 10 Apr. 248/2 (heading) Ransome's artificial stone.

1868 Building News 3 July 448/2 A method of manufacturing artificial granite..has just been patented by Mr. P. M. Parsons.

1935 Economist 9 Feb. 321/1 The two trades..which represent the largest consumers of cement are ‘public works contracting, etc.’, and ‘artificial stone and concrete manufacturing’.

1935 Specification 37 245/1 Reconstructed stone is natural stone—reconstructed, and is to be distinguished from artificial stone, which may be described as high-grade concrete.

1967 Gloss. Highway Engin. Terms (B.S.I.) Artificial stone, a form of precast concrete in which the finished surface resembles that of natural stone.

a1225 Leg. Kath. 1253 Þ^t nan ne seide na wiht, ah seten stille ase stan.

1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis I. 102 He lay stille as eny ston.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Exod. xv. 16 Let feare and drede fall vpon them..that they maye be as styll as a stone.

1656 T. Fuller Coll. Serm. 12 Sit not there as a stone upon a stoole.

c1330 (?a1300) Sir Tristrem (1886) l. 115 Rohand, trewe so stan.

c1425 Hampole's Psalter Metr. Pref. 46 Euery word is sad as stone and sothly sayd, ful sykerly.

c1440 J. Capgrave Life St. Katherine iv. 1251 He hath made hir hardy and stable as þe stoone.

c1450 Godstow Reg. 22 I wyl be as stedfast as any stone.

a1400 Seuyn Sages (W.) 2359 He bicam blind so ston.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 12028 He fel dun ded as ston.

c1400 Rom. Rose 2409 Dom as a stoon.

c1400 Pety Job 318 in 26 Pol. Poems 131 Me thynketh myn hert ys harder than a ston.

a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 142 He that dronis ay as ane bee Sowld haif ane heirar dull as stane.

1600 W. Shakespeare Henry V ii. iii. 25 All was as cold as any stone.

a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) ii. i. 72 A medicine..able to breath life into a stone . View more context for this quotation

1791 J. Hampson Mem. J. Wesley II. 133 The man continued as blind as a stone.

1837 P. Keith Bot. Lexicon 116 The albumen..in the seed of the coffee plant..is horny, and in that of the Date-palm it is said to be as hard as a stone.

1841 T. Hood Tale of Trumpet i, in New Monthly Mag. May 121 She was deaf as a stone.

1893 S. Baring-Gould Cheap Jack Zita III. xxxv. 119 The frost had set in..and..the Lark was turned to stone within its embankments.

a1400 Minor Poems from Vernon MS 618/266 Þe Iewes weoren harde stones.

a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Ezek. xxxvi. 26 Y schal do awei an herte of stoon [1382 a stonen herte] fro ȝoure fleisch.

a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 107 Ȝour mvsing waild perse ane harte of stane.

1598 R. Bernard tr. Terence Heautontimoroumenos v. i, in Terence in Eng. 253 Signes..whereby I might haue perceiued it, had not I beene a very stone [L. ni essem lapis].

a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) ii. iii. 10 He is a stone, a very pibble stone, and has no more pitty in him then a dogge. View more context for this quotation

a1625 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Two Noble Kinsmen (1634) i. i. 129 Your sorrow beates so ardently upon me, That it shall make a counter reflect gainst My Brothers heart, and warme it to some pitty, Though it were made of stone.

1659 T. Pestell Serm. & Devotions sig. A5^v Joyn then all hearts that are not stone,..To celebrate this holy One.

1746 J. Hervey Medit. (1818) 147 The heart of stone is taken away, and a heart of flesh..is introduced in its stead.

a1771 T. Gray tr. Dante in Wks. (1884) I. 159 Nor wept, for all Within was Stone.

1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) xiv. 146 Tom Smart said, the widow's lamentations when she heard the disclosure would have pierced a heart of stone.

1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin II. xxxiv. 207 He..said he should come back; but it did n't deceive me. I knew that the time had come. I was just like one turned into stone.

c825 Vesp. Psalter ci. 15 [cii. 14] Forðon welgelicad hefdun ðeowas ðine stanas his.

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 16285 Swa þeȝȝ stodenn..To wirrkenn o þe temmple Þatt draȝhenn swerd wass inn an hannd. & lim & stan inn oþerr.

c1400 Laud Troy Bk. 3374 Noble Troye..A-doun is throwen, with ston an[d] wal.

1427 in J. B. Heath Some Acct. Worshipful Company of Grocers (1869) 4 In here tyme..was the furste stoon leyd of the Groceres place in Conyhoope-lane.

1552 Abp. J. Hamilton Catech. i. i. f. 5 A Mason can nocht hew ane euin aislair staine without directioun of his rewill.

1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 696 With the stones hewed out of it..Saint Peters at Yorke was reedified.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Richard III (1623) iv. i. 96 + 2 Looke backe with me vnto the Tower. Pitty, you ancient Stones, those tender Babes, Whom Enuie hath immur'd within your Walls.

1796 H. Hunter tr. J.-H. B. de Saint-Pierre Stud. Nature (1799) II. 132 Water..diffused.. through the air..attaches itself, to the glass-windows and the polished stones of our houses.

1833 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Cottage Archit. §79 To build all the foundations..with stones properly headed.

1867 H. Macmillan Bible Teachings (1870) xii. 232 It is built up, stone by stone, from the level of the earth.

1427–8 in H. Littlehales Medieval Rec. London City Church (1905) 68 Also for a goter ston for þe same gate, xiiij d.

a1625 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Two Noble Kinsmen (1634) v. vi. 55 On this horse is Arcite Trotting the stones of Athens. View more context for this quotation

1682 London Gaz. No. 1694/4 An Iron Grey Gelding,..a little tender-footed on the Stones.

1738 Gentleman's Mag. Oct. 549/1 He was driven over the Stones in a Hackney Coach.

1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. xix. 197 Horses clattered on the uneven stones.

1841 T. Noel Rymes & Roundelayes, Pauper's Drive Rattle his bones over the stones; He's only a Pauper, whom nobody owns!

1851 E. B. Browning Casa Guidi Windows i. xv. 41 On the stone Call'd Dante's,—a plain flat stone, scarce discerned From others in the pavement.

847 Charter in Old Eng. Texts 434 On ðone stan æt ðære flodan.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 4966 He lette a-ræren anan. enne swuðe sælcuð stan [c1300 Otho ston] he lette þer-on grauen. sælcuðe run-stauen hu he Rodric. of-sloh.

1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 158 Evene vp riȝht & swiþe heiȝ, þat wonder hit is to se, Þe stones stondeþ þere so grete.

a1300 Cursor Mundi 979 Ȝee sal do bren it on a stan.

1450–80 tr. Secreta Secret. lviii. 33 It was founde writen in a stone of þe tunge of Caldee.

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) i. l. 121 The croune he tuk apon that sammyne stane At Gadalos send with his sone fra Spane.

1581 Cov. Leet Bk. 822 & so Crosse ouer to the corner of Babethorp-wast vnto another stone there sett.

1598 J. Stow Suruay of London 177 On the south side of this high street..is pitched vpright a great stone called London stone.

1716 J. Addison Freeholder No. 18. ⁋5 As ridiculously puzzled..as a man that counts the stones on Salisbury-plain, which can never be settled to any certain number.

1827 G. Higgins Celtic Druids 212 Some of these stones-erect have crosses cut upon them.

1831 W. Scott Count Robert ix, in Tales of my Landlord 4th Ser. II. 214 The troth I had plighted to Hereward at the stone of Odin.

1303 R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne 8780 Lordes are besy aboute to haue Proude stones lyggyng an hye on here graue.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 193 Lazar þat ded lay vnder stan.

1436 in F. J. Furnivall Fifty Earliest Eng. Wills (1882) 105 I woll þat there be leyde vpon my body a stone of Marble.

a1585 A. Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 553 Thane sall be gravin on the stane, quhilk on thy graue is laid [etc.].

1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. 58 When the Grave is filled up, they erect a stone over the head of the deceased.

1751 T. Gray Elegy xxix. 11 The lay, Grav'd on the stone beneath yon aged Thorn.

1767 R. Jago Edge-hill iv. 332 Alike the simple Stone And Mausoleum proud, his Pow'r attest, In wretched Doggrel, or elab'rate Verse.

1850 W. M. Thackeray Pendennis II. xxxiii. 324 The stone closes over Harry the Fourth, and Harry the Fifth reigns in his stead.

1900 W. How Lighter Moments 21 A stone-mason..brought a stone to put into the churchyard.

c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 89 Wat honor of God is þis, to ren about bi tre, and stone, and formis, and honor as God veyn figeris?

1613 F. Beaumont Knight of Burning Pestle v. sig. I4^v Ralph. Wheres the stone of this peece? 2 Soldier. The Drummer took it out to light Tobacco.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 315 Mid stocken & mid stanen [c1300 Otho stone] stal-fiht heo makeden.

c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 3030 Grete stones wyþ slynges [they] caste.

c1450 Brut 434 A traitour..shotte a Gonne, and the stone smot this good Erle of Salusbury.

1511 Pylgrymage Richarde Guylforde (Pynson) f. v^v An other pece..shoteth a stone of Irron of .ij. fote depe.

1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. cxiij The Frenchemen shot out ordinaunce, quarelles and stones.

1573–5 G. Gascoigne Hundred Flowers in Wks. (1907) I. 81 The harquebush doth spit his spight, with prety persing stones.

1581 A. Hall tr. Homer 10 Bks. Iliades iii. 47 The Greekes cease not to martch, their stones & darts at random flye.

1705 London Gaz. No. 4097/1 They..ply the Enemy..with Bombs and Stones, from 6 Mortars.

1745 P. Thomas True Jrnl. Voy. South-Seas 288 Each of those they had loaded with..Flint Stones and Shot.

1867 A. L. Gordon Sea Spray 142 Like a bird on the wing, or a stone from a sling.

1578 in T. Thomson Coll. Inventories Royal Wardrobe (1815) 260 Ane man mylne with hir stanys and hir haill tymmer werk.

1599 N. Breton Wil of Wit (1876) 11/1 The stone, that Wit must whet himselfe uppon.

1751 in New Jersey Archives XIX. 1 A Large..grist~mill, with two pairs of stones.

1886 R. L. Stevenson Kidnapped xxvi. 261 Shearers worked all day in a field..and we could hear the stones going on the hooks.

14.. Crafte of Lymnynge in Early Eng. Misc. (Warton Club) 72 Grynde vermelone one a stone with newe glayre.

1568 (a1500) Freiris Berwik l. 532 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS (1930) IV. 276 He wes sa ferce he fell owttour þe sek And brak his heid vpoun ane mustard stane.

1573 Treat. Arte of Limming 5 b Grind Synapour lake & Synapour topes ech by him selfe on a Painters stone.

1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 155 The Stone is commonly..about eighteen Inches diameter, having both its Sides truly Rub'd flat and smooth.

1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 331 They are to be Ground with a Mullar on a smooth Marble Stone.

c1806 in Archæol. Jrnl. (1894) 2nd Ser. 1 112 A drawing..intended to be printed is made on a stone with a pen and a particular ink or with a kind of chalk.

1827 M. Faraday Chem. Manip. xix. 522 Glass may be ground on almost any flat stone with a coarse grain, by means of a little sharp sand and water.

1886 F. J. Furnivall in Shakespeare's Venus & Adonis p. xix Troilus and Cressida is partly on the stone.

c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 1044 Neuere yete ne saw he or Putten the stone.

1518 H. Watson tr. Hystorye Olyuer of Castylle (Roxb.) C 1 b Dysportes..vsed by noble men..as..tennys, lepe, sprynge, wrastle, cast the stone, cast the barre, or ony other games.

a1529 J. Skelton Magnyfycence (?1530) sig. Bii They haue made me here to put the stone.

1561 T. Hoby tr. B. Castiglione Courtyer i. sig. D.iiii It is meete for hym also to haue the arte of swimming, to leape, to runne, to cast the stone.

1638 T. Nabbes Totenham Court (Bullen) I. ii. ii. 120 He pitcheth the barr and throws the stone.

1638 H. Adamson Muses Threnodie Inventorie f. 5^v His hats, his hoods, his bels, his bones, His allay bowles, and curling stones.

1824 J. Mactaggart Sc. Gallovidian Encycl. 274 Sweeping is not allowed until the stone comes over the hogg, unless by the person who played it.

1849 Chambers's Information for People (new ed.) II. 649/2 Each person..causing his stone to slide towards the opposite end of the rink.

1862 S. Smiles Lives Engineers III. 25 Lifting heavy weights, throwing the hammer and putting the stone.

1891 J. M. Barrie Little Minister I. xi. 188 I could hear the roar of curling stones at Bathie-bog.

c825 Vesp. Psalter xviii. 11 [xix. 10] Wilsum ofer gold & stan.

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 8170 Eȝȝwhær bisett Wiþþ deorewurrþe staness.

c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 1633 A gold ring drow he forth anon, An hundred pund was worth þe ston.

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 140 He louede betere þe bestes þet god him made þanne he dede gold oþer stones of pris.

c1386 G. Chaucer Clerk's Tale 1062 With a coroune of many a riche stoon Vp on hire heed.

a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 166 This lady..crownit him with dyademe..Off radyous stonis.

1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 383 A riche crowne of gold garnished with stone and pearle.

1572 (a1500) Taill of Rauf Coilȝear (1882) 465 His Basnet was bordourit, and burneist bricht With stanes of Beriall cleir, Dyamountis and Sapheir, Riche Rubeis in feir.

1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III i. iv. 27 Inestimable stones, vnualued Iewels. View more context for this quotation

a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) ii. iv. 40 Sparkles this Stone as it was wont? View more context for this quotation

1753 London Mag. Oct. 480/2 His buckles of stones, of five guineas price.

1884 M. A. Carey-Hobson At Home in Transvaal 184 He had placed no stones in the bank since Graham had been on the Fields.

1891 E. Glanville Fossicker xxix. 292 The cooling mud has closed around the ‘stones’, taking the impress of every angle and facet.

1910 H. A. Miers in Encycl. Brit. VIII. 161/2 The River Diggings on the Vaal river are still worked upon a small scale... The stones, however, are good.

1946 S. Cloete Afr. Portraits 109 His favourite stone was his blink klippie—his shining stone—the first diamond to be found in Africa.

1972 Panorama Dec. 27 ‘Stones’ are usually over one carat (a carat being 200 milligrams). Anything smaller falls in the ‘melee’ category.

1904 ‘No. 1500’ Life in Sing Sing 252/2 Stone, diamond.

1936 ‘J. Curtis’ Gilt Kid xxiv. 240 Ten nicker for a little stone like that.

1955 D. W. Maurer in Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. No. 24. 122 A man's tie-pin, seldom worn nowadays, was a prop. If it had a diamond setting, it was referred to as a stone.

1895 Rep. New S. Wales Dept. Mines 68 A patch of stone was taken about the end of the year which brought £1,200.

1921 K. S. Prichard Black Opal iv. 33 You don't suppose Jun'd try to take the stones off of him, do you?

1924 T. C. Wollaston Opal iv. 61 The men were not ‘on stone’, it seemed, but perhaps I could change the luck?

1965 G. J. Williams Econ. Geol. N.Z. iii. 20/2 Stone, a miner's term for payable [sc. auriferous] quartz.

1967 A. Kalokerinos In Search of Opal 18 Stones that are worth $2,000 or more on the field are found at a rate that would not exceed one per week.

c888 Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. xxxiv. §8 Þa gyldenan stanas, & þa seolfrenan, & ælces cynnes gimmas.

1778 W. Pryce Mineralogia Cornubiensis 81 A few Stones of Tin are found.

1895 Times 7 Jan. 3/4 The agents report good stones of tin coming from Trevannance engine shaft.

1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis III. 293 He hath his rihte cours forth holde Be Ston and nedle, til he cam To Tharse.

1436 Libel Eng. Policy in Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 191 Of Yseland to wryte is lytille nede,..Men have practised by nedle and by stone Thider-wardes wythine a lytel whylle.

1631 W. Foster Hoplocrisma-spongus 25 I deny that the Loadstone doth worke upon the North-pole. The pole rather workes upon the stone.

c1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 238 On þære blædran stanas weaxað.

1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) vii. lv. 268 Of gleymy humours in the reynes and in the bledder comyth the stone.

1483 W. Caxton tr. Caton e viij b [Mustard] purgeth..the brayne and heyleth and breketh the stone.

1486 Bk. St. Albans C vij b When yowre hawke may not metese then she hathe thatt sekenes calde the stoon.

1541 T. Elyot Castel of Helthe (new ed.) 23 Chese ingendreth yll humours, and bredeth the stone.

1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 888 The seede and roote of Saxifrage drunken with wine..breaketh the stone in the kidneies and bladder.

1620 T. Venner Via Recta viii. 177 To liue fettered with gouts,..& tormented with stones.

1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy ii. v. i. v. 474 To Bezaors stone most subscribe..and..[some] haue beene much displeased with faintnesse,..& taking the waight of three grains of this stone,..haue beene cured.

1628 in W. Foster Eng. Factories India 1624–9 (1909) 206 Very sick, being newly cutt for the stone.

1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 27. ⁋2 In the Pangs of the Stone, Gout, or any acute Distemper.

1793 M. Baillie Morbid Anat. xix. 255 Stones have sometimes been found in the cavity of the uterus.

1846 G. E. Day tr. J. F. Simon Animal Chem. II. 442 Of 59 small stones taken from a man aged 45 years, 24 consisted of urate of ammonia and 35 of uric acid.

1859 J. M. Jephson & L. Reeve Narr. Walking Tour Brittany vii. 89 Mineral waters, said to be beneficial in cases of stone and dropsy.

1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. IV. 233 The stones may have passed into the bowel.

1605 T. Tymme tr. J. Du Chesne Pract. Chymicall & Hermeticall Physicke iii. 181 Take..of the stones which are commonly called crabbes eyes halfe an ounce.

1661 R. Lovell Πανζωορυκτολογια, sive Panzoologicomineralogia Isagoge sig. D6 All kinds of stones found in the heads of fishes, powdred and drunk in wine, help the collick.

1661 R. Lovell Πανζωορυκτολογια, sive Panzoologicomineralogia 190 Crab... The eyes or stones..breake the stone.

1154 Anglo-Saxon Chron. ann. 1124 Six men spilde of here ægon & of here stanes.

a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1872) IV. 289 Þe rotynge of his priue stones.

a1450 Knt. de la Tour 71 They toke a knyff, and cutte awey the monkes stones.

1542 A. Borde Compend. Regyment Helth xvii. sig. J.iii The stones of a cockrell, & the stones of other beestes that hath not done theyr kynde be nutrytyue.

1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 163 The Toscanes hold Rammes stones fried for a great daintie.

1668 N. Culpeper & A. Cole tr. T. Bartholin Anat. (new ed.) Introd. The action of the Liver is blood-making, of the Stones, Seed-making.

1712 J. Warder True Amazons 10 In the very shape of the Stones of a Lamb.

1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 152 Y^e other kindes [of orchis] ar in other countrees called fox stones or hear stones, & they may after y^e Greke be called dogstones.

1597 J. Gerard Herball i. 155 I haue placed it..next vnto the Lillies, before the kinds of Orchis or stones.

1597 J. Gerard Herball i. 156 Tragorchis, or Gotes stones:..Testiculus odoratus, or sweete smelling stones, or..Testiculus Pumilio, or Dwarffe stones.

139. Earl Derby's Exp. (Camden) 76/16 Pro x stone lini.

a1400 Sir Perc. 2024 The clobe wheyhed reghte wele,..The hede was of harde stele, Twelve stone weghte! There was iryne in the wande, Ten stone of the lande.

1465 in Manners & Househ. Expenses Eng. (1841) 200 Item, in aparayll of the said shippe; ropes for hyr srowde, the wyche weyid xv. stone .ij. li., prise the stone, xxj.d.

1474 Stat. Winch. in Cov. Leet Bk. 396 The wich kepes weyght & mesure l li. the halfe C, xxv^ti li. the quartern, xij li. & halfe the halfe quartern, þe wich was called of olde tyme beyng Stone of London, & vj li. & a quartern ys the halfe Stone, as it appereth in Magna Carta.

1483 in Acts Lords of Council Civil Causes (1839) I. 83*/2 ix stane of chese,..ten stane of butter.

1495 Act 11 Hen. VII c. 4 §2 Be it also enacted that ther be but only..xiiij lb. to the stone of Wolle.

1520 Cov. Leet Bk. 668 That no taloo be solde by-twene this & the next lete a-bove ij s. the Stonne.

1543 R. Record Ground of Artes i. sig. N.ii^v In wolle..the 14 pound is not named halfe quarterne, but a stone.

1609 J. Skene tr. Stat. Robert III in Regiam Majestatem 56 b The stane to wey woll and other things, sould haue fiuetene punds. Ane stane of walx, aucht. Twelue London punds makes ane stane.

1674 J. Josselyn Acct. Two Voy. 15 Of Sugar and Spice 8 pound make the stone.

1730 J. Cheny Hist. List Horse-matches 68 Fourteen Hands to carry Nine Stone.

1825 R. P. Ward Tremaine I. xviii. 123 He rose up, as well as sixteen stone would permit.

1845 G. Dodd Brit. Manuf. 4th Ser. 96 The wool comes in bags containing about ten stones each—a ‘stone’ in this commodity being twenty-four pounds.

1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 213 A calf..eighteen weeks old, weighing..33 stone.

1887 ‘M. Rutherford’ Revol. Tanner's Lane (ed. 8) i. 7 A drayman weighing about eighteen stone.

1913 Times 19 Aug. 14/5 Quotations per stone of 8 lb...Beef..Mutton.

1556 Peebles Burgh Rec. (1872) 235 The commoun stane to be put in sure keping in the commoun Kist.

1885 Daily News 4 Feb. 5/2 Canis vulpis is, as a rule, able to give, intellectually speaking, and in language germane to the matter, ‘a stone and a beating’ to the majority of his pursuers.

1906 Punch 18 Apr. 286/3 Their Smokeroom is deliciously comfy, and can give a stone and a beating to ours at the Camellia.

a1529 J. Skelton Why come ye nat to Courte (?1545) 109 They may..elles go rost a stone.

1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. ii. sig. G I do but rost a stone. In warmyng hir.

c1548 in J. Strype Eccl. Memorials (1822) II. ii. 316 Or els he washeth a stone, that is to say, he laboureth in vayne.

1895 Westm. Gaz. 22 May 6/1 Like the old saying:—‘Boil stones in butter and you shall sup the broth.’

1632 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Eromena iv. 119 Therefore he (intending now to kill two birds with one stone) forethought how to take Don Eleimo so napping.

1655 J. Bramhall Def. True Liberty 66 T. H. thinks to kill two birds with one stone, and satisfies two Arguments with one answer.

1696 W. Stephens Acct. Growth of Deism in Eng. 11 Thereby they kill two or three Birds with one stone.

1847 M. M. Sherwood Fairchild Family III. xxi. 273 So..she will be killing two birds with one stone.

c1555 Manifest Detection Diceplay sig. Bvi He wil refuse no labor, nor leaue no stone vnturned, to pick vp a penny.

1569 T. Underdowne tr. Heliodorus Æthiop. Hist. viii. 108 b Now turne euery stoane, deuise al maner of meanes.

1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. xxv. xxiii. 565 Hee would leave no stone unrolled, but trie all waies that could be devised.

1637 G. Gillespie Dispute against Eng.-Popish Ceremonies Epist. sig. B^v They make so much adoe, and move every stone against us.

1670 G. Havers tr. G. Leti Il Cardinalismo di Santa Chiesa ii. iii. 190 [He] has left no stone unturn'd to arrive at his designs.

1702 C. Beaumont J. Beaumont's Psyche (new ed.) x. lxx. 144 Still he persever'd all stones to roll, Which might that one in Juda's Bosom move.

1791 E. Burke Corr. (1844) III. 349 We shall not be negligent; no stone will be left unturned.

1873 A. P. Stanley Serm. in East 108 He left no stone unturned to do the work which was set before him.

1581 R. Goade in Confer. (1584) iii. sig. Q iiij This stone hath bene rowled enough.

1592 T. Kyd Spanish Trag. i. sig. B2^v Whose foot [is] standing on a rowling stone.

1602 W. Fulbecke Pandectes 78 How murther hath beene punished..I haue shewed I hope sufficientlie..so that I shall not need here to rowle the same stone.

1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII v. iii. 138 I told ye all, When we first put this dangerous stone a rowling, 'Twold fall vpon our selues.

1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 6720 Seint Edward in normandie was þo bileued al one As bar, as wo seiþ, of þe kunde as he sprong of þe stone.

a1300 K. Horn (Cambr.) 1026 Horn him ȝede alone, Also he sprunge of stone.

a1400 Sir Perc. 1043 Als he ware sprongene of a stane, Thare na mane hym kende.

1691 T. Shadwell Scowrers ii. i. 19 Did you see who went off with your Aunt! is she given to stumble? will she take a Stone in her Ear?

1702 T. Brown et al. Lett. from Dead to Living 194 Madam, I much rejoice to hear You'll take a Stone up in your Ear; For I'm a frail Transgressor to.

1568 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xlvii. 83 Quhat cummer castis the formest stane,..At tha peure winschis ȝe wranguslie suspect.

1579 W. Fulke Heskins Parl. Repealed in D. Heskins Ouerthrowne 325 Will not all the Grammarians, Logicians, and Rhetoricians..throwe stones at him?

a1633 G. Herbert Jacula Prudentum (1651) §196 Whose house is of glasse, must not throw stones at another.

1670 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Prov. 11 Who hath glass-windows of his own must take heed how he throws stones at his house.

1673 H. Hickman Hist. Quinq-articularis 413 The Doctor, as if he were perfectly free from this crime, thus throweth his stones at others.

1754 J. Shebbeare Marriage Act II. lv. 116 Thee shouldst not throw Stones, who hast a Head of Glass thyself.

1827 W. Scott Chron. Canongate v It is not, however, prudent to commence with throwing stones, just when I am striking out windows of my own.

1869 W. C. Hazlitt Eng. Prov. & Phr. 400 They who live in glass houses should not throw stones.

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Isa. viii. 14 The Lord..shal be..in to a ston..of offencion [a1425 a stoon of hirtyng], and in to a ston of sclaunder [ Coverd. stone to stomble at, y^e rock to fall vpon; 1611 for a stone of stumbling and for a rocke of offence] to the two houses of Irael.

1604 A. Craig Poet. Ess. sig. B3 Be thou the stone (precellent Prince) of tuch, For to secerne the honest mindes from such.

1639 S. Du Verger tr. J.-P. Camus Admirable Events 111 She was accounted as a stone of scandall which ought to bee cast forth of the City.

1695 tr. M. Misson New Voy. Italy II. 107 His Authority has been always a Stone of Stumbling to those who are wont to make Prejudice their Rule of Faith.

1911 B. Nightingale Ejected of 1662 I. 701 Hutchinson's error has..been quite a stone of stumbling to subsequent writers.

OE Ruin 38 Stanhofu stodan, stream hate wearp widan wylme.

OE Genesis 1700 Him on laste bu stiðlic stantorr and seo steape burh samod samworht on sennar stod.

1402–3 in J. T. Fowler Extracts Acct. Rolls Abbey of Durham (1898) I. 217 1 stanetrogh et 1 tretrogh.

1420 in J. Raine Vol. Eng. Misc. N. Counties Eng. (1890) 17 The stane house toward the kynges strete.

c1483 in Nicolas Chron. London (1827) 7 In this yere the stone brigge of Londone was first begoune to make.

1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Stone crosse, pyramis.

a1578 R. Lindsay Hist. & Cron. Scotl. (1899) I. 176 [He] bigit money stain house.

1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 333 A verie goodly stone bridge of arch-worke.

1663 B. Gerbier Counsel to Builders 18 The Stone or wooden Figure.

a1672 A. Wood Life (1891) I. 43 M. Anthony Wood..was borne in an antient stone-house opposite.. Merton Coll.

1728 J. Woodward Fossils All Kinds ii. 39 The Stone-Weapons,..were all cut out, and made, before the Discovery of Iron.

1766 T. Smollett Trav. France & Italy I. 351 The olives..are..ground into a paste by a mill-stone, set edge-ways into a circular stone-trough.

1766 T. Smollett Trav. France & Italy II. 46 A range of antient Roman stone-coffins.

1776 G. Semple Treat. Building in Water 89 The Water that had fallen on the Urn from the Lime-stone..had petrified and made a Stone-crust on the outside thereof.

1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. Pl. XIII A common stone roller..for rolling arable lands.

1829 W. Scott Anne of Geierstein II. ii. 34 The sword, escaping from his hold, rolled on the stone-floor with a heavy clash.

1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) xxii. 232 At last he reached a stone hall.

1841 S. C. Brees Gloss. Civil Engin. 24 Stone blocks were introduced in place of wooden sleepers.

1842 Ld. Tennyson Lady Clara Vere de Vere in Poems (new ed.) I. 156 The lion on your old stone gates.

1908 E. Fowler Between Trent & Ancholme 29 A stone quern.

c950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark xiv. 3 & mið-ðy gebrocen wæs þæt stan fæt to-dælde..ofer heafud his.

1479–81 in H. Littlehales Medieval Rec. London City Church (1905) 101 Item, for a stone potte to put in oyle, j d ob.

1547 in J. W. Clay Testamenta Eboracensia (1902) VI. 256 My stone cup withe the silver cover.

c1600 Acct.-bk. W. Wray in Antiquary (1896) 32 80 Beate them well in a stone morter.

1626 in L. Jewitt Life Wedgwood (1865) 37 To grant vnto them our royall priveledge for ‘The sole making of the Stone Potte, Stone Jugge, and Stone Bottle’, within our Dominions.

1635 Rates Merchandizes sig. F2 Stone birds, or whistles.

Cf. 1635 Rates Merchandizes sig. F4 Whistles, cocks or Birds of stone.]

1676 J. Worlidge Vinetum Britannicum 103 Glass-bottles are preferr'd to Stone-bottles, because that Stone-bottles are apt to leak.

a1756 E. Haywood New Present (1771) 215 Always keep your pickles in stone jars.

1782 W. Cowper John Gilpin 66 Mistress Gilpin..Had two stone bottles found, To hold the liquor that she lov'd.

1852 C. Tomlinson Cycl. Useful Arts (1854) II. 298/2 The contents of the basket are turned into a stone or iron vessel.

1884 Birmingham Daily Post 28 July 3/4 Mineral-water Trade..stone beer.

1904 H. Beswick Last Karkawber 37 While I sipped my stone-ginger.

1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 42 Mustard-seede three scruples,..Stone-Allom and Opopanax, of either halfe an ounce.

1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 802 A thin coat of gold size..composed of stone ochre ground in fat oil.

1826 A. C. Hutchison Pract. Observ. Surg. (ed. 2) 313 The paucity of stone cases occurring in tropical climates.

1833 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Cottage Archit. §1244 Constructing them..either on the wooden model or the stone model.

1879 J. Ruskin Let. in Hortus Inclusus (1887) 67 It is delightful of you to be interested in that stone book.

1911 W. W. Skeat in Folk-lore (1912) XXIII. 60 The best-known stone superstition is that the celt was a thunderbolt.

1864 J. Hunt tr. C. Vogt Lect. on Man xii. 340 The stone skull..is still narrower than the Lapp skull.

1864 J. Hunt tr. C. Vogt Lect. on Man xii. 368 The stone people of Europe knew of no metal.

1880 J. W. Dawson Fossil Men (1883) i. 7 The earlier Stone folk are known to us only by their graves.

1683 London Gaz. No. 1865/8 A Seven Stone Diamond Ring.

1705 London Gaz. No. 4149/4 Stone Plate..will be run for..by Hunters.

1928 Lawn Tennis & Badminton 23 June 255/2 Few could have foreseen that the two doubles would have been the ‘stone certainties’ for Britain that they proved to be.

1933 E. Partridge Words, Words, Words! 214 India gives us..piache, mad... On the analogy of stone mad, stone piache was employed for a change.

1935 Z. N. Hurston Mules & Men i. iii. 66 You must be stone crazy! Why, dis hide is worth five thousand dollars.

1947 K. Tennant Lost Haven ix. 126 Oh, don't let him think of the punt again—that was the stone finish!

1959 Esquire Nov. 70 Stone, adjective meaning complete. Example: He's a stone musician.

1960 Observer 25 Dec. 7/7 If..he were stone rich and lived in a big drum in the country.

1968 Blues Unlimited Dec. 12 First things developed was the set of four reissue albums labelled ‘Legendary Masters’; three being stone blues albums.

1970 D. M. Davin Not here, not Now iii. vi. 202 This was the finish, the stone end of it.

1978 N.Y. Times 30 Mar. a21/1 A little later another patrol..declared him stone drunk, and confiscated his documents and his car keys.

1945 L. Shelly Hepcats Jive Talk Dict. 19/1 Stone (adj), excited or intoxicated.

1960 R. G. Reisner Jazz Titans 165 Stone, drunk or high.

1912 E. Pound Ripostes 26 Storms, on the stone-cliffs beaten.

1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) 2 Kings x. 8 Puttith hem at the two stone hepis [L. ad duos acervos].

1868 Notes & Queries 15 Aug. 165/2 The game Set-a-Foot is still played by the rising generation who frequent Park Square, Regent's Park, under the name of Stone Heaps.

1941 F. Thompson Over to Candleford 356 They ran..and wrestled the whole way, or pushed each other over stone-heaps or into ditches.