white-stonev.
/ˈwʌɪtstəʊn/, U.S. /ˈ(h)waɪtˌstoʊn/ transitive. To clean or whiten (a hearth, doorstep, etc.) by scouring with a hearthstone (hearthstone n. 2).
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > white or whiteness > whitening > make white [verb (transitive)] > whiten with specific substance
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1838 Morning Chron. 18 Dec. It cannot be denied that Barbara's door-steps are always the first which are white-stoned in the morning, whether it be winter or summer.
1900 P. V. Mighels Nella, Heart of Army ii. 22 Sally Collins was scrubbing and white-stoning the steps below.
1941 F. Thompson Over to Candleford vi. 98 She kept the whole of the fair-sized house cleaned and polished and whitestoned.
2002 Western Mail (Nexis) 21 May 8 I remember..housewives ‘white stoning’ doorsteps.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2015; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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