whinstone

English

Etymology

Possibly corrupted from quern stone, i.e. stone suitable for making querns.

Noun
a whinstone (1)

whinstone (usually uncountable, plural whinstones)

  1. A stone used to crush whin for use as winter feed for cattle.
  2. (quarrying industry) Any hard dark-coloured rock.
    • 1847, Emily Brontë, chapter IV, in Wuthering Heights‎:
      ‘A rough fellow, rather, Mrs. Dean. Is not that his character?‘ ‘Rough as a saw-edge, and hard as whinstone! The less you meddle with him the better.’
    Synonym: whin

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