Meanings
- Many minor influences gradually produce a significant effect.
1 more example
In this case, as in all others of the kind, the report was known to all the chapter before it had been heard by the archdeacon or his wife. The dean heard it, and disregarded it; as did also the dean's wife—at first; and those who generally sided with the Grantlys in the diocesan battles pooh-poohed the tidings, saying to each other that both the archdeacon and Mrs. Grantly were very well able to take care of their own affairs. But dripping water hollows a stone; and at last it was admitted on all sides that there was ground for fear,—on all sides, except at Plumstead.
1861, Anthony Trollope, Framley Parsonage
Origin
The proverb is a paraphrase of a similar proverb from the biblical Book of Job (14:19), or perhaps a translation of that proverb: אֲבָנִ֤ים ׀ שָׁ֥חֲקוּ מַ֗יִם avanim, shahaqu mayim; literally: rocks - have been graded down (by) water, which has been translated: Water wears away stones, or in the King James version, (because the word mayim for water is seemingly in the plural, ending with -yim ): "The waters wear the stones".
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Polish kropla drąży skałę
- kropla drąży skałęminor influences gradually produce a significant effect
Russian вода́ ка́мень то́чит, ка́пля ка́мень то́чит
- вода́ ка́мень то́чит (vodá kámenʹ tóčit)minor influences gradually produce a significant effect
- ка́пля ка́мень то́чит (káplja kámenʹ tóčit)minor influences gradually produce a significant effect
Cite this entry
dripping water hollows a stone. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dripping%20water%20hollows%20a%20stone
“dripping water hollows a stone.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dripping%20water%20hollows%20a%20stone. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dripping water hollows a stone,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dripping%20water%20hollows%20a%20stone.
Source: dripping water hollows a stone on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.