leave a stone unturned

verb

To leave a detail unexamined.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbleave a stone unturned (third-person singular simple present leaves a stone unturned, present participle leaving a stone unturned, simple past and past participle left a stone unturned)

present singular third person leaves a stone unturned · participle present leaving a stone unturned · participle past left a stone unturned · past left a stone unturned

  1. idiomaticintransitiveTo leave a detail unexamined.

    The family believed the Harris County Sheriff’s Department had left many stones unturned in their investigation. “It doesn’t seem like they were really actually trying to find out what happened to Chris.” His aunt Roselyn Mathis said

    2026 August 23, Aniket Chaughule, “Christopher Thompkins Vanished From a Georgia Survey Site in 2002. His Coworkers Were Only 50 Feet Away”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 24 Aug 2026
  2. idiomaticUsed other than figuratively or idiomatically: see leave, a, stone, unturned.

Origin

From leave no stone unturned.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

leave a stone unturned. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/leave%20a%20stone%20unturned

MLA

“leave a stone unturned.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/leave%20a%20stone%20unturned. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “leave a stone unturned,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/leave%20a%20stone%20unturned.

Source: leave a stone unturned on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.