Meanings
- CommonwealthIrelandUKcolloquialGeneralized expression of surprise or amazement, or just for emphasis.
‘Stone the crows,’ I whispered in sheer relief.
2008, Norman Jorgensen, Jack′s Island, ReadHowYouWant, published 2011, page 1703 more examples
“Why, stone the crows! I′ll look yous up,” sez ′e. / “I need some friends: I ain′t got wife nor chick.”
1924, C. J. Dennis, “Rose Of Spadgers”, in Sentimental Bloke and Other Verses, published 1988, page 86The he pinched himself to make sure he was really awake, "Stone the crows!" he said softly. "Stone the crows!"
1971, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 141So I says to meself: stone the crows, I′m a doomed man, might as well shoot through. It was cyclone time, see, and there′s been flash floods and this rock as big as a house has gone.
1988, Janette Turner Hospital, Charades, page 63
Synonyms & antonyms
interjectionGeneralized expression of surprise or amazement, or just for emphasis.
Origin
Originally Australian English of 1910s, "referring to the former occupation of watching over cornfields and stoning crows that attempt to plunder the crop."
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
stone the crows. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stone%20the%20crows
“stone the crows.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stone%20the%20crows. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “stone the crows,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stone%20the%20crows.
Source: stone the crows on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.