whinstone

W4H4I1N1S1T1O1N1E1

noun

A stone used to crush whin for use as winter feed for cattle.

Similar
whin
Scrabble 15
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Meanings

nounwhinstone (usually uncountable, plural whinstones)

plural whinstones

  1. uncountableusuallyA stone used to crush whin for use as winter feed for cattle.
  2. uncountableusuallyquarrying industryAny hard dark-coloured rock.

    ‘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.’

    1847, Emily Brontë, chapter IV, in Wuthering Heights

    Synonyms: whin

Synonyms & antonyms

nounAny hard dark-coloured rock.

Similar
whin

More synonyms by meaning

nounany of various hard colored rocks (especially rocks consisting of chert or basalt)

Similar
whin
Broader
rockstone
Also see
whin

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Possibly corrupted from quern stone, i.e. stone suitable for making querns; or else, from whin + stone.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

whinstone. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whinstone

MLA

“whinstone.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whinstone. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “whinstone,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whinstone.

Source: whinstone on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.