adder stone
Syllables: ad·der
adder stone noun: a stone of varying forms and usually glassy with a naturally formed hole, which is often used as an amulet or bead.
Noun
adder stone (plural adder stones)
- A stone of varying forms and usually glassy with a naturally formed hole, which is often used as an amulet or bead.
- Adder stones are supposed to be efficacious against disease of cattle.1918, Astra Cielo, Signs, Omens and Superstitions, New York, N.Y.: George Sully and Company, →OCLC, page 63
- These adder stones were actually old beads found about the countryside, but the Druids claimed that they were produced by a group reproductive effort of a summer congress of adders, and held some of the magic of the parent snakes. Adder stones strengthened their owners in legal disputes and helped...1963, Archie Carr, The Reptiles, New York, N.Y.: Time-Life Books, →OCLC, page 149
- Synonyms:
- adder bead, hag stone, self-bored stone, serpent's egg, snake's egg, snakestone, witch stone
Examples of adder stone in a sentence
- Adder stones strengthened their owners in legal disputes and helped them get access to kings.1963, Archie Carr, The Reptiles, New York, N.Y.: Time-Life Books, →OCLC, page 149:
- An adder stone is a type of stone, usually glassy, with a naturally occurring hole through it.2014, Mark Rogers, The Esoteric Codex: Magic Objects I, [Raleigh, N.C.]: Lulu Press, Inc., page 15:
Synonyms of adder stone
- adder bead
- hag stone
- self-bored stone
- serpent's egg
- snake's egg
- snakestone
- witch stone
Forms of adder stone
| plural | adder stones |
|---|---|
| alternative form | adder-stone |
| alternative form | adderstone |
Origin of adder stone
From adder + stone. The word is attested since the late 16th century, its earliest use being found in a work by Arthur Golding (c. 1536 – 1606). The perforation was imagined to be made by the sting of an adder.
Questions about adder stone
- What does adder stone mean?
- Adder stone means a stone of varying forms and usually glassy with a naturally formed hole, which is often used as an amulet or bead.
- How do you use adder stone in a sentence?
- Adder stones strengthened their owners in legal disputes and helped them get access to kings.
- What part of speech is adder stone?
- Adder stone is a noun.
- What is the plural of adder stone?
- The plural of adder stone is adder stones.
Words near adder stone in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: adder stone (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-adder stone.ogg.
Cite this entry: “adder stone.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/adder_stone. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.