holystone
/ˈhəʊl.ɪ.stəʊn/US/ˈhoʊl.i.stoʊn/
holystone noun: a piece of soft sandstone used for scouring the wooden decks of ships, usually with sand and seawater.
Noun
holystone (plural holystones)
Verb
holystone (third-person singular simple present holystones, present participle holystoning, simple past and past participle holystoned)
- To use a holystone.
- Six days shalt thou labour and do all thou art able,
And on the seventh—holystone the decks and scrape the cable.1840, Richard Henry Dana, Two Years before the Mast, page 6 - The boils called sand boils, which form on the front of the knee, are generally produced by small particles of sand being rubbed beneath the skin when the men are kneeling to holystone the decks. Very troublesome sores are thus produced. Great care should, therefore, be taken never to kneel with...1861, Thomas Spencer Wells, “Boils”, in The Scale of Medicines with which Merchant Vessels Are to Be Furnished..., 2nd edition, London: John Churchill, New Burlington Street, page 92
- Six days shalt thou labour and do all thou art able,
Examples of holystone in a sentence
- The boils called sand boils, which form on the front of the knee, are generally produced by small particles of sand being rubbed beneath the skin when the men are kneeling to holystone the decks.1861, Thomas Spencer Wells, “Boils”, in The Scale of Medicines with which Merchant Vessels Are to Be Furnished..., 2nd edition, London...
- Six days shalt thou labor and do all that thou art able, / And on the seventh holystone the deck and scrape the cable.1911, Ambrose Bierce, “Sabbath”, in The Devil’s Dictionary, New York, N.Y.; Washington, D.C.: The Neale Publishing Company, →OCLC:
Synonyms of holystone
Forms of holystone
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | holystones |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | holystones |
| present participle | holystoning |
| past participle | holystoned |
| past | holystoned |
Origin of holystone
Uncertain, but equivalent to holy + stone. As an amulet, probably from holey (“having a hole”). As a scouring stone, variously derived from holey, from the amulet, from its association with Sunday cleaning, from its users' adoption of a kneeling position similar to prayer, and (least likely) from their original provision by raiding graveyards for tombstones.
Questions about holystone
- What does holystone mean?
- Holystone means a piece of soft sandstone used for scouring the wooden decks of ships, usually with sand and seawater.
- How do you use holystone in a sentence?
- The boils called sand boils, which form on the front of the knee, are generally produced by small particles of sand being rubbed beneath the skin when the men are kneeling to holystone the decks.
- What part of speech is holystone?
- Holystone can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce holystone?
- Holystone is pronounced /ˈhəʊl.ɪ.stəʊn/ (UK).
- What is the plural of holystone?
- The plural of holystone is holystones.
Words near holystone in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: holystone (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-holystone.wav.
Cite this entry: “holystone.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/holystone. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.