Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A stone once worn as a charm and believed to have been formed in the body of a toad.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In geology, a volcanic rock varying in texture from a soft crumbly ash to a hard close-grained greenstone, several beds of which occur in the magnesian limestone of the lead-mining district of Derbyshire
- noun Any one of various natural or artificial objects resembling a toad in form or color, or which were believed to have been formed within the body of that animal, and which for many centuries, and over a large part of Europe, were held in high regard, and preserved with the greatest care. ;
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Min.) A local name for the igneous rocks of Derbyshire, England; -- said by some to be derived from the German todter stein, meaning dead stone, that is, stone which contains no ores.
- noun Bufonite, formerly regarded as a precious stone, and worn as a jewel. See
Bufonite .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A small
stone , once believed to be ajewel embedded in the head of atoad , worn as aamulet
Etymologies
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Examples
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Dr. Clarke noticed among the pebbles near the Lake of Tiberias pieces of a porous rock resembling the substance called toadstone in England; its cavities were filled with zeolite.
Palestine or the Holy Land From the Earliest Period to the Present Time Michael Russell 1814
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At last he, with a low courtesy, put on her medical finger a pretty handsome golden ring, whereinto was right artificially enchased a precious toadstone of Beausse.
Five books of the lives, heroic deeds and sayings of Gargantua and his son Pantagruel 2002
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Friar John singled him out of the whole knot of these rogues in grain, a red-snouted catchpole, who upon his right thumb wore a thick broad silver hoop, wherein was set a good large toadstone.
Five books of the lives, heroic deeds and sayings of Gargantua and his son Pantagruel 2002
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At last he, with a low courtesy, put on her medical finger a pretty handsome golden ring, whereinto was right artificially enchased a precious toadstone of Beausse.
Five books of the lives, heroic deeds and sayings of Gargantua and his son Pantagruel 2002
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Friar John singled him out of the whole knot of these rogues in grain, a red-snouted catchpole, who upon his right thumb wore a thick broad silver hoop, wherein was set a good large toadstone.
Five books of the lives, heroic deeds and sayings of Gargantua and his son Pantagruel 2002
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I thought his favor was excessive; certainly I never thought their powers were any more real than those cheapjack toadstone-peddlers or the granny-wives who claim they can put a bad word on someone's cow.
The Silent Tower Hambly, Barbara 1986
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Agate was in more frequent use, being easier to obtain, as were various objects alleged to be toadstone—that nonexistent precious jewel believed to be hidden in the head of the toad.
Savoring The Past Wheaton Barbara Ketcham 1983
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Agate was in more frequent use, being easier to obtain, as were various objects alleged to be toadstone—that nonexistent precious jewel believed to be hidden in the head of the toad.
Savoring The Past Wheaton Barbara Ketcham 1983
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It was a seventeenth-century toadstone ring that had belonged to his mother before her death.
The Chisholms Evan Hunter 1976
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It was a seventeenth-century toadstone ring that had belonged to his mother before her death.
The Chisholms Evan Hunter 1976
whichbe commented on the word toadstone
Stone thought to grow inside a toad and have magic powers. (from Phrontistery)
May 24, 2008
ruzuzu commented on the word toadstone
"Shakspere refers to the toadstone in the lines:
Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.
(As you Like it, ii. 1. 12-14.)"
--The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
January 18, 2011