Holystone

//ˈhoʊl.i.stoʊn// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A piece of soft sandstone used for scouring the wooden decks of ships, usually with sand and seawater.
  2. 2
    a soft sandstone used for scrubbing the decks of a ship wordnet
  3. 3
    A stone with a naturally-formed hole, used by Yorkshiremen for good luck.
Verb
  1. 1
    To use a holystone. transitive

    "Six days shalt thou labour and do all thou art able, And on the seventh—holystone the decks and scrape the cable."

  2. 2
    scrub with a holystone wordnet

Etymology

Etymology 1

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.

Etymology 2

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.

Next best steps

Mini challenge

Unscramble this word: holystone