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Millstone
Definitions
- 1 A nuclear power station near Waterford, Connecticut, USA.
- 2 An unincorporated community in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States.
- 3 A township in Monmouth County, New Jersey.
- 4 A borough in Somerset County, New Jersey.
- 5 A tributary of the Raritan River in New Jersey; in full, the Millstone River.
- 1 A large round stone used for grinding grain.
"As it is the circular Motion of the Mill-ſtone which brings the Corn out of the Hopper by Jerks, and with a Velocity depending upon that of the Stone, other Grains are always ſucceeding, which raiſe it anew, and the Flower just made being no longer preſs'd is carry'd away into the Boulting Mill by the Circulation of Air that the Mill-ſtone puts into motion, which makes a whirling there."
- 2 one of a pair of heavy flat disk-shaped stones that are rotated against one another to grind the grain wordnet
- 3 A coarse-grained sandstone used for making such stones; millstone grit.
"In North America the millstone grit, and a grey sandy and slaty rock beneath it, occur three times; and it is exceedingly difficult to distinguish these rocks in hand specimens, without the aid of organized remains. And remains are almost exclusively confined to the grey rocks. Common quarrymen, farmers, and foreign geologists, apply the names, greywracke and millstone, to all these rocks promiscuously; neither having observed their different relative positions."
- 4 any load that is difficult to carry wordnet
- 5 Ellipsis of millstone around one's neck, a heavy responsibility that is difficult to bear (referring to Matthew 18:6 in the Bible). abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, figuratively
"Paying the mortgage every month is a millstone round their necks."
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- 6 (figurative) something that hinders or handicaps wordnet
Etymology
From Middle English mylneston, milneston, from Old English mylenstān (“millstone”), from Proto-West Germanic *mulīnu + *stain; equivalent to mill + stone; cognate with Danish møllesten, Middle Dutch molensteen (modern Dutch molensteen), West Frisian molestien, Norwegian Bokmål møllestein, Old Saxon mulinstēn (Middle Low German mȫlenstēn), Old High German mulinstein, mülstein (Middle High German mülstein, modern German Mühlstein).
From millstone, mill + stone.
See also for "millstone"
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