Pumice

//ˈpʌm.ɪs// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock, formed during explosive volcanic eruptions when liquid lava is ejected into water or air as a froth containing masses of gas bubbles, which are frozen into the rock as the lava solidifies. countable, uncountable

    "The wind blew close to the ground - it rooted among the tussock grass - slithered along the road, so that the white pumice dust swirled in our faces - settled and sifted over us and was like a dry-skin itching for growth on our bodies."

  2. 2
    a light glass formed on the surface of some lavas; used as an abrasive wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To abrade or roughen with pumice. transitive
  2. 2
    rub with pumice, in order to clean or to smoothen wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
abrasivealabasterasphaltemeryfilegrind

Example

More examples

"I rub the soles of my feet with pumice in order to smooth them."

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman and Old French pomis (“pumice stone”), from Latin pūmex (“pumice stone”). Doublet of pounce.

Related phrases

pumice raftpumice stoneigneous rockpumice stone

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.