Mill·stone n. One of two circular stones used for grinding grain or other substance in a mill1.
No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge. --Deut. xxiv. 6.
Note: ☞ The cellular siliceous rock called buhrstone is usually employed for millstones; also, some kinds of lava, as that Niedermendig, or other firm rock with rough texture. The surface of a millstone has usually a series of radial grooves in which the powdered material collects.
Millstone girt Geol., a hard and coarse, gritty sandstone, dividing the Carboniferous from the Subcarboniferous strata. See Farewell rock, under Farewell, a., and Chart of Geology.
To see into a millstone or To see through a millstone, to see into or through a difficult matter. (Colloq.)
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Fare·well a. Parting; valedictory; final; as, a farewell discourse; his farewell bow.
Leans in his spear to take his farewell view. --Tickell.
Farewell rock Mining, the Millstone grit; -- so called because no coal is found worth working below this stratum. It is used for hearths of furnaces, having power to resist intense heat.
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