Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A common, coarse-grained, light-colored, hard igneous rock consisting chiefly of quartz, orthoclase or microcline, and mica, used in monuments and for building.
- noun Unyielding endurance; steadfastness.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A rock composed of orthoclase-feldspar, mica, and quartz, and having a thoroughly crystalline-granular texture.
- noun A kind of rough-grained water-ice or sherbet. Also called
rock-punch and rock ice-cream. See the extract. - noun Same as
granite-ware - noun In the quantitative system of classification (1902), it is proposed to apply the term granite for field purposes to all phanerocrystalline rocks composed of quartz and feldspar of any kind, with mica, hornblende, or other ferromagnesian mineral, if present in subordinate amounts. See
rock . - noun A granite containing two micas: the granite proper of some authors.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Geol.) A crystalline, granular rock, consisting of quartz, feldspar, and mica, and usually of a whitish, grayish, or flesh-red color. It differs from gneiss in not having the mica in planes, and therefore in being destitute of a schistose structure.
- noun granite in which the mica has traces of a regular arrangement.
- noun granite consisting of quartz and feldspar without mica, and having the quartz crystals so arranged in the transverse section like oriental characters.
- noun granite containing feldspar in distinct crystals.
- noun granite containing hornblende as well as mica, or, according to some authorities hornblende replacing the mica.
- noun A Kind of ironware, coated with an enamel resembling granite.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A group of
igneous andplutonic rocks composed primarily offeldspar andquartz . Usually contains one or more darkminerals , which may bemica ,pyroxene , oramphibole . Granite is quarried for building stone, road gravel, decorative stone, andtombstones . Common colors are gray, white, pink, and yellow-brown. - noun uncountable, figuratively
Toughness ; the quality of having a thick skin or being rough.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun something having the quality of granite (unyielding firmness)
- noun plutonic igneous rock having visibly crystalline texture; generally composed of feldspar and mica and quartz
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The term granite, as used commercially, includes true granite and such allied rocks as syenite and gneiss.
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The erupted rocks which have broken through and upheaved these strata have been elevated from depths that are wholly inaccessible to our research; they must, therefore, have existed under the silurian strata, and been composed of the same association of minerals which we term granite, augite, and quartzose porphyry, when they are made known to us by eruption through the surface.
COSMOS: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe, Vol. 1 Alexander von Humboldt 1814
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She looked at him, her expression granite, and then she started down the hill into Weed.
Crimson Wind Diana Pharaoh Francis 2011
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He faced back to the road, his expression granite.
Crimson Wind Diana Pharaoh Francis 2011
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The artist engraving the powerful pictures onto the granite is a former
Shelton, Charles E. 1990
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They're just a plain granite upright listing the missing crew and detailing what they did in the war and how they were lost.
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They're just a plain granite upright listing the missing crew and detailing what they did in the war and how they were lost.
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While granite is still the most popular stone countertop, quartz beat it out in our latest Ratings, and more kitchen designers are giving it a look.
Will the return of the jumpsuit jumpstart that ’70s kitchen? 2010
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They're just a plain granite upright listing the missing crew and detailing what they did in the war and how they were lost.
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They're just a plain granite upright listing the missing crew and detailing what they did in the war and how they were lost.
bilby commented on the word granite
"The road where they were parked was newly paved and straight as an arrow. The asphalt had a deep lustre, like a dull black pearl. Toward the north, out toward the Sound, mixed-use buildings had been constructed. Expensive, timeless, in glass and granite, like seven-storey gravestones."
- 'The Quiet Girl', Peter Høeg.
March 18, 2008
sionnach commented on the word granite
The Quiet Girl: come for the story, stay for the riveting roadway descriptions and the extensive collection of jaded similes!
March 19, 2008
reesetee commented on the word granite
Sionnach, are you still doing your taxes? ;-)
March 19, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word granite
HA HA HA HA!!
Or as O'Brian writes, "Oh, ha, ha, ha!"
March 19, 2008