Millstone

Quick meaning: Millstone is a noun meaning A large round stone used for grinding grain.

Meaning

A large round stone used for grinding grain.

More Meanings

1. (geology) A coarse-grained sandstone used for making such stones; millstone grit.
2. (figurative) Ellipsis of millstone around one's neck, a heavy responsibility that is difficult to bear (referring to Matthew 18:6 in the Bible).

Example Sentences

Paying the mortgage every month is a millstone round their necks.

[H]owever great and powerful England may be, the strain of such entanglements cannot but tell on her, and one day she may find herself in a predicament in which India may simply hang as a mill-stone round her neck.

We can tell what Australopithecines ate from the remains of their jaws and teeth. The earliest finds show teeth which are large and round like millstones – acting as grinding and pulverizing machines for fibrous vegetation.

Furthermore, Colonel [Josiah Clement] Wedgwood was dead against special representation being given to landlords or even to universities. "Let India beware," he declared, "of the expansion of communal representation which she will find as a mill-stone hanging about her neck which will grow heavier as time goes on."

Word Forms

• millstones
• mill-stone

Synonyms for millstone

Depending on context, synonyms include albatross.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include albatross, grit, stone, loading, weight, load.

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