Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A piece of soft sandstone used for scouring the wooden decks of a ship.
- v. To scrub or scour with a piece of soft sandstone.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A soft sandstone used by seamen for scrubbing the decks of a ship. See the extract.
- To scrub with holystone, as the deck of a vessel.
Wiktionary
- n. A block of soft sandstone used for scrubbing the wooden decks of a ship, usually with sand and seawater; sometimes called a bible.
- v. To scrub the decks with a holystone.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A stone used by seamen for scrubbing the decks of ships.
- v. To scrub with a holystone, as the deck of a vessel.
WordNet 3.0
- v. scrub with a holystone
- n. a soft sandstone used for scrubbing the decks of a ship
Etymologies
- Perhaps from a sailor's kneeling position while scouring with the stone.
Examples
“The holystone is a large, soft stone, smooth on the bottom, with long ropes attached to each end, by which the crew keep it sliding fore and aft, over the wet, sanded decks.”
Two years before the mast, and twenty-four years after: a personal narrative
“The holystone is a large, soft stone, smooth on the bottom, with long ropes attached to each end, by which the crew keep it sliding fore and aft over the wet sanded decks.”
“For similar reasons he worked and re-worked the story of Galadriel, thinking to make her perfect with emery and holystone, but in truth only reducing her to a plaster saint.”
““Franklin, why in hell's name are you taking one hundred and thirty-four men?” rasped the holystone across rough wood.”
The Terror
“Ross's voice was as rough as a holystone dragged across a splintered deck.”
The Terror
“If my boot should leave a stain on the marble, George must not holystone it away.”
“No more to be trampled and stamped upon with shifty, sloppy feet — no more to be scrubbed and scored with sand and holystone; painted white, it creaks gratefully every time it swings — the symbol of security, the first outward and visible sign of home, the guardian of the sacred rights of private property, the embodiment of the exclusive.”
“It had taken the ship's boy the better part of a day to holystone that rogue's bloodstain from the Springeve's deck.”
The Mad Ship
“So we'll rub her down and scrub her down with holystone and sand”
“One of the small girls slipped on the wet patch left by Sharpe's holystone.”
Sharpe's Devil
Lists
‘holystone’ hasn't been added to any lists yet.
yarb They said her decks were as white as snow,-- holystoned every morning, like a man-of-war's...
- Richard Henry Dana Jr., Two Years Before the Mast, ch. 20 Sep 6, 2008
chained_bear I'm adding it as an honorary word to my Scriptie: Master and Commander, because though I've never heard this word before, they use one in the movie. (I always wondered what the hell it was! Thanks, skipv!) Oct 15, 2007
reesetee Great word! Oct 15, 2007
skipvia Sandstone rocks used to scrub the wooden decks of sailing vessels, so named because the deckhands appeared to be praying when they were using it. Oct 14, 2007