Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A hard white pottery.
  • noun A rock containing enough iron to permit commercial extraction; an iron ore.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Any ore of iron which is impure through the admixture of silica or clay.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A hard, earthy ore of iron.
  • ironstone china.
  • See under Clay.
  • a hard white pottery, first made in England during the 18th century.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Any ore of iron which is impure through the admixture of silica or clay.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • These soils tend to have low levels of plant nutrients, harden irreversibly when exposed to repeated cycles of wetting and drying, and form nodules or rock-like layers called ironstone or laterite.

    5. How plants live and grow 1991

  • In semiarid and subhumid areas with acidic soils a rock-like layer called ironstone can form (Box 9.4).

    5. How plants live and grow 1991

  • Much good has hence resulted; many subordinate improvements have been effected and are almost daily making; and a new variety of ware, called ironstone, has been invented, and so rapidly and judiciously improved, that, in appearance and in many of its intrinsic properties, it bears a close resemblance to the older and coarser porcelains of China itself.

    The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 19, No. 550, June 2, 1832 Various

  • The county abounds in ironstone, which is contained in the sandstone beds of the Forest ridge, lying between the chalk and oolite of the district, called by geologists the Hastings sand.

    Industrial Biography Smiles, Samuel, 1812-1904 1863

  • The county abounds in ironstone, which is contained in the sandstone beds of the Forest ridge, lying between the chalk and oolite of the district, called by geologists the Hastings sand.

    Industrial Biography, Iron Workers and Tool Makers Samuel Smiles 1858

  • After traversing these plains for two miles in a south-east direction we came upon a valley through which flowed a branch of the river we had this day discovered, running in a bed of fifty yards across, and having in its centre a rapid stream falling in small cascades; it appeared at times subject to extensive inundations, and here its course was through barren plains covered with rocks piled up in strange fantastic masses, and the bed was composed of that kind of red sandstone which at Perth is called ironstone; this being the farthest point north at which I have remarked it.

    Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, Volume 2 George Grey 1855

  • They were big "ironstone" bowls the size of beer schooners, such as we used to see pictured at "Schmiddy's Place," with the legend, "Largest In The City, 5c."

    The Iron Puddler Davis, James J 1922

  • The term "ironstone" was first registered by Charles James Mason in July 1813.

    columbiatribune.com stories <StaffMember: Nancy Russell > 2009

  • The remains, which include a partial skull and teeth, were recovered from ironstone sediment during an expedition to the site in February 2009, but only now has a detailed description of the fossil been published.

    Ape ancestors brought to life by fossil skull of 'Saadanius' primate 2010

  • I followed and leaned against the doorjamb, watching him stir the contents of an ironstone casserole dish as he checked what was in the oven with the ease of a practiced chef.

    The Viognier Vendetta Ellen Crosby 2010

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