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millstone

mills·tone

UK/ˈmɪlstəʊn/ US/ˈmɪlˌstoʊn/ rare

noun

1.

(figurative) something that hinders or handicaps

  • “she was an albatross around his neck”
Synonyms
2.

any load that is difficult to carry

3.

one of a pair of heavy flat disk-shaped stones that are rotated against one another to grind the grain

Origin

From Middle English mylneston, milneston, from Old English mylenstān (“millstone”), from Proto-West Germanic *mulīnu + *stain; equivalent to mill + stone; cognate with Danish møllesten, Middle Dutch molensteen (modern Dutch molensteen), West Frisian molestien, Norwegian Bokmål møllestein, Old Saxon mulinstēn (Middle Low German mȫlenstēn), Old High German mulinstein, mülstein (Middle High German mülstein, modern German Mühlstein).

Phrases

  • albatross around one's neck
  • burr millstone
  • hard as the nether millstone
  • into a millstone
  • lava millstone
  • through a millstone

Related words

Broader terms

Parts

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.