MARBLE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does marble mean? 

• MARBLE (noun)
  The noun MARBLE has 3 senses:

1. a hard crystalline metamorphic rock that takes a high polish; used for sculpture and as building material

2. a small ball of glass that is used in various games

3. a sculpture carved from marble

  Familiarity information: MARBLE used as a noun is uncommon.

• MARBLE (verb)
  The verb MARBLE has 1 sense:

1. paint or stain like marble

  Familiarity information: MARBLE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MARBLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A hard crystalline metamorphic rock that takes a high polish; used for sculpture and as building material

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("marble" is a kind of...):

rock; stone (material consisting of the aggregate of minerals like those making up the Earth's crust)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "marble"):

verd antique; verde antique (a dark green impure marble)

Derivation:

marble (paint or stain like marble)

marbleize (make something look like marble)

marmoreal; marmorean (of or relating to or characteristic of marble)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A small ball of glass that is used in various games

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("marble" is a kind of...):

ball (round object that is hit or thrown or kicked in games)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "marble"):

shooter; taw (a large marble used for shooting in the game of marbles)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A sculpture carved from marble

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("marble" is a kind of...):

sculpture (a three-dimensional work of plastic art)

• MARBLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they marble    ... he / she / it marbles   
Past simple: marbled   
Past participle: marbled   
-ing form: marbling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Paint or stain like marble

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Context example:

marble paper

Hypernyms (to "marble" is one way to...):

stain (color with a liquid dye or tint)

Domain category:

handicraft (a craft that requires skillful hands)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

marble (a hard crystalline metamorphic rock that takes a high polish; used for sculpture and as building material)

 Context examples 

But what interested Dorothy most was the big throne of green marble that stood in the middle of the room.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

To my amazement he stooped, picked her up, and placed her sitting upon a high pedestal of black marble in the angle of the hall.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

What a hot and strong grasp he had! and how like quarried marble was his pale, firm, massive front at this moment!

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

This little round table with the marble top (it's two feet ten in circumference), I bought.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I think so, myself, and mean to do it in marble, so that, whatever happens, I may at least keep the image of my little angel.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Van Helsing's face grew set as marble, and his eyebrows converged till they almost touched over his nose.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I caught glimpses of velvet chairs, a high white marble mantel-piece, and what seemed to be a suit of Japanese armour at one side of it.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The ball of quills might have been a stone for all it moved; the lynx might have been frozen to marble; and old One Eye might have been dead.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

“Sold out of geese, I see,” continued Holmes, pointing at the bare slabs of marble.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

With a smiling face and a heart of marble, he will squeeze and squeeze until he has drained them dry.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)