Rock

Rock, rok, n. a large mass of stone: (geol.) a natural deposit of sand, earth, or clay: that which has the firmness of a rock, foundation, support, defence: (Scot.) a distaff: a hard sweetmeat.—v.t. to throw stones at.—ns. Rock′-al′um, alum stone; Rock′-away, a four-wheeled North American pleasure-carriage; Rock′-bad′ger, a ground-squirrel of North America; Rock′-bās′in, a lacustrine hollow in a rock, excavated by glacier-ice; Rock′-bass, a centrarchoid fish, the goggle-eye; Rock′-bird, a cock of the rock.—adj. Rock′-bound, hemmed in by rocks.—ns. Rock′-break′er, a machine for breaking stones for road-metal; Rock′-butt′er, an impure alum efflorescence of a butter-like consistency found oozing from some alum slates; Rock′-can′dy, pure sugar in large crystals: candy-sugar; Rock′-cist, a plant of the genus Helianthemum; Rock′-cook, the small-mouthed wrasse; Rock′-cork, mountain cork, a variety of asbestos; Rock′-crab, a crab found at rocky sea-bottoms.—adj. Rock′-crowned, surmounted with rocks.—ns. Rock′-crys′tal, the finest and purest quartz, the name being generally applied, however, only to crystals in which the six-sided prism is well developed; Rock′-dol′phin, the sea-scorpion; Rock′-dove, the rock-pigeon or blue-rock; Rock′-drill, a machine-drill worked by steam, &c.; Rock′-eel, a fish of the family Xiphidiontidæ; Rock′-elm, an American elm; Rock′er, the rock-dove; Rock′ery, Rock′work, a mound made with pieces of rock, earth, &c. for the cultivation of ferns, &c.; Rock′-fē′ver, intermittent fever; Rock′-fire, in pyrotechny, a composition of resin, sulphur, nitre, regulus of antimony, and turpentine, burning slowly; Rock′-fish, a name applied to various different varieties of wrasse, the striped bass, black goby, &c.; Rock′-goat, an ibex; Rock′-hawk, the merlin; Rock′-head, bed-rock; Rock′-hop′per, a curl-crested penguin; Rock′ie (Scot.), the rock-lintie or twite; Rock′iness; Rock′-leath′er, rock-cork; Rock′-lil′y, a tropical American cryptogamous plant: a white-flowered Australian orchid; Rock′-lim′pet, a limpet which adheres to rocks; Rock′ling, a genus of fishes of the cod family Gadidæ, of which several species frequent the British seas; Rock′-lin′tie (Scot.), the twite: the Rock′-lark; Rock′-man′ikin, a rock-bird; Rock′-moss, lichen which yields archil; Rock′-oil, petroleum; Rock′-ou′sel, the ring-ousel; Rock′-oys′ter, an oyster-like bivalve; Rock′-pi′geon, a pigeon inhabiting rocks and caves: the sand-pigeon; Rock′-pip′it, the British tit-lark.—n.pl. Rock′-plants, a term applied in gardening to a very miscellaneous group of plants which by their habit of growth are adapted to adorn rockeries.—ns. Rock′-plov′er, the rock-snipe; Rock′-rabb′it, a hyrax; Rock′-rose, a plant of either of the genera Cistus and Helianthemum of the rock-rose family (Cistaceæ); Rock′-ru′by, a ruby-red garnet; Rock′-salm′on, the coal-fish: an amber-fish; Rock′-salt, salt in solid form; Rock′-ser′pent, a venomous Indian serpent, allied to the cobra; Rock′-slāt′er, a wood-louse; Rock′-snake, a python or anaconda; Rock′-snipe, the purple sandpiper; Rock′-soap, a deep-black mineral used for crayons, consisting of silica, alumina, peroxide of iron, and water; Rock′-sparr′ow, a finch: the ring-sparrow; Rock′-star′ling, the rock-ousel; Rock′-swift, the white-throated rock-swift of North America; Rock′-tar, petroleum; Rock′-tem′ple, a temple hewn out of the solid rock; Rock′-thrush, any bird of the genus Monticola or Petrocincla; Rock′-tripe, lichens of the genus Umbilicaria; Rock′-trout, the common American brook-trout: sea-trout; Rock′-vī′olet, an alga growing on moist rocks in the Alps; Rock′-war′bler, a small Australian bird; Rock′-win′kle, a periwinkle; Rock′-wood, ligniform asbestos; Rock′work (archit.), masonry in imitation of masses of rock: a rockery; Rock′-wren, a wren which frequents rocks.—adj. Rock′y, full of rocks: resembling a rock: hard: unfeeling. [O. Fr. roke, roche; prob. Celt., as in Gael. roc, W. rhwg, a projection.]