Search Result for "millstone": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (3)

1. (figurative) something that hinders or handicaps;
- Example: "she was an albatross around his neck"
[syn: albatross, millstone]

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;


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Millstone \Mill"stone`\, n. One of two circular stones used for grinding grain or other substance in a mill[1]. [1913 Webster] No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge. --Deut. xxiv. 6. [1913 Webster] Note: The cellular siliceous rock called buhrstone is usually employed for millstones; also, some kinds of lava, as that Niedermendig, or other firm rock with rough texture. The surface of a millstone has usually a series of radial grooves in which the powdered material collects. [1913 Webster] Millstone girt (Geol.), a hard and coarse, gritty sandstone, dividing the Carboniferous from the Subcarboniferous strata. See Farewell rock, under Farewell, a., and Chart of Geology. To see into a millstone or To see through a millstone, to see into or through a difficult matter. (Colloq.) [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

millstone n 1: (figurative) something that hinders or handicaps; "she was an albatross around his neck" [syn: albatross, millstone] 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