millstone

Noun
Synonyms: albatross

WordNet 3.0

Noun (3)

  1. (figurative) something that hinders or handicaps“she was an albatross around his neck”Synonyms: albatross
  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
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

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]

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