Is there a difference between a rock and a stone?

mk2norwich

I suppose it depends on where you are from. I have often heard Americans speak of a 'rock' to refer to those small objects that us Brits call 'stones'. Confusingly, when these same stones are located on a beach, they then become pebbles! To the British, rocks are considerably larger than stones and the word often refers to those large pieces of stone found in the vicinity of cliffs, caves and mountains, whereas stones are more 'pebble' sized. I don't think that there is a definite point where, in relation to size, stones stop being stones and become rocks. I don't really know if there can be a satisfactory answer to this. Dec 19 02, 7:24 PM

Son of The Household Cavalry

If I had to make a choice, I would rather have a kidney stone than a kidney rock. Dec 19 02, 11:08 PM

Brainy Blonde

A rolling stone gathers no moss, but a rock just rolls!!! LOL!!! Dec 20 02, 12:16 PM

Alias

An engineering friend once corrected me when I said I liked rock houses. He said it's correctly a stone house. While the rock is sitting undisturbed on the ground, it's a rock; once you pick it up to use it, it's a stone. Dec 20 02, 4:03 PM

markswood

According to Merriam-Webster's Online dictionary: Rock: a large mass of stone forming a cliff, promontory, or peak Stone: a concretion of earthy or mineral matter: (1): such a concretion of indeterminate size or shape. It also provides rock as a synonym for stone. The derivations don't help much either. Ref: http://www.m-w.com/dictionary Jan 28 08, 5:54 AM