English Explanatory Dictionary

marble

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A metamorphic rock of crystalline limestone.
  2. A small ball used in games, originally of marble but now usually of glass or ceramic.
  3. Statues made from marble.
  4. The marbling in meat.
verb
  1. To cause (something to have) the streaked or swirled appearance of certain types of marble, for example by mixing viscous ingredients incompletely, or by applying paint or other colorants unevenly.
  2. To get or have the streaked or swirled appearance of certain types of marble, for example due to the incomplete mixing of viscous ingredients, or the uneven application of paint or other colorants.
  3. To cause meat, usually beef, pork, or lamb, to be interlaced with fat so that its appearance resembles that of marble.
  4. To become interlaced with fat; (of fat) to interlace through meat.
  5. To lace or be laced throughout.
adj
  1. Made of, or resembling, marble.
  2. Cold; hard; unfeeling.
name
  1. A surname.
  2. A statutory town in Gunnison County, Colorado.

Pronunciation

/ˈmɑː.bəl/ [ˈmɑː.bəl] ~ [ˈmɑː.bl̩] /ˈmɑɹ.bəl/ [ˈmɑɹ.bəl] ~ [ˈmɑɹ.bl̩] en-us-marble.ogg

Word forms

marble marbles marbling marbled more marble most marble

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English marble, marbre; from Anglo-Norman and Old French marbre, from Latin marmor, from Ancient Greek μάρμαρος (mármaros), perhaps related to μαρμάρεος (marmáreos, “gleaming”). The forms from French displaced Old English marma, which had previously been borrowed from Latin.

Synonyms

marbleize

Related words

marmoreal

Derived words

all the marbles Blue Marble blue marble tree Carrara marble emmarble enmarble fire marble green marble lose one's marbles Luna marble marbelic Marble Arch Marble Bar marble beef marble berry marble cake Marble Canyon marble cheese marble cichlid marble egg marblefish marble fox marble goby marble-hearted Marble Hill marbleization marbleless marblelike marbleness marble orchard marble paper marbler marble run marble rye bread marbles marble scissors Marblette marblewood marblework marblish marbly Moqui marble mouthful of marbles nonmarble onyx marble Pentelic marble Picasso marble pick up one's marbles and go home Sussex marble travertine marble woolly marbles marbling

Translations

Asturian: xaspiar Catalan: marbrar Catalan: mabrejar Czech: mramorovat Finnish: marmoroida Finnish: marmoroitua French: marbrer Galician: xaspear German: marmorieren Irish: marmaraigh Spanish: jaspear Swedish: marmorera Turkish: ebrulamak Turkish: harelemek
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