Adjacent Words

Pumice definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PUM'ICE, n. [L. pumex, supposed to be from the root of spuma,foam.]
A substance frequently ejected from volcanoes, of various colors, gray, white, reddish brown or black; hard, rough and porous; specifically lighter than water, and resembling the slag produced in an iron furnace. It consists of parallel fibers, and is supposed to be asbestos decomposed by the action of fire.
Pumice is of three kinds, glassy, common, and porphyritic.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a light glass formed on the surface of some lavas; used as an abrasive [syn: pumice, pumice stone] v
1: rub with pumice, in order to clean or to smoothen

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English pomis, from Anglo-French pomice, from Latin pumic-, pumex — more at foam Date: 15th century a volcanic glass full of cavities and very light in weight used especially in powder form for smoothing and polishing • pumiceous adjective

Britannica Concise

Very porous, frothlike volcanic glass that has long been used as an abrasive in cleaning, polishing, and scouring compounds. It is also used in precast masonry units, poured concrete, insulation and acoustic tile, and plaster. Pumice is igneous rock that cooled so rapidly there was no time for it to crystallize. When it solidified, the vapors dissolved in it were suddenly released, and the whole mass swelled up into a froth that immediately consolidated. Any type of lava may become pumiceous under favorable conditions.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. (in full pumice-stone) 1 a light porous volcanic rock often used as an abrasive in cleaning or polishing substances. 2 a piece of this used for removing hard skin etc. --v.tr. rub or clean with a pumice. Derivatives: pumiceous adj. Etymology: ME f. OF pomis f. L pumex pumicis (dial. pom-): cf. POUNCE(2)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Pumice Pum"ice, n. [L. pumex, pumicis, prob. akin to spuma foam: cf. AS. pumic-st[=a]n. Cf. Pounce a powder, Spume.] (Min.) A very light porous volcanic scoria, usually of a gray color, the pores of which are capillary and parallel, giving it a fibrous structure. It is supposed to be produced by the disengagement of watery vapor without liquid or plastic lava. It is much used, esp. in the form of powder, for smoothing and polishing. Called also pumice stone.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Pumice is a kind of grey stone from a volcano and is very light in weight. It can be rubbed over surfaces, especially your skin, that you want to clean or make smoother. = pumice stone