Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

gran·ite       (grān'ĭt)  Pronunciation Key  n.   A common, coarse-grained, light-colored, hard igneous rock consisting chiefly of quartz, orthoclase or microcline, and mica, used in monuments and for building. Unyielding endurance; steadfastness: a will of granite. [Italian granito, from past participle of granire, to make grainy, from grano, grain, from Latin grānum; see gə-no- in Indo-European roots.] gra·nit'ic (grā-nĭt'ĭk, grə-), gran'it·oid' (grān'ĭ-toid') adj.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
granite 

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

granite
noun
1.	plutonic igneous rock having visibly crystalline texture; generally composed of feldspar and mica and quartz
2.	something having the quality of granite (unyielding firmness); "a man of granite"

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

granite       (grān'ĭt)  Pronunciation Key  A usually light-colored, coarse-grained igneous rock consisting mostly of quartz, orthoclase feldspar, sodium-rich plagioclase feldspar, and micas. Quartz usually makes up 10 to 50 percent of the light-colored minerals in granite, with the remaining minerals consisting of the feldspars and muscovite. The darker minerals in granite are usually biotite and hornblende. Granite is one of the most common rocks in the crust of continents, and is formed by the slow, underground cooling of magma.

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
granite

A relatively lightweight igneous rock that makes up most of the Earth's crust beneath the continents. (See basalt, plate tectonics, and tectonic plates.)

[Chapter:] Earth Sciences

U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source - Share This

Granite Springs, NY Zip code(s): 10527

Granite Falls, MN (city, FIPS 25280) Location: 44.81106 N, 95.53870 W
Population (1990): 3083 (1401 housing units)
Area: 8.9 sq km (land), 0.7 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 56241

Granite Falls, NC (town, FIPS 27420) Location: 35.80167 N, 81.42705 W
Population (1990): 3253 (1366 housing units)
Area: 8.5 sq km (land), 0.1 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 28630

Granite Falls, WA (town, FIPS 27995) Location: 48.08286 N, 121.96709 W
Population (1990): 1060 (445 housing units)
Area: 1.8 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 98252

Granite City, IL (city, FIPS 30926) Location: 38.71440 N, 90.12965 W
Population (1990): 32862 (13886 housing units)
Area: 32.4 sq km (land), 1.2 sq km (water)

Granite Shoals, TX (city, FIPS 30584) Location: 30.58867 N, 98.38375 W
Population (1990): 1378 (1145 housing units)
Area: 6.0 sq km (land), 2.0 sq km (water)

Granite Quarry, NC (town, FIPS 27440) Location: 35.61319 N, 80.44571 W
Population (1990): 1646 (688 housing units)
Area: 4.4 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)

Granite Hills, CA (CDP, FIPS 30703) Location: 32.80300 N, 116.90376 W
Population (1990): 3157 (1035 housing units)
Area: 7.7 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)

Granite County, MT (county, FIPS 39) Location: 46.42043 N, 113.44701 W
Population (1990): 2548 (1924 housing units)
Area: 4474.3 sq km (land), 14.6 sq km (water)

Granite, CO Zip code(s): 81228

Granite, MD Zip code(s): 21163

Granite, OK (town, FIPS 30950) Location: 34.96294 N, 99.37830 W
Population (1990): 1844 (587 housing units)
Area: 3.9 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 73547

Granite, OR (city, FIPS 30500) Location: 44.81056 N, 118.41941 W
Population (1990): 8 (48 housing units)
Area: 1.0 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)

Granite, UT (CDP, FIPS 30900) Location: 40.56743 N, 111.80560 W
Population (1990): 3300 (903 housing units)
Area: 10.0 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Granite

Gran"ite\, n. [It. granito granite, adj., grainy, p. p. of granire to make grainy, fr. L. granum grain; cf. F. granit. See Grain.] (Geol.) A crystalline, granular rock, consisting of quartz, feldspar, and mica, and usually of a whitish, grayish, or flesh-red color. It differs from gneiss in not having the mica in planes, and therefore in being destitute of a schistose structure.

Note: Varieties containing hornblende are common. See also the Note under Mica.

Gneissoid granite, granite in which the mica has traces of a regular arrangement.

Graphic granite, granite consisting of quartz and feldspar without mica, and having the quartz crystals so arranged in the transverse section like oriental characters.

Porphyritic granite, granite containing feldspar in distinct crystals.

Hornblende granite, or

Syenitic granite, granite containing hornblende as well as mica, or, according to some authorities hornblende replacing the mica.

Granite ware. (a) A kind of stoneware. (b) A Kind of ironware, coated with an enamel resembling granite.