metamorphosed limestone, consisting chiefly of recrystallized calcite or dolomite, capable of taking a high polish, occurring in a wide range of colors and variegations and used in sculpture and architecture.
2.
any variety of this stone: Carrara marble.
3.
an object made of or carved from this stone, esp. a sculpture: Renaissance marbles.
4.
a piece of this stone: the fallen marbles of Roman ruins.
5.
(not in technical use) any of various breccias or other stones that take a high polish and show a variegated pattern.
6.
a marbled appearance or pattern; marbling: The woodwork had a greenish marble.
7.
anything resembling marble in hardness, coldness, smoothness, etc.: a brow of marble.
8.
something lacking in warmth or feeling.
9.
a little ball made of stone, baked clay, glass, porcelain, agate, or steel, esp. for use in games.
10.
marbles, (used with a singular verb) a game for children in which a marble is propelled by the thumb to hit another marble so as to drive it out of a circle drawn or scratched on the ground.
11.
marbles, Slang. normal rational faculties; sanity; wits; common sense: to have all one's marbles; to lose one's marbles.
–adjective
12.
consisting or made of marble.
13.
like marble, as in hardness, coldness, smoothness, etc.
14.
lacking in warmth, compassion, or sympathy: marble heart.
15.
of variegated or mottled color.
–verb (used with object)
16.
to color or stain like variegated marble.
17.
to apply a decorative pattern to (paper, the edges of a book, etc.) by transferring oil pigments floating on water.
[Origin: 1150–1200; ME marbel, dissimilated var. of OE marmel (in marmelstān marble stone) < L marmor < Gk mármaros, akin to marmaírein to sparkle]
A metamorphic rock formed by alteration of limestone or dolomite, often irregularly colored by impurities, and used especially in architecture and sculpture.
A piece of this rock.
A sculpture made from this rock.
A small hard ball, usually of glass, used in children's games.
marbles(used with a sing. verb) Any of various games played with marbles.
Something resembling or suggesting metamorphic rock, as in being very hard, smooth, or cold: a heart of marble; a brow of marble.
Games
A small hard ball, usually of glass, used in children's games.
marbles(used with a sing. verb) Any of various games played with marbles.
marbles(used with a sing. verb)Slang Common sense; sanity: completely lost his marbles after the stock market crash.
Marbling.
tr.v.
mar·bled, mar·bling, mar·bles
To mottle and streak (paper, for example) with colors and veins in imitation of marble.
adj.
Composed of metamorphic rock: a marble hearth.
Resembling metamorphic rock in consistency, texture, venation, color, or coldness.
[Middle English, from Old French marbre, from Latin marmor, from Greek marmaros.]
c.1200, by dissimilation from O.Fr. marbre, from L. marmor, from or cognate with Gk. marmaros "marble, gleaming stone," of unknown origin, perhaps originally an adj. meaning "sparkling," which would connect it with marmairein "to shine." The L. word was taken directly into O.E. as marma. Meaning "little balls of marble used in a children's game" is attested from 1694; the game of marbles is first recorded by that name in 1709, but is probably older (it was known in 13c. Ger. as tribekugeln) and was originally played with small balls of polished marble or alabaster, later clay; the modern glass ones with the colored swirl date from 1840s. Meaning "mental faculties, common sense" is from 1927, Amer.Eng. slang, perhaps from earlier slang marbles "furniture, personal effect
marbleAudio Help (mär'bəl) Pronunciation Key
A metamorphic rock consisting primarily of calcite and dolomite. Marble is formed by the metamorphism of limestone. Although it is usually white to gray in color, it often has irregularly colored marks due to the presence of impurities such as silica and clay. Marble is used especially in sculpture and as a building material.
Marble Rock, IA (city, FIPS 49305) Location: 42.96472 N, 92.86759 W Population (1990): 361 (154 housing units) Area: 2.2 sq km (land), 0.1 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 50653
Marble Hill, GA Zip code(s): 30148
Marble Hill, MO (city, FIPS 45848) Location: 37.30229 N, 89.98043 W Population (1990): 1447 (654 housing units) Area: 3.8 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Marble Falls, TX (city, FIPS 46584) Location: 30.57973 N, 98.27209 W Population (1990): 4007 (1840 housing units) Area: 13.9 sq km (land), 1.4 sq km (water)
Marble Cliff, OH (village, FIPS 47474) Location: 39.98515 N, 83.06050 W Population (1990): 633 (306 housing units) Area: 0.7 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Marble City, OK (town, FIPS 46450) Location: 35.58310 N, 94.81716 W Population (1990): 232 (77 housing units) Area: 1.1 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Marble, CO (town, FIPS 48555) Location: 39.07143 N, 107.18843 W Population (1990): 64 (70 housing units) Area: 0.8 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 81623
Marble, NC Zip code(s): 28905
Marble, PA Zip code(s): 16334
Marble, MN (city, FIPS 40418) Location: 47.32858 N, 93.29341 W Population (1990): 618 (287 housing units) Area: 11.2 sq km (land), 0.3 sq km (water)
Lime"stone`\ (l[imac]m"st[=o]n`), n. A rock consisting chiefly of calcium carbonate or carbonate of lime. It sometimes contains also magnesium carbonate, and is then called magnesian or dolomitic limestone. Crystalline limestone is called marble.
Mar"ble\, n. [OE. marbel, marbre, F. marbre, L. marmor, fr. Gr. ?, fr. ? to sparkle, flash. Cf. Marmoreal.]1. A massive, compact limestone; a variety of calcite, capable of being polished and used for architectural and ornamental purposes. The color varies from white to black, being sometimes yellow, red, and green, and frequently beautifully veined or clouded. The name is also given to other rocks of like use and appearance, as serpentine or verd antique marble, and less properly to polished porphyry, granite, etc. Note: Breccia marble consists of limestone fragments cemented together. Ruin marble, when polished, shows forms resembling ruins, due to disseminated iron oxide. Shell marble contains fossil shells. Statuary marble is a pure, white, fine-grained kind, including Parian (from Paros) and Carrara marble. If coarsely granular it is called saccharoidal. 2. A thing made of, or resembling, marble, as a work of art, or record, in marble; or, in the plural, a collection of such works; as, the Arundel or Arundelian marbles; the Elgin marbles. 3. A little ball of marble, or of some other hard substance, used as a plaything by children; or, in the plural, a child's game played with marbles. Note: Marble is also much used in self-explaining compounds; when used figuratively in compounds it commonly means, hard, cold, destitute of compassion or feeling; as, marble-breasted, marble-faced, marble-hearted.
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