[mahr-buhl] Pronunciation Key noun, adjective, verb, -bled, -bling. | 1. | 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
] —Related forms
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
| mar·ble
(mär'bəl) Pronunciation Key
n.
tr.v. mar·bled, mar·bling, mar·bles To mottle and streak (paper, for example) with colors and veins in imitation of marble. adj.
[Middle English, from Old French marbre, from Latin marmor, from Greek marmaros.] mar'bly adj. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
marble
| marble | |
noun | |
| 1. | a hard crystalline metamorphic rock that takes a high polish; used for sculpture and as building material |
| 2. | a small ball of glass that is used in various games |
| 3. | a sculpture carved from marble |
verb | |
| 1. | paint or stain like marble; "marble paper" |
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
| marble
(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.
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Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Marble Canyon, AZ Zip code(s): 86036
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)
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.
Marble
Mar"ble\, a. 1. Made of, or resembling, marble; as, a marble mantel; marble paper. 2. Cold; hard; unfeeling; as, a marble breast or heart.
Marble
Mar"ble\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Marbled; p. pr. & vb. n. Marbling.] [Cf. F. marbrer. See Marble, n.] To stain or vein like marble; to variegate in color; as, to marble the edges of a book, or the surface of paper.
Marble
as a mineral, consists of carbonate of lime, its texture varying from the highly crystalline to the compact. In Esther 1:6 there are four Hebrew words which are rendered marble:, (1.) Shesh, "pillars of marble." But this word probably designates dark-blue limestone rather than marble. (2.) Dar, some regard as Parian marble. It is here rendered "white marble." But nothing is certainly known of it. (3.) Bahat, "red marble," probably the verd-antique or half-porphyry of Egypt. (4.) Sohareth, "black marble," probably some spotted variety of marble. "The marble pillars and tesserae of various colours of the palace at Susa came doubtless from Persia itself, where marble of various colours is found, especially in the province of Hamadan Susiana." The marble of Solomon's architectural works may have been limestone from near Jerusalem, or from Lebanon, or possibly white marble from Arabia. Herod employed Parian marble in the temple, and marble columns still exist in great abundance at Jerusalem.
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