Is a rock different from a stone?

Question

And if it is, how so? I've been trying to win a debate with a friend.

Answer 1

i think a stone is a kind of rock. but im not sure.

Answer 2

SOmetimes the word stone is added as a suffix to words to describe a rock type as in sandstone, mud stone and so on.  But to (most) geologists the word stone standing by itself means a rock that has been cut, crushed or somehow prepared to be used in construction or statuary or some other use.

Answer 3

i think so..

rock:  any consolidated material consisting of more than one mineral and, sometimes, organic material, e.g. granite or limestone

stone: rock fragment: a small piece of rock of any shape

Answer 4

rock" is commonly used in reference to a large piece of rock being anything from a size that you would have difficulty lifting with one hand up to a very large boulder bigger than a house... "Rock" without the singular "a" is of course a general term for any solid natural mineral substance of any size from a sand grain to a whole planet.

"A stone" is commonly used in reference to a small rock such as a cobble or pebble o rock fragment that might easily be picked up in one hand.... "Stone" without the singular "a" in common parlance means rock in a worked or artificially altered form, such as building stone, cobble stones, dressed stone, polished stone, gem stones, mill stone, stepping stones, stone lintels, stone mullions, stone sculptures; a rolling stone gathers no moss, and stone the crows! its also a verb... to stone, to throw stones at (an unpleasant activity particularly at the receiving end)...

Glenn will correct me if I don't say it... In geological terminology "stone" denotes a particular type of rock such as sandstone, limestone, siltstone, mudstone, millstone, whinstone, brimstone, pumice stone...

Generally in nearly all cases, whichever way you view em, rocks are bigger than stones.... even "Rock" music is bigger than the "stones" one of the movements leading groups.

Answer 5

no