ˈwall-stone
A stone for building; a stone forming part of a wall. Also, in generalized sense, masonry; stone suitable for building; spec. see quot. 1870. Also fig.
| a 1000 Crist 2 (Gr.) Ðu eart se weallstan, þe ða wyrhtan in wiðwurpon to weorce. a 1000 Ruin 1 (Gr.) Wrætlic is þæs weal stan. 1610 R. Vaughan Water-Workes K 2 b, Hauing..Wall-stone, Tyle, Lime, and Bricke, as necessary as any man liuing. 1639 Burgh Rec. Glasgow (1876) I. 403 Thair is licence grantit to Sir Robert Dowglas to gett ane hundrethe kairtis of wall stones out of the townes quarrell. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xvii, For a' the folk I see here are as hard as the wa' stanes. 1837 Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 72/1 Below the rag is the block stone, [used] for common walls, and usually called wall stone. 1870 Greenwell in Jrnl. Ethnol. Soc. (N.S.) II. 423 This [stratum of flint] is called by the present flint-workers the ‘wall-stone’, from its being used for building purposes. |
| attrib. 1837 Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 72/1 The block, or wall-stone seam, is in this quarry about 10 or 11 feet thick. Ibid., In Yorkshire the workmen calculate all wall-stone work by the rod of 7 yards. |