† ˈdropstone Obs.
[f. drop n. or v. + stone.]
An old popular name for stalactites and stalagmites, formed by the dropping of water.
| 1695 Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth iv. (1723) 211 The common Stalactites, Lapis Stillatitius, or Drop-stone..hanging down from the Tops and Sides of Grotto's. 1708 Phil. Trans. XXVI. 79 Stalagmites. The Drop-stone. 1762 tr. Busching's Syst. Geog. V. 211 A spacious and very humid cavern, with a variety of figures in it in dropstone. |