▪ I. marble, n.
(ˈmɑːb(ə)l)
Forms: α. 3–7 marbre, 4 maubre, 5 marbir, 6 marber, marbyr. β. 3–5 marbel, 4 merbel, -ul, 4–5 marbil, 4–6 marbyl, -ul, 5 marboll, -ole, -elle, -ylle, -ulle, -ille, merbyl, 5–6 marbill, -yll, -ull, 6 marbell, 4– marble.
[ME. marbre, marble, a. F. marbre, (OF. rarely marble, malbre by dissimilation) = Pr. marme-s, Sp. mármol, Pg. marmore, It. marmo, Romanian marmure:—L. marmor, ad. or cogn. w. Gr. µάρµαρος shining stone, marble (prob. orig. an adj. ‘sparkling’, whence µαρµαίρειν to sparkle).
The L. word was adopted early into the Teut. langs.: OE. marma (in comb. marm-), OHG. marmul (MHG., mod.G. marmel, also marmor), MDu. marmer, marmel, more commonly marber, marbel from Fr. (mod.Du. marmer marble, marmel ‘marble’ to play with), ON. marmari.]
I. The simple word.
1. a. Limestone in a crystalline (or, less strictly, also a granular) state and capable of taking a polish. There are many varieties of this stone (see b), which is much used in sculpture and architecture.
When used without qualification, the word suggests either the pure white varieties commonly employed in sculpture (hence often referred to as a type of whiteness), or those with mottled or variegated surface (cf. senses 5, 7 e).
α c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 249/315 In one toumbe of Marbre he was i-leid. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 124 A tumbe riche..Of marbre and ek of jaspre stones. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. xxv, A great bridge of stone of Marbre. a 1693 Urquhart's Rabelais iii. xxviii. 227 The most durable Marbre or Porphyr. |
β [c 1200: see marble-stone.] c 1320 Sir Beues 4609 A faire chapel of marbel fin. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 341 Of marble is þe stone, & purtreied þer he lies. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) iii. 9 All þe pilers er of marbill. 1474 Caxton Chesse 92 Also colde and harde as marbyll. 1553 Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 25 Ouer this ryuer is a very fayre bridge of marble. 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 162 All the pauement is most beautifull of ingrauen Marble. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xv, From the portico they passed a noble hall to a staircase of marble. 1857 Ruskin Pol. Econ. Art i. 46 Marble..lasts quite as long as granite, and is much softer to work. |
Proverb. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iii. ii. 50 Hee plyes her hard, and much Raine weares the Marble. |
b. With qualifying word: (
a) an
adj. denoting colour or appearance,
e.g. black marble,
fibrous marble,
green (12 d),
grey,
red (17 e),
variegated marble,
white marble; (
b) a proper name denoting the locality in which it is found,
e.g. African marble,
Carrara marble,
Derby(shire) marble,
Egyptian marble,
English marble,
Genoese marble,
Italian marble,
Kilkenny marble,
Parian,
Pentelican marble,
Portsoy marble,
Purbeck marble; (
c) applied to substances resembling or made to imitate marble, as
† brimstone marble, a preparation of brimstone in imitation of marble;
metallic marble, native sulphate of barium (
Syd. Soc. Lex. 1889). See also
breccia,
brocatello,
cipolin,
fire (B. 5),
forest (
n. 5),
landscape (
n. 5),
lumachella,
madrepore (4),
onyx (4),
ruin,
serpentine,
shell, verd antique
marble.
(a) a 1300 Cursor M. 8288 Vnder þis tre..A stapul was o marbul grai. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1035 A gate of Marbul whit. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. i, A harde slipperie rocke of black marber. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia iv. 126 No place hath more white and blew Marble than here. 1659 Howell Lex., Vocab. xxvi, The Marble gentle, viz. the whitest hard marble..Serpentine or streaked Marble [etc.]. a 1728 Woodward Fossils (1729) i. I. 21 Black Marble. |
(b) 1681 Grew Musæum iii. vi. 316 Two pieces of ægyptian Marble. Ibid., A Piece of the worst sort of Cornish Marble, used for Lime. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v., Derbyshire Marble is variously clouded and diversified with brown. a 1728 Woodward Fossils (1729) i. I. 20 The white Genoese Marble. Ibid. 25 The common white Carara marble. 1891 T. Hardy Tess (1900) 8/1 With your effigies under Purbeck-marble canopies. |
(c) 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Brimstone, Brimstone Marble, a preparation of brimstone in imitation of marble. |
c. A kind or variety of marble.
1640 Wilkins New Planet ii. (1672) 119 That this rocky Substance is a Loadstone, rather than a Jaspis, Adamant, Marble, or any other. 1813 Bakewell Introd. Geol. (1815) 87 Very beautiful marbles occur [in England] which will receive a high polish. 1879 Rutley Study Rocks iii. 20 Limestones..capable of receiving a polish are called marbles. |
d. Taken as a type of something hard, inflexible, durable, or smooth.
1586 Whitney Choice of Emblems 183 In marble harde our harmes wee alwayes graue. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. ii. iii. 144 The milke thou suck'st from her did turne to Marble. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 638 Writing all injuries in marble. 1620 Swetnam arraigned G 4 b, Can you behold this sacred Cabinet,..And not let fall a teare: you are vnkind. Not Marble but would wet at such a sight. 1812 Miss Mitford in L'Estrange Life (1870) I. vi. 219 Sir Charles Grandison..is a man of marble, or rather a man of snow. 1818 Shelley Rosal. & Helen 1252 The liquid marble of the windless lake. 1886 M. E. Braddon One Thing Needful ix, She had done all in her power to deter Clarice;..but Clarice had made up her mind to be a marchioness, and she was marble. |
e. The stone as being the material of which a tomb or tombstone is made.
poet. (
Cf. 2 b.)
1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, iii. ii. 434 When I am forgotten..And sleepe in dull cold Marble. 1757 Gray Epit. on Mrs. Jane Clerke 1 Lo! where the silent marble weeps, A friend, a wife, a mother sleeps. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. lxvi[i], Thy marble bright in dark appears. |
2. a. A piece, block, or slab of marble; a marble monument;
† a marble vessel. Also
fig.c 1290 Becket 2118 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 167 Þe point of is swerd brak In þe Marbre ato. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 5701 To a gret holw marbre was he broȝt,..Whych was wonyd beo fillid wyþ wyn. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. v. 33 The soveraine weede betwixt two marbles plaine Shee pownded small. 1644 Evelyn Dairy 22 Oct., The vacant stayrecase, marbles, statues [etc.]. 1715 Leoni Palladio's Archit. (1742) II. 62 An Inscription on a Marble. 1865 Kingsley Herew. x, The blood stained marbles of the Amphitheatre. |
† b. A marble tomb or tombstone.
Obs.c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 230 At Westmynstere he lis toumbed richely, In a marble bis of him is mad story. a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) Ii ij b, In the felde of Elinos, vnder a marble, is the pouders of Sysifo Seteno. 1640 H. Glapthorne Ladies Priviledge iv. Plays 1874 II. 141 My Ancestors, whose dust Would 'a broke through the Marbles, to revenge To me this fatall infamy. 1730 Pope Epit. Fenton 1 This modest Stone, what few vain Marbles can, May truly say, here lies an honest Man. |
c. Antiq. (
pl.) Applied, with specific qualification, to certain collections of sculptures, etc.;
e.g. Arundel marbles,
Arundelian marbles, or
Oxford marbles, a collection of sculptures and inscribed stones made by the Earl of Arundel (died 1646) and presented to the University of Oxford.
Elgin marbles, a collection (now in the British Museum) of ancient sculptures from the Parthenon, which was brought to England by Lord Elgin and sold by him to the nation in 1816.
[1624 J. Selden (title) Marmora Arundeliana.] 1667 Evelyn Diary 19 Sept., To London with Mr. Hen. Howard of Norfolk, of whom I obtain'd the gift of his Arundelian Marbles. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v., Arundel Marbles,..or the Oxford Marbles. 1817 Keats (title) On the Elgin Marbles. 1833 Penny Cycl. I. 142/1 The æginetan, added to the Athenian, and Phigaleian marbles which we possess in the British Museum, would have formed a complete specimen of Grecian sculpture, as applied to the decoration of temples. |
3. techn. [
= F.
marbre.]
a. A slab of marble used for grinding paints on;
b. A printer's imposing-stone (Knight
Dict. Mech. 1875);
c. = marver.
1671 Salmon Syn. Med. iii. 474 The reducing of any thing into a fine powder, by grynding it on a Marble. 1698 Phil. Trans. XX. 466 Which they grind upon a Marble, such as Painters use. 1745 De Coetlogon Univ. Hist. Arts & Sci. II. 3 To give it [the glass] a Polish, we roll it to and fro on a Stone, or Marble. |
4. a. [
= G.,
Du. marmel.] A little ball (varying from about ½ inch to an inch in diameter), originally made of marble, now usually of baked clay, porcelain, glass, or composition, used in a children's game; hence in
pl. the game itself. Also a similar ball (
e.g. of glass) used in other games.
In playing the game, a number of marbles are arranged in a ring (or sometimes in a row), from which the players attempt to dislodge them by ‘shooting’ a marble at them with the finger and thumb.
1694–5 J. Houghton Collect. Husb. & Trade No. 189 (1727) II. 29 The next are marbles for boys to play with. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 112 ¶3 A Game of Marbles, not unlike our modern Taw. 1792 S. Rogers Pleas. Mem. i. 142 On yon gray stone..we shot the marble thro' the ring. 1866 R. Chambers Ess. Ser. ii. 3 There was the floor on which..I had played at marbles, a pattern in the carpet serving as the ring. 1885 New Bk. Sports 301 Marbles is not the popular game it once was. |
b. Phr.
to pass in one's marble and
varr., to die, to give up.
Austral. slang.1908 Austral. Mag. 1 Nov. 1250 Instead of dying you can ‘chuck a seven’, ‘pass in your marble’, or ‘peg out’. 1918 A. Wright Over Odds 102 ‘I suppose the old pot knew y'old man before he passed in his marble,’ ventured Dick. 1924 Truth 27 Apr. 6 Throw in the marble, to relinquish. 1951 D. Stivens Jimmy Brockett 304 I'm not going to pass in my marble just yet. |
c. Phr.
to make one's marble good: to make a good impression (on a person), to ingratiate oneself, to improve one's position.
N.Z. and
Austral. slang. Quot. 1938 illustrates a similiar
S. Afr. use.
c 1926 ‘Mixer’ Transport Workers' Song Bk. 31 Some tap the boss before they join,..By this they make their marble good. 1938 A. M. Brown Let. 15 Apr. in Partridge Dict. Slang (1961) Suppl. 1179/1 A word I have heard used in the Cape [Province], mostly from people attending Rhodes University College, Grahamstown, is marble. Examples are: ‘His marble is high’—he is ‘well-in’ (with such-and-such a person). ‘He is polishing his marble with so-and-so’ = he is trying to ingratiate himself. 1944 J. H. Fullarton Troop Target iii. 26, I was making my marble good. 1947 D. M. Davin Gorse blooms Pale 206 The crowd..wanted to see if he could make his marble good with us. 1963 D. Crick Martin Place 223 Take my tip, if you wanter make your marble good: say nothing. |
† 5. a. A mottled or dappled colour resembling that of variegated marble; hence, a cloth of such a colour. (
Cf. 7 e.)
Obs.1520 Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 274 Pro xiij virg. panni lanei coloris marble. 1541–2 Act 33 Hen. VIII, c. 18 Kerseies..of the colours of black, marble, russet, and white. 1549 Act. 3 & 4 Edw. VI, c. 2 §1 Russets, Musters, Marbles, Grayes, Royes, and suche lyke colors. 1555 Richmond Wills (Surtees) 86 A yard of marble xx{supd}. 1720 Strype Stow's Surv. Lond. (1754) I. i. xxix. 297/1 In a livery of grey Marble. |
b. Bookbinding. The marbled pattern or paper used in ornamenting books.
1699 Wanley in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 277 In knowing what sort of Paper is in use,..or to please myself..with looking on the fine colors, marbles, &c. 1817 Dibdin Bibliogr. Decameron II. 532 In lieu of gilt, you may..order marble coloured edges: but gilt upon the marble—oh! 'tis the very luxury—the ‘ne plus ultra’ of the bibliopegistic art! 1823 Bookbinder's Compl. Instructor 28 Common Marble. Ibid. 29 Transparent Marble. Ibid. 30 Egyptian Marble..Purple Marble..Stone Marble. Ibid. 31 Rice Marble..Chinese Marble..Red Marble. Ibid. 32 Wainscoat Marble. |
c. (See
quots.) Also
marble crust.
1924 Tourist Winter Sports No. 12/2 Marble, a snow⁓crust formed by alternate freezing and thawing. Found on Southern slopes. 1948 P. Lunn Ski-ing Primer xviii. 90 Marble crust is so slippery that it is almost impossible to obtain a purchase on it with the skis. 1969 M. Heller Ski xiv. 185 Marble crust looks like its name and is formed by the wind. The snow is dull and extremely hard... It is very common at high altitude in early winter. |
6. pl. † a. French marbles: syphilis.
Obs. [? Corruption of F.
morbilles ‘the small pockes’ (
Cotgr.).]
a 1592 Greene Thieves falling out (1615) C 3, Looke into the Spittles, and Hospitalles, there you shall see men diseased of the French Marbles. |
† b. As
transl. of L.
marmor: A stony concretion in the joints of a horse.
Obs.1748 tr. Renatus' Distemp. Horses 190 Oftentimes in the knees or joints there arises either a Phlegmon, or Marbles, or Puffs or Wind-galls. |
c. As (false)
transl. of F.
meubles: furniture, movables, personal effects; ‘the goods’.
slang.1864 Hotten Slang Dict. 176 Marbles, furniture, movables; ‘money and marbles’, cash and personal effects. 1867 Trollope Claverings II. vi. 67 She won't get any money from me, unless I get the marbles for it. 1896 Farmer & Henley Slang IV. 280/1 Marbles,..furniture; moveables. Money and marbles = cash and effects. [From Fr. meubles]. Hence, any substantial quid pro quó. English synonyms. Belongings; household gods; lares and penates; moveables; sticks; sprats, slows; traps. 1923 J. Manchon Le Slang 190 Marbles,..des meubles (corrupt. du fran{cced}ais). 1937 Partridge Dict. Slang 509 Marbles, furniture; moveables: somewhat low..; ob[solescent]. |
d. pl. Mental faculties; brains; common sense.
slang (
orig. N. Amer.).
1927 Amer. Speech II. 360 Marbles, doesn't have all his (verb phrase), mentally deficient. ‘There goes a man who doesn't have all his marbles.’ 1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 75/1 Marbles, the brain. 1957 M. Millar Soft Talkers i. 7 She's a fattish little hausfrau with some of her marbles missing. 1958 Wodehouse Cocktail Time xvii. 148 Do men who have got all their marbles go swimming in lakes with their clothes on? 1967 M. L. Roby Cat & Mouse i. 19 He ain't right in the head. Got a few marbles missing. 1969 J. Wainwright Take-Over Men i. 8 You lost your goddam' marbles? You gone completely crazy, you nutty slob? 1973 Ottawa Jrnl. 6 Feb. 9/4 ‘I still have most of my marbles,’ he said cheerfully. 1973 R. Parkes Guardians xi. 204 Crazy bastard... I think he's blown his marbles. |
II. Attrib. and
Comb. 7. attrib. passing into adj. a. Made or consisting of marble. (For the
corresp. parasynthetic
adjs. see 8 c.) Also, like that of marble.
13.. Coer de L. 6182 He leet make a marbyl ymage. 1382 Wyclif Esther i. 6 Thei weren vnderset with marbil pileeris. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 8 Suche stately dwellinges and marble floores. 1646 Evelyn Diary (? Apr.), A marble Madona like a Colosse. 1747 H. Glasse Cookery ix. 78 Take a Quart of Almonds..and beat them in a Marble Mortar. 1852 M. Arnold Empedocles ii. 88 Her flush'd feet glow on the marble floor. |
b. White, hard, cold, or rigid like marble. (Rarely used
predicatively.) Hence in parasynthetic
adjs. marble-breasted,
marble-hearted,
marble-minded.
1591 Florio 2nd Fruites 43 P. Oh filthie..fashion of some Englishmen, to ride with these hard, straight, and little saddles. T. They are English toyes, to vse..such marble pinching sadles [Ital. queste selle marmoree]. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iii. i. 38 Her teares will pierce into a Marble heart. 1601 ― Twel. N. v. i. 127 The Marble-brested Tirant. 1605 ― Lear i. iv. 283 Ingratitude! thou Marble-hearted Fiend. 1611 ― Wint. T. v. ii. 98 Who was most Marble, there changed colour. 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. ii. 94 Her Marble-minded breast. a 1618 Sylvester Wood-mans Bear lxxv. (Grosart) II. 312 Moan I must for never was Marble-hearted Mermidon But would moan [etc.]. 1675 South 12 Serm. (1692) 570 His Marble, obdurate Heart. 1784 Unfortunate Sensibility I. 175 What is virtue? is it a certain marble-mindedness, the elder brother of insensibility. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. ii. xxxiii, That seeming marble-heart. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam vi. xxxiii, Her marble brow, and eager lips. 1818 ― Rosal. & Helen 186 His fancy on that spring would float, If some invisible breeze might stir Its marble calm. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) II. 102 Under the marble exterior of Greek literature was concealed a soul thrilling with spiritual emotion. 1927 R. Graves Poems (1914–26) 203 Not marble-hearted but your own true love. |
c. Enduring as marble, or as if carved in marble.
1596 C. Fitzgeffrey Sir F. Drake (1881) 27 Cease to eternize in your marble verse The fals of fortune-tossed Venerists. 1682 Sir T. Browne Chr. Mor. iii. §17 They write not their obligations in sandy but marble memories. |
d. poet. Smooth as marble. (
Cf. L.
marmoreum æquor.) Hence
marble-faced adj.1557–8 T. Phaer æneid vi. R iij b, All what marblefacyd seas conteines of monstrous fries. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 564 Through the pure marble Air. |
e. Of a variegated or mottled colour (
† occas. used
predicatively); marbled.
† Also, made of cloth or stuff of such a colour (see 5). Hence
marble-coloured,
marble-covered,
marble-edged adjs.c 1430 Two Cookery-bks. 29 Caste þer-to Saunderys & Safroun, & loke it be marbylle [Ashmole MS. marbely]. Ibid. 34 Take a lytyl Saunderys & a lytyl Safroun, & make it a marbyl coloure. 1539 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) VI. 91 To William Cay my marbill jacket. 1545 Ibid. 230 My marbell colered cote. 1591 Lanc. Wills III. 54, I geve Willm Cooke my marble hose. 1703 Lond. Gaz. No. 3930/4 An Almanack..with a Marble Vellum Cover. 1705 Ibid. No. 4108/3, 77 half Chests of Marble-Soap. 1808 H. More Cœlebs II. 74 Countless marble-covered octavos. 1811 Self Instructor 120, 3-thread fine marble stockings. 1817 Dibdin Bibliogr. Decameron II. 533 The peau de veau of the French, with gilt upon marble edges! 1876 Rock Text. Fabr. vii. 76 Marble silk had a weft of several colours so woven as to make the whole web look like marble. |
† f. marble colours: used
fig. by Drummond to express ostentatious splendour.
Obs.1613 Drummond of Hawthornden Cypress Grove Wks. (1711) 118 The marble colours of..funeral pomp. a 1649 ― Hist. Jas. III, ibid. 41 The marble colours of false greatness. |
8. Obvious combinations.
a. attributive (of, pertaining to, or concerned with marble), as
marble chips,
† marble grit,
marble mart,
marble-mason,
marble-mill,
marble-quarry,
marble saw; (used in the game of marbles) as
marble-ring;
b. objective, as
marble-cutter,
marble-polisher,
marble-worker;
c. parasynthetic and instrumental, as
marble-arched,
marble-built,
marble-chequered,
marble-flagged,
marble-imaged,
marble-paved,
marble-piled,
marble-pillared,
marble-ribbed,
marble-sculptured,
marble-slabbed,
marble-stoppered adjs.;
d. similative, as
marble-constant,
marble-hard,
marble-like,
marble-looking,
marble-still,
marble-tall,
marble-white adjs.;
marble-wise adv.1636 G. Sandys Paraphr. Ps. viii. 9 The *marble-arched Skie. |
1791 W. Blake French Revolution 1, in Compl. Writings (1972) 138 Shall this *marble built heaven become a clay cottage..? |
1879 F. W. Robinson Coward Consc. i. iv, Across the *marble-chequered hall. |
1926 H. Crane Let. 19 Aug. (1965) 273 Examining pebbles and cinders and *marble chips through the telescope. 1946 Happy Landings (Air Ministry) July 1/2 White stone or marble chips spread out and rolled into the macadam surface form an excellent substitute. |
1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. v. ii. 240 Now from head to foote I am *Marble constant. |
1611 Cotgr., Marbrier. A *marble-cutter. |
1889 W. B. Yeats Wanderings of Oisin 53 A *marble-flagged, pillared room. |
c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 405 With *marbul greet ygrounde & mixt with lyme. |
a 1618 Sylvester Elegy H. Parvis (Grosart) II. 328 In his stone-breast no pitie moves relenting, Rough and remorselesse, more then *marble-hard. |
1832 [R. Cattermole] Beckett, etc. 179 With all thy high and *marble-imaged line. |
1530 Palsgr. 318/1 *Marbylyke, of the coloure of marbyll. 1854 J. S. C. Abbott Napoleon (1855) I. ix. 163 He could impress a marble-like immovableness upon his features. |
1846 De Quincey Antigone Wks. 1863 VIII. 221 The unchanging expression in the *marble-looking mask. |
1818 Byron Ch. Har. iv. l, The paltry jargon of the *marble mart. |
1816 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 808 The plasterers, *marble-masons, and other artisans who use this article. |
1835 Ure Philos. Manuf. 58 Sawing comprehends every species of mill..such as..*marble-mills. |
1812 Byron Ch. Har. ii. lxii, In *marble-paved pavilion. |
1777 Warton Poems 45 What though no *marble-piled bust Adorn his desolated dust. |
1754 Armstrong Forced Marr. v. iv. Misc. (1770) II. 110 This *marble-pillar'd castle. |
1756 Burke Subl. & B. Introd., Wks. I. 113 In the question about the tables, the *marble-polisher will unquestionably determine the most accurately. |
1887 J. C. Harris Free Joe, etc. (1888) 127 To invest money in Georgia *marble-quarries. |
1820 Shelley Tower of Famine 11 Each *marble-ribbed roof. |
1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 5 The ‘I spy’, ‘halloo’, and the *marble-ring. |
1839 Ure Dict. Arts 801 The *marble saw is a thin plate of soft iron, continually supplied..with water and the sharpest sand. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 1393/1 Marble-Saw. 1890 Cent. Dict., Marble-saw,..a machine for cutting marble... Such machines will cut a block of marble into several slabs simultaneously, or can be arranged to cut out pyramidal blocks, or to shape a cylinder or a frustum of a cone. |
1844 Mrs. Browning Brown Rosary iii. xii, He knelt like a child *marble-sculptured and white. |
1864 Harper's Mag. Dec. 40/1, I..had a snug *marble-slabbed brick house. 1933 ‘R. Crompton’ William—the Rebel viii. 162 Lay his catch upon the marble-slabbed hat-stand in the hall of the inn. |
1904 W. de la Mare Henry Brocken xiii. 168 He stood, thus, *marble-still. |
1972 Country Life 30 Nov. 1481/3 The screw-topped or *marble-stoppered lemonade bottles of long ago. |
1938 Belloc Sonnets & Verse 196 The Islands have received it, *marble-tall. |
1877 A. B. Edwards Up Nile xxii. 720 The quarried cliffs of Toora, *marble-white. |
1687 Miege Fr. Eng. Dict. s.v., To marble Paper, to paint it *marble-wise with several Colours. |
1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 1393/2 *Marble-worker's Files. |
9. Special comb.:
marble bone Path. [
tr. G.
marmorknochen], (
a) (also
pl.)
= osteopetrosis; also called
marble bone(s) disease; (
b) an affected bone in a person with osteopetrosis;
† marble butterfly, ?
= marbled white;
marble cake orig. U.S., a cake made of light and dark sponge, having a mottled appearance suggestive of marble;
† marble-crab, a crab having a marbled or mottled shell;
† marble dew, some imaginary antaphrodisiac;
† marble-flint, ? flint having a mottled appearance;
marble gall, a gall made by the insect
Cynips Kollari;
marble leg, ‘the pale shining leg of
Phlegmasia dolens’ (Syd.
Soc. Lex.);
marble orchard U.S. slang, a cemetery;
marble-paper, paper coloured in imitation of marble;
marble paste, a white porcelain paste used for casts of statues (in recent Dicts.: a
transl. of F.
pâte de marbre);
marble-player,
marbles-player, one who plays the game of marbles;
marble seal,
Phoca fetida;
marble-top usu. attrib., designating a piece of furniture the top of which is covered with marble; also
marble-topped adj.;
marble town U.S. slang = marble orchard;
marble veal (
Cookery), potted veal interspersed with lumps of tongue, having a mottled surface when cut;
marble-wood, (
a) see
quot. 1753; (
b) a large East Indian tree,
Diospyros Kurzii, having a variegated wood (
Cent. Dict.); (
c) an Australian tree,
Olea paniculata, having mottled timber (Morris
Austral Eng.).
1922 Arch. Surg. V. 462 In 1921, Schultz discussed the nature of the disease of *marble bones (Albers–Schönberg). 1922 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 2 Dec. 1955/2 A patient..was found, on roentgen-ray examination, to have a pathologic fracture as the result of a rather obscure bone condition which has been termed osteosclerosis fragilis generalisata, Marmorknochen (marble bone), or Albers–Schönberg disease. 1947 Arch. Path. XLIII. 75 Marble bone disease is due to..an unknown agent which damages the bone-forming blastema at the beginning of the second period of development of each individual bone. Ibid. 73 Fractures in marble bones, for the most part, do not splinter. 1961 R. D. Baker Essent. Path. xxi. 560 In osteopetrosis (Albers–Schönberg's disease; marble bones) the bones are abnormally hard and thick, but also easily fractured. 1973 Forfar & Arneil Textbk. Paediatrics xxiii. 1525/1 (heading) Albers–Schonberg disease (osteopetrosis, marble bones disease). |
1749 B. Wilkes Eng. Moths & Butterflies 52 The Marmoris, or *Marble-Butterfly. 1796 Nemnich Polygl. Lex. Nat. Hist., Marble-butterfly. Pap. Galathea. The black-eyed Marble butterfly. Papilio Semele. |
1871 Mrs. T. J. V. Owen Illinois Cook Bk. 202 *Marble Cake... White part... Three teacupsful white sugar,..Dark part... Three teacupsful brown sugar, One teacupful molasses, [etc.]. 1878 N. A. Donnelley Lakeside Cook Bk. 29/1 Marble Cake. 1903 K. D. Wiggin Rebecca xxvi. 290 She began to stir the marble cake. 1971 M. McCarthy Birds of America 74 My husband used to like a marble cake. |
1668 Charleton Onomast. Zoicon 176 Cancer..Marmoratus sive Varius (quod testa tegitur..maculis viridibus, cæruleis, albis, nigris, cinereis..), the *Marble Crab. |
a 1621 Beaum. & Fl. Thierry & Theod. iii. i, The teares of mandrake and the *marble dew, Mixt in my draught, haue quencht my natural heate. 1633 Massinger Guardian iii. i, I would..bathe my self, night by night, in marble dew. |
1686 Phil. Trans. XVI. 27 Burnt *Marble-flint quench'd in Vinegar. |
1882 Garden 14 Oct. 334/2 The *Marble and Artichoke galls are formed from buds. |
1929 M. A. Gill Underworld Slang 8/1 *Marble orchard, cemetery. 1941 J. M. Cain Mildred Pierce 155 You'll get your names in this marble orchard soon enough. 1973 B. Broadfoot Ten Lost Years x. 110 A couple more punches and it would have been the marble orchard for him. |
1680 Lond. Gaz. No. 1566/4 Two Books..covered with *Marble Paper. 1737 Berkeley Letter Wks. 1871 IV. 247, I would have these pamphlets covered with marble paper pasted on white paper. 1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib. II. xxviii. 5 Marble papers. |
1910 A. Bennett Clayhanger i. i. 9 Six men playing the noble game of rinkers... They were celebrated *marble-players. 1955 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxiii. 7 Marble players are not imaginative as far as their terminology is concerned. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. xi. 228 Young marbles players..easily become prey to strange thoughts. Ibid., In some places marble players are addicted to charms. |
1896 J. W. Kirkaldy & E. C. Pollard tr. Boas' Text Bk. Zool. 519 The Ringed or *Marble Seal (Ph. fœtida). |
1883 Heal & Son Catal. Sept. 200/2 Hall Table,..St. Ann's *Marble Top. 1891 ‘O. Thanet’ Otto the Knight 60 [She was] a woman of property,..owning two marble-top bureaus and a sewing-machine. 1963 House & Garden Feb. 1 Marble top coffee table, 36{pp} × 15{pp}, {pstlg}38.10.0. |
1849 *Marble-topped [see longfully adv.]. 1864 Mrs. Gaskell French Life i, in Fraser's Mag. Apr. 435/2 The ‘guéridon’ (round, marble-topped table)..the one indispensable article in a French drawing-room. 1886 ‘Mark Twain’ Let. 7 Aug. (1920) 257 They never used a stove, but cooked their meals on a marble-topped table. a 1941 V. Woolf Captain's Death-bed (1950) 181 There are marble-topped tables at the corner. 1959 W. Golding Free Fall iv. 85 When we were sitting at the marble-topped table my plans began to come apart. 1971 M. Lee Dying for Fun xlii. 203 Would he have to change the décor of his flat.., those marble-topped café tables? 1975 Times 6 Sept. 1/4 The bomb..was thought to have been placed under one of the marble-topped tables in..the [hotel] lobby. |
1945 L. Shelly Jive Talk Dict. 29 *Marble town, a graveyard. 1970 C. Major Dict. Afro-Amer. Slang 80 Marble town, (1940's) a cemetery. |
1789 Farley Lond. Art Cookery ii. iii. (ed. 6) 274 *Marble veal. |
1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., *Marble Wood, a name given by the people of some parts of America to the lignum rhodium, or rose-wood, from the heart of the tree being sometimes variegated like Marble. |
▪ II. marble, v. (
ˈmɑːb(ə)l)
[f. marble n. Cf. F. marbrer.] 1. trans. To stain or colour (paper, edges of books, soap, etc.) so as to give the appearance of variegated marble.
1683 Lond. Gaz. No. 1874/4 A..strong leather Pad-saddle marbled. 1686 Plot Staffordsh. 123 Which two colours they break with a wire brush, much after the manner they doe when they marble paper. 1714 Gay Sheph. Week ii. 13 Marbled with Sage the hard'ning Cheese she press'd. 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Potage, Marbling it with very brown Veal-Gravy. 1846 Ruskin Mod. Paint. I. ii. vi. i. §19 With about as much intelligence or feeling of art as a house-painter has in marbling a wainscot. 1885 J. Payn Talk of Town II. 228 Liquids used by bookbinders in marbling covers. |
b. To make (a design) by the process of marbling.
1885 C. G. W. Lock Workshop Receipts Ser. iv. 267/1 Take..a green calf and marble a tree upon it. |
2. To make white like marble.
rare.
1791 H. Walpole Let. to Han. More 29 Sept., Mrs. Porteus's accident..may have marbled her complexion, but I am persuaded has not altered her..good-humoured countenance. 1878 B. Taylor Deukalion ii. iii. 67 Thy features, marbled by the moon. |
† 3. To pickle (fish).
Obs.[1598, 1611: see marl v.3] 1661 Rabisha Cookery Dissected 14 To Marble Sowls, Plaice, Flounders, Smelts. |