millstone

Noun

1. A large round stone used for grinding grain.
   • As it is the circular Motion of the Mill-ſtone which brings the Corn out of the Hopper by Jerks, and with a Velocity depending upon that of the Stone, other Grains are always ſucceeding, which raiſe it anew, and the...
   • The reason why a mill-stone signifies confirmation from the Word in both senses, is, because wheat signifies good, and fine flour the truth thereof, hence by a mill-stone, by which wheat is ground into fine flour, or...
   • We can tell what Australopithecines ate from the remains of their jaws and teeth. The earliest finds show teeth which are large and round like millstones – acting as grinding and pulverizing machines for fibrous...
2. A coarse-grained sandstone used for making such stones; millstone grit.
   • In North America the millstone grit, and a grey sandy and slaty rock beneath it, occur three times; and it is exceedingly difficult to distinguish these rocks in hand specimens, without the aid of organized remains. And...
   • From the above account it will be seen how closely the Millstone Grit and the Lower Coal Measures are like one another in their lithological character. Each is a group of thick sandstones parted by shales, and in each...
3. Ellipsis of millstone around one's neck, a heavy responsibility that is difficult to bear (referring to Matthew 18:6 in the Bible).
   • Paying the mortgage every month is a millstone round their necks.
   • [H]owever great and powerful England may be, the strain of such entanglements cannot but tell on her, and one day she may find herself in a predicament in which India may simply hang as a mill-stone round her neck. -...
   • Furthermore, Colonel [Josiah Clement] Wedgwood was dead against special representation being given to landlords or even to universities. "Let India beware," he declared, "of the expansion of communal representation...