pumice stone
1
3.8
- noun
- /ˈpʌmɪs stoʊn/
:
piedra pómez
- The planisher smoothed away traces of the hammer's blows with a pumice stone, frequently flushing the plate with water.
- use a pumice stone
- pumice stone for my feet
Examples
-
A shelf straddling the bath contained bath oil, skin lotion, and a pumice stone.
Fiction book (1990) -
I usually get a pedicure, but if I don't, I bust out the pumice stone and paraffin and give myself a pedicure.
Blog text (17) -
Would you be a dear and hand me that pumice stone?
-
A pumice stone works well on rough heels, but I think a good scrub is so much nicer!
Blog text (17) -
All around him, naked men vigorously scrub their bodies with rough washcloths, shampoo their hair, and rub pumice stones on the bottoms of their feet.
Fiction book (1996) -
You can use a pumice stone to remove calluses and keep your feet soft.
-
After soaking my feet, I gently rubbed the pumice stone over the dry skin.
-
For the best results, try a pumice stone to exfoliate rough areas on your skin.
Synonyms
8
5.8
A light rock from a volcano full of small holes that can float and is used to smooth surfaces
How Abrasive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning of 'pumice stone' is directly compositional: it denotes a stone made of pumice. A B1 learner who knows 'pumice' and 'stone' can therefore infer the referent and typical use (abrasive/smoothing) without prior exposure; this straightforward noun+noun compounding is cross-linguistically common.
Etymology
The name pumice stone comes from pumice, a bubbly, very light rock formed when hot lava cools and holds many tiny holes so it looks like dried foam. Because the surface is rough, people used these pieces as a stone to rub away hard skin or dirt, so today pumice stone means 'a light, rough rock used for cleaning and smoothing'.