GRINDSTONE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Grindstone

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/grˈaɪndstˌoʊn/ Listen

noun

Grindstone n. A flat, circular stone, revolving on an axle, for grinding or sharpening tools, or shaping or smoothing objects.

To hold one's nose to the grindstone, To bring one's nose to the grindstone, to oppress one; to keep one in a condition of servitude.

To put one's nose to the grindstone

(a)

to oppress one; to cause one to work hard and steadily.

(b)

to set oneself to a long and arduous task.

To keep one's nose to the grindstone to continue at a long and arduous task; to apply oneself steadily to one's duties. "They might be ashamed, for lack of courage, to suffer the Lacedaemonians to hold their noses to the grindstone."

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Etymology of 'Grindstone'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Grindstone" Quotes from Famous Books

... were descending a lane so narrow that the gipsy van only cleared the walls of the houses on either side by three or four inches. This lane had been paved centuries ago with stones of all sizes, from a moderate grindstone to that of a football. When people had wished to build a new house, they had taken up a few stones to make a foundation; the street was a series of pitfalls filled with mud and filth, including miniature ponds of manure-coloured water. The surface appeared impassable; the projecting ...

— Cyprus, as I Saw it in 1879 • Sir Samuel W. Baker

... none, sir. Shall I call at the factory and explain your wishes about the grindstone? I will tell them I was mistaken, and that they had better have one of ...

— Catharine Furze • Mark Rutherford

... Genesee County. Uncle Martin was a farmer of fair intelligence; Ezekiel was lower in the scale than the others; was intemperate, and after losing his farm became a day-laborer. He would carry a gin-bottle into the fields, and would mow the stones as readily as he would the grass—and I had to turn the grindstone to sharpen his scythe. Uncle Edmund was a farmer and a pettifogger. Uncle William died comparatively young; he had nurseries near Rochester. Uncle Thomas was a farmer, slow and canny, with a quiet, dry humor. Aunt Hannah married Robert Avery, who drank a good deal; ...

— Our Friend John Burroughs • Clara Barrus

... grindstone ready. And Green, get the cutlasses up on deck and give them a thorough good sharpening. We may want them ...

— A Pirate of the Caribbees • Harry Collingwood

... through a grindstone that had a hole in its center. He knew very well that the shrewd farmer wanted to make use of them in order to protect his property; but it served Elmer's purpose just as well to readily agree ...

— Afloat - or, Adventures on Watery Trails • Alan Douglas

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