millstone
pronunciation
How to pronounce millstone in British English:
UK [ˈmɪlstəʊn]
How to pronounce millstone in American English:
US [ˈmɪlstoʊn]
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- Noun:
- (figurative) something that hinders or handicaps
- any load that is difficult to carry
- one of a pair of heavy flat disk-shaped stones that are rotated against one another to grind the grain
Word Origin
- millstone (n.)
- Old English mylenstan, from mill (n.1) + stone (n.). Figurative sense of "a burden" (1720) is from Matt. xviii:6.
Example
- 1. Health care for company pensioners , long a millstone , was transferred to union-run trusts .
- 2. A golden bird takes wing with a chain in one claw , red slippers in the other , and a millstone round its neck .
- 3. In the meantime , canada 's erstwhile geographical advantage is , for now , its millstone .
- 4. That bank loan had become a real millstone around my neck .
- 5. The job had been a millstone around her neck .