Definition of Pumice

1. Noun. A light glass formed on the surface of some lavas; used as an abrasive.

Exact synonyms: Pumice Stone
Generic synonyms: Rock, Stone

2. Verb. Rub with pumice, in order to clean or to smoothen.
Generic synonyms: Rub

Definition of Pumice

1. n. A very light porous volcanic scoria, usually of a gray color, the pores of which are capillary and parallel, giving it a fibrous structure. It is supposed to be produced by the disengagement of watery vapor without liquid or plastic lava. It is much used, esp. in the form of powder, for smoothing and polishing. Called also pumice stone.

Definition of Pumice

1. Noun. A light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock, formed during explosive volcanic eruptions when liquid lava is ejected into the air as a froth containing masses of gas bubbles. As the lava solidifies, the bubbles are frozen into the rock. ¹

2. Verb. (transitive) To abrade or roughen with pumice. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Pumice

1. to polish with a porous volcanic rock [v -ICED, -ICING, -ICES]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Pumice

pulvinic acid
pulvinoid
pulvinus
pulwar
pulwars
puly
puma
pumalike
pumas
pumelo
pumelos
pumicate
pumicated
pumicates
pumicating
pumice (current term)
pumice stone
pumice stones
pumiced
pumicelike
pumiceous
pumicer
pumicers
pumices
pumiciform
pumicing
pumicite
pumicites
pumie
pumies

Literary usage of Pumice

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Natural History of Pliny by Pliny, John Bostock, Henry Thomas Riley (1857)
"And here, too, I must not omit to give some account of pumice.96 This name is ... But the genuine pumice-stones, that are in use for imparting smoothness to ..."

2. Economic Geology: With Special Reference to the United States by Heinrich Ries (1910)
"pumice and Volcanic Ash. — The term " pumice," as used in the geological sense, refers to the light spongy pieces of lava, whose peculiar texture is due to ..."

3. Economic Geology: With Special Reference to the United States by Heinrich Ries (1910)
"pumice and Volcanic Ash. — The term " pumice," as used in the geological sense, refers to the light spongy pieces of lava, whose peculiar texture is due to ..."

4. Geological Magazine by Henry Woodward (1889)
"The pumice often compact from calcareous infiltration . ... 0'60 (16) Same, but with many fine ash bands and more compact 0-60 (15) pumice and lapillo 1-80 ..."

5. The Eruption of Krakatoa: And Subsequent Phenomena by John Wesley Judd, Richard Strachey, William James Lloyd Wharton, Frederick John Evans, Francis Albert Rollo Russell, Douglas Archibald, George Mathews Whipple (1888)
"I have examined the various statements as to the meeting of pumice in the Indian ... With the exception of the masses of floating pumice, often bearing ..."

6. New Zealand Official Yearbook by New Zealand Dept. of Statistics (1900)
"On reaching the Tauranga River, near its inlet to the lake, the pumice-formation begins to be of importance, and beyond this point to the north-east and ..."

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