Rock
(Rock) n. See Roc.
Rock
(Rock), n. [OE. rocke; akin to D. rok, rokken, G. rocken, OHG. roccho, Dan. rok, Icel. rokkr.
Cf. Rocket a firework.] A distaff used in spinning; the staff or frame about which flax is arranged, and
from which the thread is drawn in spinning. Chapman.
Sad Clotho held the rocke, the whiles the thread
By grisly Lachesis was spun with pain,
That cruel Atropos
eftsoon undid.
Spenser. Rock
(Rock), n. [OF. roke, F. roche; cf. Armor. roc'h, and AS. rocc.]
1. A large concreted mass of stony material; a large fixed stone or crag. See Stone.
Come one, come all! this rock shall fly
From its firm base as soon as I.
Sir W. Scott. 2. (Geol.) Any natural deposit forming a part of the earth's crust, whether consolidated or not, including
sand, earth, clay, etc., when in natural beds.
3. That which resembles a rock in firmness; a defense; a support; a refuge.
The Lord is my rock, and my fortress.
2 Sam. xxii. 2. 4. Fig.: Anything which causes a disaster or wreck resembling the wreck of a vessel upon a rock.
5. (Zoöl.) The striped bass. See under Bass.
This word is frequently used in the formation of self- explaining compounds; as, rock-bound, rock-built,
rock-ribbed, rock-roofed, and the like.
Rock alum. [Probably so called by confusion with F. roche a rock.] Same as Roche alum. — Rock
barnacle (Zoöl.), a barnacle (Balanus balanoides) very abundant on rocks washed by tides. — Rock
bass. (Zoöl.) (a) The stripped bass. See under Bass. (b) The goggle-eye. (c) The cabrilla. Other
species are also locally called rock bass. — Rock builder (Zoöl.), any species of animal whose remains
contribute to the formation of rocks, especially the corals and Foraminifera. — Rock butter (Min.),
native alum mixed with clay and oxide of iron, usually in soft masses of a yellowish white color, occuring
in cavities and fissures in argillaceous slate. — Rock candy, a form of candy consisting of crystals
of pure sugar which are very hard, whence the name. — Rock cavy. (Zoöl.) See Moco. — Rock
cod (Zoöl.) (a) A small, often reddish or brown, variety of the cod found about rocks andledges. (b)
A California rockfish. — Rock cook. (Zoöl.) (a) A European wrasse (Centrolabrus exoletus). (b)
A rockling. — Rock cork (Min.), a variety of asbestus the fibers of which are loosely interlaced. It
resembles cork in its texture. — Rock crab (Zoöl.), any one of several species of large crabs of the
genus Cancer, as the two species of the New England coast See Illust. under Cancer. — Rock
cress (Bot.), a name of several plants of the cress kind found on rocks, as Arabis petræa, A. lyrata,
etc. — Rock crystal (Min.), limpid quartz. See Quartz, and under Crystal. — Rock dove (Zoöl.),
the rock pigeon; — called also rock doo. — Rock drill, an implement for drilling holes in rock; esp., a
machine impelled by steam or compressed air, for drilling holes for blasting, etc. — Rock duck (Zoöl.),
the harlequin duck. — Rock eel. (Zoöl.) See Gunnel. — Rock goat (Zoöl.), a wild goat, or ibex. —
Rock hopper (Zoöl.), a penguin of the genus Catarractes. See under Penguin. — Rock kangaroo.
(Zoöl.) See Kangaroo, and Petrogale. — Rock lobster (Zoöl.), any one of several species of large
spinose lobsters of the genera Panulirus and Palinurus. They have no large claws. Called also spiny
lobster, and sea crayfish. — Rock meal (Min.), a light powdery variety of calcite occuring as an efflorescence.
— Rock milk. (Min.) See Agaric mineral, under Agaric. — Rock moss, a kind of lichen; the cudbear.
See Cudbear. — Rock oil. See Petroleum. — Rock parrakeet (Zoöl.), a small Australian parrakeet
which nests in holes among the rocks of high cliffs. Its general color is yellowish olive green; a frontal
