boulder
1 Americannoun
noun
noun
-
a smooth rounded mass of rock that has a diameter greater than 25cm and that has been shaped by erosion and transported by ice or water from its original position
-
geology a rock fragment with a diameter greater than 256 mm and thus bigger than a cobble
Other Word Forms
- bouldered adjective
- bouldery adjective
Etymology
Origin of boulder
1610–20; short for boulder stone; Middle English bulderston < Scandinavian; compare dialectal Swedish bullersten big stone (in a stream), equivalent to buller rumbling noise (< Old Swedish bulder ) + sten stone
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“I would climb mountains and traverse dangerous cliff paths. I would poke my head into dark caves and push over heavy boulders.”
From Literature
"They left my yard just a mud pile with all the boulders and rocks that they dug up from around the house," Hines said.
From BBC
In her first picture, she stood in a one-piece on a boulder, smiling, a waterfall pummeling behind her.
From Los Angeles Times
A few miles upriver, at Lock 10 on the old canal, workers were busy removing boulders so they could eventually reach the damaged pipe.
The door began moving, slowly this time, like it was an ancient boulder covered with a thousand years of moss.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
