mudstone

American

[muhd-stohn] / ˈmʌdˌstoʊn /

noun

Geology.

a clayey rock with the texture and composition of shale but little or no lamination.

mudstone British

/ ˈmʌdˌstəʊn /

noun

a dark grey clay rock similar to shale but with the lamination less well developed

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

mudstone Scientific

/ mŭd′stōn′ /

A fine-grained, dark gray sedimentary rock consisting primarily of compacted and hardened silt and clay, similar to shale but without laminations. The proportions of silt and clay in mudstone are approximately equal.

Etymology

Origin of mudstone

First recorded in 1730–40; mud + stone

Compare meaning

How does mudstone compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

mudstone vs. shale

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.

The rock that contained these compounds is an ancient mudstone located in Gale Crater.

From Science Daily

Mudstone forms from fine grained sediment that once settled in water, suggesting the area may have hosted lakes billions of years ago.

From Science Daily

Known as North America's most fertile source of dinosaur fossils, it contains massive deposits of mudstone, sandstone, and limestone from ancient rivers and floodplains.

From Science Daily

They are about 3.5bn years old and are a type of rock called mudstone, which is fine-grained rock formed from clays.

From BBC

The specimen, which Dr. Glasspool discovered in a mudstone from southern Wales, is one of many pieces of ancient charcoal that have been studied in recent years to explore how fires burned in the past.

From New York Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023