flint

¹

[ flint ]

noun

1. a hard stone, a form of silica resembling chalcedony but more opaque, less pure, and less lustrous.
2. a piece of this, especially as used for striking fire.
3. a chunk of this used as a primitive tool or as the core from which such a tool was struck.
4. something very hard or unyielding.
5. a small piece of metal, usually an iron alloy, used to produce a spark to ignite the fuel in a cigarette lighter.

verb (used with object)

1. to furnish with flint.

Flint

²

[ flint ]

noun

1. Austin, 1812–86, U.S. physician: founder of Bellevue and Buffalo medical colleges.
2. his son Austin, 1836–1915, U.S. physiologist and physician.
3. a city in SE Michigan.
4. Flintshire.

flint

¹

/ flɪnt /

noun

1. an impure opaque microcrystalline greyish-black form of quartz that occurs in chalk. It produces sparks when struck with steel and is used in the manufacture of pottery, flint glass, and road-construction materials. Formula: SiO 2
2. any piece of flint, esp one used as a primitive tool or for striking fire
3. a small cylindrical piece of an iron alloy, used in cigarette lighters
4. Also calledflint glasswhite flint colourless glass other than plate glass
5. See optical flint

verb

1. tr to fit or provide with a flint

Flint

²

/ flɪnt /

noun

1. a town in NE Wales, in Flintshire, on the Dee estuary. Pop: 11 936 (2001)
2. a city in SE Michigan: closure of the car production plants led to a high level of unemployment. Pop: 120 292 (2003 est)

flint

/ flĭnt /

1. A very hard, gray to black variety of chalcedony that makes sparks when it is struck with steel. It breaks with a conchoidal fracture.
2. The dark gray to black variety of chert.

Other Words From

• flintlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of flint¹

before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Middle Dutch vlint, Danish flint; plinth

Word History and Origins

Origin of flint¹

Old English; related to Old High German flins , Old Swedish flinta splinter of stone, Latin splendēre to shine

Example Sentences

Ladies all, but each with a natural flint that, with the proper friction, could set a poor sap’s life on fire.

From Salon

You have to be particular about muzzle-loading a flintlock and making sure the flint is in place.

From Salon

The ground is hard like flint and when the wind blows across the plains, dust covers the squatters and all that they carry.

From BBC

And then he added, “I have a flint.”

From Literature

Most of the clues come as pottery, flint tools and bones.

From New York Times