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# stony

adjective (stony, stonier, stoniest)

«stony» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Stony means full of stones or covered with stones. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stony/#m1)
2. Stony means hard like stone. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stony/#m2)
3. A stony look, face or silence is cold and shows no kind feeling. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stony/#m3)

### In the lessons

In geography and nature lessons it describes ground, beaches and paths: «a stony beach», «stony soil». In stories a «stony stare» or «stony silence» tells the reader a person is angry, cold or unforgiving. Phrases: «stony ground», «stony silence», «stony-faced», «fall on stony ground» (an idea nobody accepts).

### Examples

- We walked along the stony beach in our sandals. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stony/#x1)
- The farmer could not grow much in the stony field. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stony/#x2)
- The path up the hill was steep and stony. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stony/#x3)
- Mum gave me a stony look when I came home late. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stony/#x4)
- There was a stony silence after the teacher asked who broke the window. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stony/#x5)
- The headteacher listened stony-faced. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stony/#x6)
- My idea fell on stony ground; nobody liked it. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stony/#x7)
- Plants with long roots can live in stony soil. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stony/#x8)
- While the donkeys galloped along the stony road, the Marionette fancied he heard a very quiet voice whispering to him: [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stony/#x9)

### Note

Spelled with -y after «stone» minus «e»: stone → stony (not «stoney», though that spelling is sometimes seen). Comparative stonier, superlative stoniest. «Stony» about a face is not about real stone; it is a figure of speech. «Stone-cold» and «stony broke» (UK, informal: with no money at all) are related phrases.

## In Jewish tradition

"Stony heart" means a hard, stubborn heart that cannot feel or obey God.

**Interpretation.** Tradition reads this as a promise that God will one day give Israel a soft, willing heart. Then people will want to keep his laws.

### Examples

- And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh; (Prophets EZK.11.19, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/stony/#x1)
- A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. (Prophets EZK.36.26, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/stony/#x2)

### Note

Spelled with -y after «stone» minus «e»: stone → stony (not «stoney», though that spelling is sometimes seen). Comparative stonier, superlative stoniest. «Stony» about a face is not about real stone; it is a figure of speech. «Stone-cold» and «stony broke» (UK, informal: with no money at all) are related phrases.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «stony» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stony/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«stony» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/stony.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of «stony» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/stony/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«stony» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/stony.html) on Mova free.