pebble n : a small smooth rounded rock

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛbəl

Noun

1. A small stone
2. A rock fragment between 4 and 64 millimetres in diameter (especially a naturally rounded one)
3. A small droplet of water intentionally sprayed on the ice that cause irregularities on the surface.

Translations

• Afrikaans: spoelklippie, kiesel
• Chinese: 小卵石 (xiǎo luǎn shí)
• Czech: oblázek
• Danish: ral
• Dutch: kiezel
• Esperanto: ŝtoneto
• Estonian: veeris
• Finnish: pikkukivi
• French: caillou / galet
• German: Kieselstein
• trreq Hebrew
• Ido: stono
• trreq Indonesian
• Italian: ciottolo
• Japanese: 小石
• trreq Javanese
• Korean: 자갈 (jagal)
• Latin: calculus
• trreq Lithuanian
• trreq Malay
• trreq Norwegian
• Polish: otoczak
• Portuguese: seixo
• Russian: галька
• Spanish: guijarro
• |Thai: (grùat)
• trreq Vietnamese

Verb

1. To pave with pebbles.
2. To deposit water droplets on the ice. e.g. to pebble the ice between games.

Translations

A pebble is a clast of rock with a particle size of 4 to 64 millimeters based on the Krumbein phi scale of sedimentology. It is generally described to be larger than gravel and smaller than cobble. A rock made predominantly of pebbles is termed a conglomerate. Pebble tools are among the earliest known man-made artifacts, dating from the Palaeolithic period of human history. They have been found at Olduvai Gorge (1.85 million years ago) and at Longuopo in China (1.8 to 1.5 MYA).

A beach composed chiefly of surface pebbles is commonly termed a shingle beach, which has armoring characteristics with respect to wave erosion; moreover, this type of beach has unusual ecological niches that may provide habitat for a number of rare and endangered species.

See also

• Gravel

ace, asphalt, atom, bit, blacktop, carpet, causeway, cement, checkstone, cobblestone, concrete, dab, dole, dot, drakestone, dram, dribble, driblet, dwarf, farthing, fingerstone, flag, fleck, floor, flyspeck, fragment, gobbet, grain, granule, gravelstone, groat, hair, handful, iota, jackstone, jot, little, little bit, metal, minim, minimum, minutiae, mite, modicum, molecule, mote, nutshell, ounce, particle, pave, pebblestone, pinch, pittance, point, scruple, slingstone, smidgen, smitch, speck, spoonful, spot, tar, thimbleful, tiny bit, tittle, trifling amount, trivia, whit