millstone

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | 2006 | 588 words | Copyright

millstone each of two circular stones used for grinding corn; often with reference to Matthew 18:6 ‘whoso shall offend one of these little ones…it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.’
a millstone round one's neck in figurative use, a heavy and inescapable responsibility; also referring to a method of executing people by throwing them into deep water with a heavy stone attached to them, a fate believed to have been suffered by several early Christian martyrs.

See also nether millstone.

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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "millstone." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "millstone." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-millstone.html

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "millstone." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-millstone.html

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