flint

views updated Jun 27 2018

flint / flint/ • n. a hard gray rock consisting of nearly pure chert, occurring chiefly as nodules in chalk. ∎  a piece of this stone, esp. as flaked or ground in ancient times to form a tool or weapon. ∎  a piece of flint used with steel to produce an igniting spark, e.g., in a flintlock gun, or (in modern use) a piece of an alloy used similarly, esp. in a cigarette lighter. ∎  used to express how hard and unyielding something or someone is: mean faces with eyes like flints.

flint

views updated May 18 2018

flint Granular variety of quartz (SiO2) of a fine crystalline structure. It is usually brown or dark grey, although the variety known as chert is a paler grey. It occurs in rounded nodules and is found in chalk or other sedimentary rocks containing calcium carbonate. Of great importance to early humans during the Stone Age, flint flakes when struck a glancing blow, leaving sharp edges appropriate for tools and weapons; two flints struck together produce a spark which can be used to make fire.

flint

views updated May 08 2018

flint (silex) Variety of chert, which occurs commonly as nodules and bands in chalk. It is deposited in the porous, permeable structures of sponge, diatom, and echinoid skeletons and also in burrows.

flint

views updated Jun 08 2018

flint. Hard steely-grey stone occurring in nodules of a varying size, usually covered with a white encrustation. It is used for building in combination with brick or stone dressings. It is easily split, or knapped, and is used in flush-work with freestone dressings.

Bibliography

S. Hart (2000)

Flint

views updated May 23 2018

Flint / flint/ an industrial city in southeastern Michigan, an auto industry center since the Buick Company was established there in 1903; pop. 124,943.

flint

views updated May 23 2018

flint OE. flint = MDu. vlint, rel. to OHG. (G. dial.) flins; perh. rel. to Gr. plinthos tile (see PLINTH).