Dictionary
Find
in
Dictionary
Thesaurus
Translations

Click to move up the list of words
peasouper
peat
peat bog
peat moss
peat reek
peatland
peau de soie
peavey
pebble
pebbledash
pébrine
pec
pecan
peccadillo
peccant
peccary
peccavi
Click to move down the list of words
Print Preview
See pronunciation key
Search for "pebble" in all of MSN Encarta
E-mail this entry
Blog about this entry on MSN Spaces
Download the MSN Encarta Right-Click Dictionary

pebble

peb·ble [ pébb'l ]


noun  (plural peb·bles)
Definition:
 
1. small round stone: a small rounded stone that has been worn smooth by erosion

2. geology rock fragment: a rock fragment with a diameter between 4 mm (0.16 in.) and 64 mm (2.51 in)

3. geology quartz used for lenses: a colorless form of quartz rock crystal used for making lenses

4. optics crystal lens: a lens made from colorless rock crystal

5. textiles irregular surface: a rough grainy surface, especially on leather



adjective 
Definition:
 
thick and distorting: being or containing lenses that make the eyes of the wearer seem very large and distorted ( informal )
wearing thick pebble glasses



transitive verb  (past and past participle peb·bled, present participle peb·bling, 3rd person present singular peb·bles)
Definition:
 
1. cover something with pebbles: to cover or pave something with pebbles

2. give irregular surface to something: to give a rough grainy surface to something

[ Old English papolstān, origin ?]

peb·bly adjective
Advertisement

Also on Encarta
Englishtown: Learn English online
Our Partners
Also on MSN
Encarta Message Boards (© Rubberball/Jupiterimages)
MSN Shopping
Encarta RSS Feeds
© 2008 Microsoft