rock
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A formation of minerals.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
rahkIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɹɑk
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A formation of minerals, specifically
uncountable
The naturally occurring aggregate of solid mineral matter that constitutes a significant part of the earth's crust.
A mass of stone projecting out of the ground or water.
chiefly ukireland
A boulder or large stone; or (US, Canada) a smaller stone; a pebble.
A large hill or island having no vegetation.
A lump or cube of ice.
verb
Move back and forth or sideways
Cause to move back and forth
transitive and intransitive
To move gently back and forth.
transitive and intransitiveof ore etc.
To be washed and panned in a cradle or in a rocker.
transitive
To cause to shake or sway violently.
intransitive
To sway or tilt violently back and forth.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The naturally occurring aggregate of solid mineral matter that constitutes a significant part of the earth's crust.
Used this way, rock is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It suits considered writing and prepared speech.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Formal and precise
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use rock
- “He threw a rock at me.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
An attendant who rocks a child in a cradle.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Causing or characterized by jolts and irregular movements.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A performance of rock music.
The sport or pastime of scaling rock masses on mountain sides (especially with the help of ropes and special equipment).
Gold and black butterflyfish found from West Indies to Brazil.
A climber of vertical rock faces.
Hard bright-colored stick candy (typically flavored with peppermint).
A kind of sea bass.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
The lean flesh of any of various valuable market fish caught among rocks.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: move back and forth or sideways
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.