marble — English Dictionary

marble
Pronunciations (8)
  • /ˈmɑː.bəl/
    Pronunciation notes
    • Received-Pronunciation
  • [ˈmɑː.bəl]
    Pronunciation notes
    • Received-Pronunciation
  • [ˈmɑː.bl̩]
    Pronunciation notes
    • Received-Pronunciation
  • /ˈmɑɹ.bəl/
    Pronunciation notes
    • General-American
  • [ˈmɑɹ.bəl]
    Pronunciation notes
    • General-American
  • [ˈmɑɹ.bl̩]
    Pronunciation notes
    • General-American
  • ˈmɑːbəl
    Pronunciation notes
    • GB
  • ˈmɑɹbəl
    Pronunciation notes
    • US

Noun

  1. A metamorphic rock of crystalline limestone.

    Usage
    • Uncountable
    Examples

    Open thy marble jaws, O tomb / And hide me, earth, in thy dark womb.

  2. A small ball used in games, originally of marble but now usually of glass or ceramic.

    Usage
    • Countable
  3. Statues made from marble.

    Usage
    • Countable
    • in-plural
    • Uncountable
    Examples

    The Elgin Marbles were originally part of the temple of the Parthenon.

    More examples (1)

    [I]t was a portrait of the Library, though not strictly correct as to its contents, since all the best of the marbles displayed in various parts of the house were brought into the painting by the artist, who made it up into a picturesque composition according to his own taste.

  4. The marbling in meat.

    Usage
    • Countable
    • Uncountable
    Examples

    The marble is graded using the Australian system.

Verb

  1. To cause (something to have) the streaked or swirled appearance of certain types of marble, for example by mixing viscous ingredients incompletely, or by applying paint or other colorants unevenly.

    Usage
    • Transitive
    Synonyms
    Examples
    More examples (1)

    The small clouds which chequered the sky, as they passed along, spread their flitting shadows on the distant mountains, and seemed to marble them; a beauty which I do not recollect has struck any painter.

    In the operation of marbling the edges of the books, [...]

  2. To get or have the streaked or swirled appearance of certain types of marble, for example due to the incomplete mixing of viscous ingredients, or the uneven application of paint or other colorants.

    Usage
    • Intransitive
    Examples
    More examples (1)

    Scent the entire batch and then color half with the blue colorant. Pour both parts back into your soap pot. Do not stir. Pour in a circular motion into a block mold. The pouring action will cause the soap to marble.

  3. To cause meat, usually beef, pork, or lamb, to be interlaced with fat so that its appearance resembles that of marble.

    Usage
    • Transitive
    Synonyms
    Examples
    More examples (3)

    Their flesh is soft (tender), and they throw a portion of their fat among the lean so as to marble it. The beef is of a better quality and they take on fat much easier.

    The Merino sheep is likely to put his weight largely into tallow around the stomach, intestines and on his kidneys, instead of mixing fairly with the meat, instead of marbling the meat.

    Either by forcing the lardoon out with a plunger, by pushing it with a knife point, or by trailing it behind the needle, the cook artificially marbles the meat. For French cooks intent on larding, traditionally, the choice fat was the lard gras (pork fat).

  4. To become interlaced with fat; (of fat) to interlace through meat.

    Usage
    • Intransitive
    • of meat
    Examples

    We've gone mostly to black bulls — Angus bulls because today the packers like black cattle. They seem to marble better.

    As we feed these cattle corn their meat marbles. By marbling, I mean the red meat cells are surrounded with fat

    More examples (2)

    ... claims probably stem from people having eaten beef from older, thinner animals which had rarely had enough excess energy in their diet to cause the meat to marble.

    The exercising of the cattle causes the fat to marble right through the animal — and much of the flavour is found in the fat.

  5. To lace or be laced throughout.

    Usage
    • broadly
    • Figurative
    Examples

    Was he the reason for the bitterness that seemed to marble her character?

    More examples (1)

    'Nobody who has been to war ever talks about it,' he says. But then he does talk, and generously, mining his memory and following the vein of a life marbled with experience: 'I mean, I am in my nineties; […]'

Adjective

  1. Made of, or resembling, marble.

    Examples

    a marble mantel

    marble paper

  2. Cold; hard; unfeeling.

    Usage
    • Figurative
    Examples

    a marble heart

Noun

  1. a hard crystalline metamorphic rock that takes a high polish; used for sculpture and as building material

    Broader terms
  2. a small ball of glass that is used in various games

    Broader terms
  3. a sculpture carved from marble

    Broader terms

Verb

  1. paint or stain like marble

    Broader terms
    Examples

    marble paper

Word forms
marblesmarblesmarblingmarbledmarbledmore marblemost marble

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