noun
- a soft sandstone used for scrubbing the wooden decks of ships
Usage: nautical
verb
- to scrub (a ship’s deck) with a holystone
Usage: nautical
Examples
- The sailors used a holystone to clean the deck every morning.
- The captain ordered the crew to holystone the entire deck before inspection.
- A holystone was essential equipment on every sailing vessel.
- They would holystone the planks until they were spotless.
- The rough surface of the holystone removed stains from the wood.
- Holystoning was backbreaking work that kept sailors busy for hours.