SLOCKING-STONE ballot (votes due Monday the 18th)

[eLLioTT morEton]

Fictioneers!

Definitions were submitted by Eric, James, Pierre, Fran, Jean-Joseph, 
Linda, Ranjit, Judith, David, Jim, and "the" dictionary.  I have 
regularized the punctuation and capitalization a bit for that eerie 
uniformity you get in dictionaries, and randomized the order.  

Anyone can vote, whether they submitted a def or not.  One- and two-point 
votes (as well as comments, poetry, ASCII art, etc.) are due by 5 p.m. 
U.S. Eastern Standard Time, Monday, September 18.  Go to!

em
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slocking-stone -- n.  Very fine-grained metamorphic rock, typically light 
gray to tan, and used for interior decorative stonework as moldings, dado 
rails, etc.

slocking-stone -- n. The smallest of the five bones in the middle ear of 
most dolphins.

slocking-stone -- n.  A tempting, selected stone, shown to induce 
strangers to adventure in a mine.

slocking-stone -- n.  (med., inf.)  A kidney stone passed through the 
ureter but lodged in the urethra.

slocking-stone -- n.  One of a set of standard stones used in measuring a 
person, animal, or object in "stones".

slocking-stone -- n.  In the game of micklet, a stone that hits two other 
stones at once, thus branching the chain reaction.

slocking-stone -- n. (Northumberland dial.)  Pumice.

slocking-stone -- n.  A large, usually flat stone incorporated into the 
upper surface of a beaver lodge.

slocking-stone -- adv. (central U.S. slang)  Extremely.  Only used in the 
expression "He's slocking-stone cold DEAD!"

slocking-stone -- n.  A device to alert one that the pot is boiling.  
Place the flattish, concave stone (like the shape of a red blood cell, but 
about 3 inches across) in the soup, or whatever, and when the soup boils 
the stone will clatter and bang inside the pot so that you know to come 
and turn down the heat to simmer the soup.

slocking-stone -- n. (Northeast U.S. and Canada)  1. A heavy stone on a 
rope used as an improvised anchor for a small boat; hence 2. a shirker.

slocking-stone -- n.  A small boulder marking the current best distance at 
a caber toss.  "And with that excellent toss, Duff will have to roll the 
slocking-stone another two meters!"

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