[CURLING vbl. sb.1 2.] The stone with which the game of curling is played.
It was in the 17th c. a quoit-like natural stone (channel-stone) of from 5 to 20 lbs., with hollows made for the thumb and fingers; in the 18th c. a heavy natural boulder of 50 to 120 lbs., with smooth base having an iron or wooden handle inserted; it is now a cheese-shaped stone of not more than 36 inches in circumference, or 50 pounds weight, with an iron handle on the upper surface.
1620. H. Adamson, Muses Threnodie (1638), Inventorie p. x. His hats, his hoods, his bels, his bones, His allay bowles, and curling stones.
1891. Barrie, Little Minister, I. xi. 188. I could hear the roar of curling stones at Bathie-bog.
