pl. [L., pl. of lapillus, dim. of lapis stone. In the specific sense orig. the plural of It. LAPILLO.] Small stones or pebbles; now only spec. of the fragments of stone ejected from volcanoes.
1747. Gentl. Mag., 523. Most of their lapilli are a fluor of the stalactite kind.
1833. Lyell, Princ. Geol., III. Gloss., Lapilli, small volcanic cinders.
1858. Geikie, Hist. Boulder, xii. 237. Ashes and lapilli, ejected from some submarine orifice.
1875. Lyell, Princ. Geol., II. II. xxvi. 18. Ashes and lapilli of the size of nuts [were projected] as far as 40 miles.
1883. R. A. Proctor, in Contemp. Rev., Oct., 567. A heavy rain of cinders and lapilli.
Hence Lapilliform a., pebble-shaped.
1836–9. Todd, Cycl. Anat., II. 537/1. A small pouch containing … a lapilliform body.
