Pumice

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpÊŒmɪs/

Origin

From Latin pūmex ("pumice stone").

Noun

1. A light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock, formed during explosive volcanic eruptions when liquid lava is ejected into the air as a froth containing masses of gas bubbles. As the lava solidifies, the bubbles are frozen into the rock.
• 1912, Katherine Mansfield, The Woman at the Store, Oxford World's Classics 2002, page 10The wind blew close to the ground - it rooted among the tussock grass - slithered along the road, so that the white pumice dust swirled in our faces - settled and sifted over us and was like a dry-skin itching for growth on our bodies.

Full definition of pumice

Verb

1. (transitive) To abrade or roughen with pumice.