Definition of "marble" in English

noun

1. (uncountable, petrology) A metamorphic rock of crystalline limestone.

2. (countable, games) A small ball used in games, originally of marble but now usually of glass or ceramic.

3. (in the plural, archaeology) Statues made from marble.

   • The Elgin Marbles were originally part of the temple of the Parthenon.

4. The marbling in meat.

   • The marble is graded using the Australian system.

verb

1. (transitive) To cause (something to have) the streaked or swirled appearance of certain types of marble, for example by mixing viscous ingredients incompletely, or by applying paint or other colorants unevenly.

2. (intransitive) To get or have the streaked or swirled appearance of certain types of marble, for example due to the incomplete mixing of viscous ingredients, or the uneven application of paint or other colorants.

3. (transitive) To cause meat, usually beef, pork, or lamb, to be interlaced with fat so that its appearance resembles that of marble.

   • Their flesh is soft (tender), and they throw a portion of their fat among the lean so as to marble it. The beef is of a better quality and they take on fat much easier.

4. (intransitive, of meat, especially beef) To become interlaced with fat; (of fat) to interlace through meat.

5. (by extension, figurative) To lace or be laced throughout.

adjective

1. Made of, or resembling, marble.

   • a marble mantel
   • marble paper

2. (figurative) Cold; hard; unfeeling.

   • a marble heart