flint

noun \ ˈflint \

Updated on: 19 Apr 2018

Definition of flint

1 : a massive hard dark quartz that produces a spark when struck by steel

2 : an implement of flint used in prehistoric cultures

3 a : a piece of flint

b : a material used for producing a spark; especially : an alloy (as of iron and cerium) used in lighters

4 : something resembling flint in hardness

—

flintlike

play \ˈflint-ˌlīk\ adjective

See flint defined for English-language learners

See flint defined for kids

Examples of flint in a Sentence

the flint in a cigarette lighter

Recent Examples of flint from the Web

This site, at the edge of a former lake basin, includes the oldest evidence for carpentry in Europe: large wooden platforms made from wood worked with flint tools.

— ashley strickland, CNN, "11,000 years ago, our ancestors survived abrupt climate change," 26 Mar. 2018
Bones, flints, shale beads and antler headdresses have been recovered at what would've been in the lake's edge of these former wetlands.

— ashley strickland, CNN, "11,000 years ago, our ancestors survived abrupt climate change," 26 Mar. 2018
Red-flint cornbread, baked in an iron skillet, gets its minerally sweetness from sorghum.

— pete wells, New York Times, "A Celebration of Black Southern Food, at JuneBaby in Seattle," 15 Mar. 2018
The spearheads themselves appear to have been made both with local materials, such as flint, and resources imported from hundreds of miles away.

— aristos georgiou, Newsweek, "Hundreds of 12,000-year-old Spearheads and Arrowheads Found in Peru by Archaeologists," 14 Mar. 2018
Its population consisted of agriculturalists who grew large amounts of maize, and craft specialists who made beautiful pots, shell jewelry, arrow-points, and flint clay figurines.

— sarah e. baires, Smithsonian, "White Settlers Buried the Truth About the Midwest’s Mysterious Mound Cities," 23 Feb. 2018
Artifacts include small items like turquoise and gold earrings and a golden monkey pendant found in tombs, pottery and funerary urns, a rock crystal knife and flints in the shape of scorpions.

— meg jones, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Maya exhibit featuring 300 artifacts opens at Milwaukee Public Museum," 16 Feb. 2018
The 5-in-1 whistle provides a waterproof container for matches, plus a compass, a signaling mirror, and a flint for fire starting.

— Sunset, "6 Best Kits for Disaster Preparedness," 22 Jan. 2018
His plans include making the chapel out of flint in a Saxon style with a round tower.

— alexia fernandez, PEOPLE.com, "Ed Sheeran Wants to Build His Own Chapel Ahead of His Wedding to Cherry Seaborn: Report," 1 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'flint.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

It Isn't Hard to Learn the Meaning of flint

A somewhat impure variety of quartz, flint is usually gray to brown or nearly black in color. It is very hard, producing a spark when struck with steel. Flint provided one of the main sources of tools and weapons for Stone Age people. It is used today as an abrasive agent on sandpapers and in mills that grind raw materials for the ceramic and paint industries.

Origin and Etymology of flint

Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old High German flins pebble, hard stone

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

See Words from the same year

Other Archaeology Terms

Attic, Byzantine, Paleolithic, cairn, core, horizon, neolithic, shard, stratum

Flint

biographical name \ ˈflint \

Definition of Flint

Austin: father 1812–1886 and son 1836–1915 American physicians

Flint

geographical name \ ˈflint \

Definition of Flint

1 river 265 miles (426 kilometers) long in western Georgia flowing south and southwest into Lake Seminole

2 city in southeast central Michigan north-northwest of Detroit population 102,434

3 or Flintshire play \-ˌshir, -shər\ administrative area of northeastern Wales bordering England and the Irish Sea area 169 square miles (438 square kilometers), population 152,506

FLINT Defined for English Language Learners

flint

noun

Definition of flint for English Language Learners

: a hard type of rock that produces a small piece of burning material (called a spark) when it is hit by steel
: a piece of flint
: a piece of metal used for producing a spark