Gneiss

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Gneiss \Gneiss\ (n[imac]s), n. [G.] (Geol.)
     A crystalline rock, consisting, like granite, of quartz,
     feldspar, and mica, but having these materials, especially
     the mica, arranged in planes, so that it breaks rather easily
     into coarse slabs or flags. Hornblende sometimes takes the
     place of the mica, and it is then called {hornblendic gneiss}


     or {syenitic gneiss}. Similar varieties of related rocks are
     also called gneiss.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  gneiss
       n : a laminated metamorphic rock similar to granite

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  40 Moby Thesaurus words for "gneiss":
     aa, abyssal rock, basalt, bedrock, block lava, brash, breccia,
     conglomerate, crag, druid stone, festooned pahoehoe, granite,
     igneous rock, lava, limestone, living rock, magma, mantlerock,
     metamorphic rock, monolith, pahoehoe, pillow lava, porphyry,
     pudding stone, regolith, rock, ropy lava, rubble, rubblestone,
     sandstone, sarsen, schist, scoria, scree, sedimentary rock,
     shelly pahoehoe, stone, talus, tufa, tuff