rolling stone

See also: Rolling Stone

English

Etymology

From the proverb a rolling stone gathers no moss.

Pronunciation

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Noun

rolling stone (plural rolling stones)

1. (idiomatic) A person who moves around a lot and never settles down; a vagrant.
   • 1892, Robert Louis Stevenson, The Beach of Falesá:

     Before that they had been a good deal on the move, trekking about after the white man, who was one of those rolling stones that keep going round after a soft job.

   • 1965, Bob Dylan (lyrics and music), “Like a Rolling Stone”, in Highway 61 Revisited:

     How does it feel
     To be on your own
     With no direction home
     Like a complete unknown
     Like a rolling stone?

2. (slang) A womanizer.
   • 1972, Barrett Strong, Norman Whitfield (lyrics and music), “Papa Was a Rollin' Stone”:

     Papa was a rolling stone
     Wherever he laid his hat was his home
     And when he died, all he left us was a loan

3. (geology) A geological phenomenon where rocks move and inscribe long tracks along a smooth valley floor without animal or human intervention.
4. (astronomy) A meteoroid.

Related terms

• a rolling stone gathers no moss

Translations

person who moves around and never settles down

• Bulgarian: скитник (bg) m (skitnik)
• French: clochard (fr) m, bourlingueur (fr) m, clocharde (fr) f
• German: Rumtreiber m, Herumtreiber (de) m
• Maori: waewae kura
• Portuguese: ludâmbulo m
• Spanish: vagabundo (es) m, trotamundos (es) m or f, vagabunda (es) f, perdedor (es) m, perdedora (es) f, bala perdida m or f

womanizer — see womanizer