"rolling stone" meaning in English

See rolling stone in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: En-au-rolling stone.ogg Forms: rolling stones [plural]
Etymology: From the proverb a rolling stone gathers no moss. Head templates: {{en-noun}} rolling stone (plural rolling stones)
  1. (idiomatic) A person who moves around a lot and never settles down; a vagrant. Tags: idiomatic Categories (topical): People Related terms: a rolling stone gathers no moss Translations (person who moves around and never settles down): скитник (skitnik) [masculine] (Bulgarian), clochard [masculine] (French), bourlingueur [masculine] (French), clocharde [feminine] (French), Rumtreiber [masculine] (German), Herumtreiber [masculine] (German), waewae kura (Maori), ludâmbulo [masculine] (Portuguese), vagabundo [masculine] (Spanish), trotamundos [feminine, masculine] (Spanish), vagabunda [feminine] (Spanish), perdedor [masculine] (Spanish), perdedora [feminine] (Spanish), bala perdida [feminine, masculine] (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-rolling_stone-en-noun-ySfH-lU7 Disambiguation of People: 71 0 29 0 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Bulgarian translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Maori translations, Terms with Portuguese translations, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 52 1 34 13 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 44 2 46 9 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 56 1 32 11 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 60 1 29 10 Disambiguation of Terms with Bulgarian translations: 59 2 31 9 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 59 2 30 10 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 58 3 30 9 Disambiguation of Terms with Maori translations: 59 2 30 9 Disambiguation of Terms with Portuguese translations: 66 2 25 7 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 64 1 26 9 Disambiguation of 'person who moves around and never settles down': 87 0 10 3
  2. (slang) A womanizer. Tags: slang
    Sense id: en-rolling_stone-en-noun-lyFdlA02
  3. (geology) A geological phenomenon where rocks move and inscribe long tracks along a smooth valley floor without animal or human intervention. Categories (topical): Geology
    Sense id: en-rolling_stone-en-noun-TO8sgNTL Categories (other): Entries with translation boxes Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 44 2 46 9 Topics: geography, geology, natural-sciences
  4. (astronomy) A meteoroid. Categories (topical): Astronomy
    Sense id: en-rolling_stone-en-noun-hS~i~7QQ Topics: astronomy, natural-sciences

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_text": "From the proverb a rolling stone gathers no moss.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "rolling stones",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "rolling stone (plural rolling stones)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "52 1 34 13",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "44 2 46 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "56 1 32 11",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "60 1 29 10",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "59 2 31 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "59 2 30 10",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "58 3 30 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "59 2 30 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Maori translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "66 2 25 7",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Portuguese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "64 1 26 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "71 0 29 0",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1892, Robert Louis Stevenson, The Beach of Falesá:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1965, Bob Dylan (lyrics and music), “Like a Rolling Stone”, in Highway 61 Revisited:",
          "text": "How does it feel\nTo be on your own\nWith no direction home\nLike a complete unknown\nLike a rolling stone?",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A person who moves around a lot and never settles down; a vagrant."
      ],
      "id": "en-rolling_stone-en-noun-ySfH-lU7",
      "links": [
        [
          "vagrant",
          "vagrant"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A person who moves around a lot and never settles down; a vagrant."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "55 0 32 13",
          "word": "a rolling stone gathers no moss"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "87 0 10 3",
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "skitnik",
          "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "скитник"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 0 10 3",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "clochard"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 0 10 3",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "bourlingueur"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 0 10 3",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "clocharde"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 0 10 3",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Rumtreiber"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 0 10 3",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Herumtreiber"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 0 10 3",
          "code": "mi",
          "lang": "Maori",
          "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
          "word": "waewae kura"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 0 10 3",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "ludâmbulo"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 0 10 3",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "vagabundo"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 0 10 3",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
          "tags": [
            "feminine",
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "trotamundos"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 0 10 3",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "vagabunda"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 0 10 3",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "perdedor"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 0 10 3",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "perdedora"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 0 10 3",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
          "tags": [
            "feminine",
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "bala perdida"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1972, Barrett Strong, Norman Whitfield (lyrics and music), “Papa Was a Rollin' Stone”:",
          "text": "Papa was a rolling stone\nWherever he laid his hat was his home\nAnd when he died, all he left us was a loan",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A womanizer."
      ],
      "id": "en-rolling_stone-en-noun-lyFdlA02",
      "links": [
        [
          "womanizer",
          "womanizer"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(slang) A womanizer."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Geology",
          "orig": "en:Geology",
          "parents": [
            "Earth sciences",
            "Sciences",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "44 2 46 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A geological phenomenon where rocks move and inscribe long tracks along a smooth valley floor without animal or human intervention."
      ],
      "id": "en-rolling_stone-en-noun-TO8sgNTL",
      "links": [
        [
          "geology",
          "geology"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(geology) A geological phenomenon where rocks move and inscribe long tracks along a smooth valley floor without animal or human intervention."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "geography",
        "geology",
        "natural-sciences"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Astronomy",
          "orig": "en:Astronomy",
          "parents": [
            "Sciences",
            "Space",
            "All topics",
            "Nature",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A meteoroid."
      ],
      "id": "en-rolling_stone-en-noun-hS~i~7QQ",
      "links": [
        [
          "astronomy",
          "astronomy"
        ],
        [
          "meteoroid",
          "meteoroid"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(astronomy) A meteoroid."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "astronomy",
        "natural-sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-rolling stone.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/1c/En-au-rolling_stone.ogg/En-au-rolling_stone.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/En-au-rolling_stone.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "rolling stone"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Maori translations",
    "Terms with Portuguese translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations",
    "en:People"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From the proverb a rolling stone gathers no moss.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "rolling stones",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "rolling stone (plural rolling stones)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "a rolling stone gathers no moss"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1892, Robert Louis Stevenson, The Beach of Falesá:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1965, Bob Dylan (lyrics and music), “Like a Rolling Stone”, in Highway 61 Revisited:",
          "text": "How does it feel\nTo be on your own\nWith no direction home\nLike a complete unknown\nLike a rolling stone?",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A person who moves around a lot and never settles down; a vagrant."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "vagrant",
          "vagrant"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A person who moves around a lot and never settles down; a vagrant."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English slang",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1972, Barrett Strong, Norman Whitfield (lyrics and music), “Papa Was a Rollin' Stone”:",
          "text": "Papa was a rolling stone\nWherever he laid his hat was his home\nAnd when he died, all he left us was a loan",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A womanizer."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "womanizer",
          "womanizer"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(slang) A womanizer."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "en:Geology"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A geological phenomenon where rocks move and inscribe long tracks along a smooth valley floor without animal or human intervention."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "geology",
          "geology"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(geology) A geological phenomenon where rocks move and inscribe long tracks along a smooth valley floor without animal or human intervention."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "geography",
        "geology",
        "natural-sciences"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "en:Astronomy"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A meteoroid."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "astronomy",
          "astronomy"
        ],
        [
          "meteoroid",
          "meteoroid"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(astronomy) A meteoroid."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "astronomy",
        "natural-sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-rolling stone.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/1c/En-au-rolling_stone.ogg/En-au-rolling_stone.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/En-au-rolling_stone.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "skitnik",
      "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "скитник"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "clochard"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "bourlingueur"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "clocharde"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Rumtreiber"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Herumtreiber"
    },
    {
      "code": "mi",
      "lang": "Maori",
      "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
      "word": "waewae kura"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "ludâmbulo"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "vagabundo"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
      "tags": [
        "feminine",
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "trotamundos"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "vagabunda"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "perdedor"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "perdedora"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "person who moves around and never settles down",
      "tags": [
        "feminine",
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "bala perdida"
    }
  ],
  "word": "rolling stone"
}

Download raw JSONL data for rolling stone meaning in English (4.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (f889f65 and 8fbd9e8). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.