Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

rock hound

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.42 in modern English

Syllables
rock- hound
IPA
19
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A person who collects rocks and minerals from the natural environment as a hobby.

Etymology

In use by 1910s (see Citations). Originally a playful term for geologists employed in the early days of the oil industry - other similar names included "sand smeller", "oil witch", "wrinkle chaser", "pebble pup". The intended parallel being the likeness of a geologist sniffing out - like a hound - something of value among the rocks. Term popularized perhaps by a 1921 story published in Cosmopolitan titled The Rockhound.

Inflected Forms

rock hounds (plural)

Derived Forms

rockhounding

Questions

What does rock hound mean?
A person who collects rocks and minerals from the natural environment as a hobby.
Where does rock hound come from?
In use by 1910s (see Citations). Originally a playful term for geologists employed in the early days of the oil industry - other similar names included "sand smeller", "oil witch", "wrinkle chaser", "pebble pup". The intended parallel being the likeness of a geologist sniffing out - like a hound - something of value among the rocks. Term popularized perhaps by a 1921 story published in Cosmopolitan titled The Rockhound.

How to pronounce rock hound

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “rock hound”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “rock hound”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “rock hound” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.