chockstone
English
editEtymology
editFrom chock + stone. The climbing sense derives from the wedges' use as artificial chockstones.
Pronunciation
edit- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈtʃɒkstəʊn/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /ˈt͡ʃɑkstoʊn/
Noun
editchockstone (plural chockstones)
- A stone, ranging in size from a boulder to a pebble, which has become wedged in a vertical fissure or cleft.
- 2004, Aron Ralston, 127 Hours: Between a Rock and a Hard Place, Simon and Schuster, published 2011, page 68:
- In these coldest hours before dawn, from three until six, I take up my knife again and hack at the chockstone. I continue to make minimal but visible progress in the divot.
- (climbing) A metal wedge or nut, threaded on a wire, used in rock climbing for protection by wedging it into a crack in the rock.
- Coordinate term: piton
Further reading
edit- nut (climbing) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia