The Collaborative International Dictionary
Rotten \Rot"ten\, a. [Icel. rotinn; akin to Sw. rutten, Dan. radden. See Rot.] Having rotted; putrid; decayed; as, a rotten apple; rotten meat. Hence:
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Offensive to the smell; fetid; disgusting.
You common cry of curs! whose breath I hate As reek of the rotten fens.
--Shak. -
Not firm or trusty; unsound; defective; treacherous; unsafe; as, a rotten plank, bone, stone. ``The deepness of the rotten way.''
--Knolles.Rotten borough. See under Borough.
Rotten stone (Min.), a soft stone, called also Tripoli (from the country from which it was formerly brought), used in all sorts of finer grinding and polishing in the arts, and for cleaning metallic substances. The name is also given to other friable siliceous stones applied to like uses.
Syn: Putrefied; decayed; carious; defective; unsound; corrupt; deceitful; treacherous. [1913 Webster] -- Rot"ten*ly, adv. -- Rot"ten*ness, n.
Wiktionary
n. (context mineralogy English) A soft stone used in artistic grinding and polishing, and for cleaning metallic substances. The name is also given to other friable siliceous stones applied to similar uses.
Wikipedia
Rotten stone, sometimes spelled as rottenstone, also known as tripoli, is fine powdered porous rock used as a polishing abrasive for metalsmithing and in woodworking. It is usually weathered limestone mixed with diatomaceous, amorphous, or crystalline silica. It has similar applications to pumice, but it is generally sold as a finer powder and used for a more glossy polish after an initial treatment with coarser pumice powder. Tripoli particles are rounded rather than sharp, making it a milder abrasive.
It is usually mixed with oil, sometimes water, and rubbed on the surface of varnished or lacquered wood with a felt pad or cloth. Rotten stone is sometimes used to buff stains out of wood. Some polishing waxes contain powdered rotten stone in a paste substrate. For larger polishing jobs, rotten stone mixed with a binder is applied to polishing wheels.
It has also been used to polish brass, such as that found on military uniforms, as well as steel and other metals. Plates used in daguerreotypes were polished using rotten stone, the finest abrasive available at the time.
It is also used to polish jewelry and in toothpastes. Its more common use is as a filler, as used in plastics, paint and rubber.
Usage examples of "rotten stone".
The summit was little more than a ridge, less than three paces across, crusted with rotten stone and dead grasses.
The eighteen pounder shots slammed into rotten stone, gouging out the wall's fill to add to the ramps.