Flint has 8 different meanings across 3 categories:
Noun · Adjective · Proper Noun
a hard kind of stone; a form of silica more opaque than chalcedony
"The arrowhead was carved from a sharp piece of flint found along the riverbank."
a river in western Georgia that flows generally south to join the Chattahoochee River at the Florida border where they form the Apalachicola River
"The flint serves as a crucial waterway connecting the mountains of western Georgia to the Apalachicola River."
a city in southeast central Michigan near Detroit; automobile manufacturing
"During the Great Depression, Flint was hit hard by layoffs as its major automobile manufacturers shut down their factories."
A hard, fine-grained quartz that fractures conchoidally and generates sparks when struck against a material such as steel, because tiny chips of the steel are heated to incandescence and burn in air.
"The hunter used a piece of flint to strike his knife blade, creating enough sparks from the burning steel chips to ignite the dry tinder."
In plain English: Flint is a hard, gray rock that ancient people used to start fires by striking it against steel.
"They struck two pieces of flint together to create a spark and start their campfire."
Usage: Flint refers to the hard stone used in traditional fire-starting kits rather than any type of glass or plastic striker. You can also use it as a verb when describing objects decorated with this durable material.
To furnish or decorate an object with flint.
"The ancient craftsmen chose to inlay their stone tools with flint to enhance their durability and sharpness."
In plain English: To flint something is to hit it with another hard object so that sparks fly out, usually from stone tools or old fire-starting kits.
"The sparks from the flint ignited the dry tinder in seconds."
A placename
"The village council held its annual meeting in Flint to discuss local zoning laws."
A city, the county seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States.
"Residents of Flint are eagerly awaiting the announcement from their local government about the new water treatment plant."
The word flint comes from the Old English term for a hard stone used to make tools and start fires. It ultimately traces back to an ancient root meaning "to split," reflecting how this material is easily cleaved into sharp edges.