tombstone
/ˈtuːmstoʊn/noun, verb
tombstone is spelled T-O-M-B-S-T-O-N-E: 9 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,835th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, tombstone means “A grave marker, a stone slab or similar object marking a person's grave” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of tombstone is tombstones.
How many letters and syllables are in tombstone?
| Letters | 9: T-O-M-B-S-T-O-N-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.4 times per million words; the 23,835th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is tombstone?
Tombstone appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,835th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce tombstone?
- UK /ˈtuːmstəʊn/
- US /ˈtuːmstoʊn/
Tombstone has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-tombstone.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of tombstone
- tombstones plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- tombstoning participle, present
- tombstoned participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tombstone mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A grave marker, a stone slab or similar object marking a person's grave.
- 2
The symbol "∎" marking the end of a proof.
- 3
A marker that takes the place of deleted data, allowing for replication of the deletion across servers etc.
- 4
A crashdump.
- 5
An unusual morphological feature on an electrocardiogram indicative of acute myocardial infarction, characterized by a massive ST elevation.
- 6
A printed advertisement in a newspaper or magazine, typically having unadorned centered text in black and white, enclosed in a simple box.
- 7
A museum plaque or caption displaying information about a work of art or exhibited object.
- 8
archaicslangA pawnbroker's ticket.
verb
- 1
UKTo take part in tombstoning: to jump into the sea, etc. from a cliff or other high point so as to enter the water vertically straight.
- 2
For a surfboard to stand upright half-submerged in the water (like a tombstone, above) because the surfer is underwater with his or her legrope pulled tight. Often this indicates a surfer in difficulty, either held down by the power of a wave or unconscious and unable to get to the surface.
Before the contest even started, Slater went down hard in a warmup session. He took a two-wave hold-down in the semifinals, his board tombstoning eerily for all to see, […]
- 3
To replace (an object or data) with a tombstone marker.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Tombstone in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense stone on grave:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pierre tombale |
| German | Grabstein, Grabmal, Leichenstein |
| Portuguese | lápide, campa |
| Spanish | lápida |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does tombstone come from?
From tomb + stone.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).