Pound vs. Stone — What's the Difference?
By Urooj Arif & Fiza Rafique — Updated on May 15, 2024
A pound is a unit of weight in the Imperial system equal to 16 ounces, commonly used in the U.S., while a stone is a British unit of weight equal to 14 pounds, often used for body weight.
Difference Between Pound and Stone
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
A pound is a unit of weight in the Imperial system, primarily used in the United States. It is defined as exactly 0.45359237 kilograms and is divided into 16 ounces. Pounds are commonly used to measure various objects and materials. On the other hand, a stone is a larger unit of weight used in the British Imperial system, predominantly in the United Kingdom and Ireland. One stone is equivalent to 14 pounds, or approximately 6.35 kilograms. The stone is traditionally used to express body weight.
While a pound is frequently used in everyday contexts in the U.S., such as food packaging and personal weight, the stone is more specialized and primarily applied in the context of human body weight in the UK. This difference highlights the regional preferences for measuring and expressing weight.
A pound's usage extends to many areas, including commerce and sports, whereas the stone is less commonly seen in such contexts. This makes the pound a more versatile and widely recognized unit internationally.
Despite both being part of the Imperial system, the pound and the stone serve different cultural and practical roles. The pound's broader application contrasts with the stone's more niche use, reflecting differences in measurement practices between the U.S. and the UK.
Comparison Chart
Measurement System
Imperial
British Imperial
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Equivalent Weight
16 ounces (0.45359237 kilograms)
14 pounds (6.35 kilograms)
Common Use
U.S. for various measurements
UK for body weight
Subdivisions
16 ounces
Not typically subdivided
Cultural Context
Widely used in the U.S.
Traditionally used in the UK and Ireland
Compare with Definitions
Pound
A measurement used in the Imperial system.
She lost three pounds after her diet.
Stone
A British unit of weight equal to 14 pounds.
He weighs 12 stone.
Pound
A term for force in physics.
The engine produces 300 pounds of torque.
Stone
Sometimes used in historical contexts.
The medieval knight weighed 15 stone with his armor.
Pound
A unit of weight equal to 16 ounces (453.592 grams).
Stone
Hard solid non-metallic mineral matter of which rock is made, especially as a building material
The houses are built of stone
High stone walls
Pound
A unit of apothecary weight equal to 12 ounces (373.242 grams). See Table at measurement.
Stone
A piece of stone shaped for a purpose, especially one of commemoration, ceremony, or demarcation
A memorial stone
Boundary stones
Pound
A unit of weight differing in various countries and times.
Stone
A hard seed in a cherry, plum, peach, and some other fruits.
Pound
See pound-force.
Stone
A unit of weight equal to 14 lb (6.35 kg)
I weighed 10 stone
Pound
See pound-mass.
Stone
A natural shade of whitish or brownish-grey
Stone stretch trousers
Pound
The primary unit of currency in the United Kingdom, worth 20 shillings or 240 old pence before the decimalization of 1971. Also called pound sterling.
Stone
Throw stones at
Two people were stoned to death
Policemen were stoned by the crowd
Pound
See Table at currency.
Stone
Remove the stone from (a fruit).
Pound
The primary unit of currency in Ireland and Cyprus before the adoption of the euro.
Stone
Build, face, or pave with stone
The honey-stoned, eighteenth-century city
Pound
A primary unit of currency in Scotland before the Act of Union (1707). Also called pound scots.
Stone
Concreted earthy or mineral matter; rock.
Pound
The pound key on a telephone.
Stone
Such concreted matter of a particular type. Often used in combination
Sandstone.
Soapstone.
Pound
A heavy blow.
Stone
A small piece of rock.
Pound
The sound of a heavy blow; a thump.
Stone
A piece of rock that is used in construction
A coping stone.
A paving stone.
Pound
The act of pounding.
Stone
A gravestone or tombstone.
Pound
An animal shelter, especially one operated by a public agency to house stray or confiscated animals.
Stone
A grindstone, millstone, or whetstone.
Pound
A public enclosure for the confinement of stray livestock.
Stone
A milestone or boundary.
Pound
A tank or submerged cage, as on a boat, in which live fish or shellfish are kept.
Stone
A gem or precious stone.
Pound
New England An establishment at which live lobsters are kept and sold, often also offering no-frills restaurant service.
Stone
Something, such as a hailstone, resembling a stone in shape or hardness.
Pound
A place in which vehicles impounded by the authorities are held until redeemed by their owners.
Stone
(Botany) The hard covering enclosing the seed in certain fruits, such as the cherry, plum, or peach.
Pound
(Archaic) A prison.
Stone
(Medicine) A mineral concretion in an organ, such as the kidney or gallbladder, or other body part; a calculus.
Pound
To strike repeatedly and forcefully, especially with the hand or a tool
Pounded the nail with a hammer.
Stone
Pl. stone Abbr. st. A unit of weight in Great Britain, 14 pounds (6.4 kilograms).
Pound
To assault with military force
Pounded the bunker with mortars.
Stone
(Printing) A table with a smooth surface on which page forms are composed.
Pound
To beat to a powder or pulp; pulverize or crush
Pound corn into meal.
Stone
Relating to or made of stone
A stone wall.
Pound
To instill by persistent, emphatic repetition
Pounded knowledge into the students' heads.
Stone
Made of stoneware or earthenware.
Pound
To produce energetically, as from forceful use of the hands. Often used with out
"a tinny piano pounding out Happy Birthday down the block" (Laura Kascischke).
Stone
Complete; utter. Often used in combination
A stone liar.
Stone-deaf.
Pound
To cause harm or loss to; affect adversely
Stocks that were pounded when energy prices rose.
Stone
Completely; utterly
Stone cold.
Standing stone still.
Pound
To defeat soundly
Pounded their rivals in the season finale.
Stone
To hurl or throw stones at, especially to kill with stones.
Pound
To attack verbally; criticize
Was pounded for months in the press.
Stone
To remove the stones or pits from.
Pound
(Slang) To drink quickly (a beverage, especially an alcoholic one). Often used with back or down
Pounded back a few beers after work.
Stone
To furnish, fit, pave, or line with stones.
Pound
To strike vigorous, repeated blows
He pounded on the table.
Stone
To rub on or with a stone in order to polish or sharpen.
Pound
To move along heavily and noisily
The children pounded up the stairs.
Stone
(Sports) To block a shot taken by (an opponent). Used of a goalie.
Pound
To pulsate rapidly and heavily; throb
My heart pounded.
Stone
(Obsolete) To make hard or indifferent.
Pound
To move or work laboriously
A ship that pounded through heavy seas.
Stone
(uncountable) A hard earthen substance that can form large rocks.
Pound
To confine (an animal) in a pound.
Stone
A small piece of stone, a pebble.
Pound
A unit of weight in various measurement systems
Stone
A gemstone, a jewel, especially a diamond.
Pound
Ellipsis of pound weight
Stone
(British) A unit of mass equal to 14 pounds (≈6.3503 kilograms), formerly used for various commodities (wool, cheese, etc.), but now principally used for personal weight.
Pound
The translated name of various non-English units of measure
Stone
(botany) The central part of some fruits, particularly drupes; consisting of the seed and a hard endocarp layer.
A peach stone
Pound
A unit of mass in various measurement systems
Stone
(medicine) A hard, stone-like deposit.
Pound
Ellipsis of pound mass
Stone
(board games) A playing piece made of any hard material, used in various board games such as backgammon and go.
Pound
The translated name of various non-English units of measure
Stone
A dull light grey or beige, like that of some stones.
Pound
A unit of mass equal to 16 avoirdupois ounces (= 453.592 g). Today this value is the most common meaning of "pound" as a unit of weight.
Stone
(curling) A 42-pound, precisely shaped piece of granite with a handle attached, which is bowled down the ice.
Pound
A unit of mass equal to 12 troy ounces (≈ 373.242 g). Today, this is a common unit of mass when measuring precious metals, and is little used elsewhere.
Stone
A monument to the dead; a gravestone or tombstone.
Pound
A unit of force in various measurement systems
Stone
(obsolete) A mirror, or its glass.
Pound
Ellipsis of pound force
Stone
(obsolete) A testicle.
Pound
The translated name of various non-English units of measure
Stone
A stand or table with a smooth, flat top of stone, commonly marble, on which to arrange the pages of a book, newspaper, etc. before printing.
Pound
A unit of currency in various currency systems
Stone
(transitive) To pelt with stones, especially to kill by pelting with stones.
She got stoned to death after they found her.
Pound
The translated name of various non-English units of currency
Stone
(transitive) To wall with stones.
Pound
The unit of currency used in the United Kingdom and its dependencies. It is divided into 100 pence. Symbol £.
Stone
(transitive) To remove a stone from (fruit etc.).
Pound
Any of various units of currency used in Egypt, Lebanon, Sudan and Syria, and formerly in the Republic of Ireland, Cyprus and Israel.
Stone
(intransitive) To form a stone during growth, with reference to fruit etc.
Pound
Any of various units of currency formerly used in the United States.
The Rhode Island pound; the New Hampshire pound
Stone
To intoxicate, especially with narcotics. Usually in passive
Pound
(US) The symbol # (octothorpe, hash, number sign)
Stone
To do nothing, to stare blankly into space and not pay attention when relaxing or when bored.
Pound
A place for the detention of stray or wandering animals.
Dog pound
Stone
(transitive) To lap with an abrasive stone to remove surface irregularities.
Pound
(metonymy) The people who work for the pound.
Stone
Constructed of stone.
Stone walls
Pound
(UK) A place for the detention of automobiles that have been illegally parked, abandoned, etc.
Stone
Having the appearance of stone.
Stone pot
Pound
A section of a canal between two adjacent locks.
Stone
Of a dull light grey or beige, like that of some stones.
Pound
A kind of fishing net, having a large enclosure with a narrow entrance into which fish are directed by wings spreading outward.
Stone
(AAVE) Used as an intensifier.
She is one stone fox.
Pound
(Newfoundland) a division inside a fishing stage where cod is cured in salt brine
Stone
(LGBT) Willing to give sexual pleasure but not to receive it.
Stone butch; stone femme
Pillow princess
Pound
A hard blow.
Stone
As a stone used with following adjective.
My father is stone deaf. This soup is stone cold.
Pound
To wager a pound on.
Stone
(slang) Absolutely, completely used with following adjectives.
I went stone crazy after she left.
I said the medication made my vision temporarily blurry, it did not make me stone blind.
Pound
To confine in, or as in, a pound; to impound.
Stone
Concreted earthy or mineral matter; also, any particular mass of such matter; as, a house built of stone; the boy threw a stone; pebbles are rounded stones.
They had brick for stone, and slime . . . for mortar.
Pound
(transitive) To strike hard, usually repeatedly.
Stone
A precious stone; a gem.
Pound
(transitive) To crush to pieces; to pulverize.
Stone
Something made of stone. Specifically: -
Pound
To eat or drink very quickly.
You really pounded that beer!
Stone
The glass of a mirror; a mirror.
Lend me a looking-glass;If that her breath will mist or stain the stone,Why, then she lives.
Pound
To pitch consistently to a certain location.
The pitcher has been pounding the outside corner all night.
Stone
A calculous concretion, especially one in the kidneys or bladder; the disease arising from a calculus.
Pound
To beat strongly or throb.
As I tiptoed past the sleeping dog, my heart was pounding but I remained silent.
My head was pounding.
Stone
A monument to the dead; a gravestone.
Should some relenting eyeGlance on the where our cold relics lie.
Pound
To penetrate sexually, with vigour.
I was pounding her all night!
Stone
One of the testes; a testicle.
Pound
To advance heavily with measured steps.
Stone
The hard endocarp of drupes; as, the stone of a cherry or peach. See Illust. of Endocarp.
Pound
(engineering) To make a jarring noise, as when running.
The engine pounds.
Stone
A weight which legally is fourteen pounds, but in practice varies with the article weighed.
Pound
To strike repeatedly with some heavy instrument; to beat.
With cruel blows she pounds her blubbered cheeks.
Stone
Fig.: Symbol of hardness and insensibility; torpidness; insensibility; as, a heart of stone.
I have not yet forgot myself to stone.
Pound
To comminute and pulverize by beating; to bruise or break into fine particles with a pestle or other heavy instrument; as, to pound spice or salt.
Stone
A stand or table with a smooth, flat top of stone, commonly marble, on which to arrange the pages of a book, newspaper, etc., before printing; - called also imposing stone.
Pound
To strike heavy blows; to beat.
Stone
To pelt, beat, or kill with stones.
And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Pound
To make a jarring noise, as in running; as, the engine pounds.
Stone
To make like stone; to harden.
O perjured woman! thou dost stone my heart.
Pound
To confine in, or as in, a pound; to impound.
Stone
To free from stones; also, to remove the seeds of; as, to stone a field; to stone cherries; to stone raisins.
Pound
An inclosure, maintained by public authority, in which cattle or other animals are confined when taken in trespassing, or when going at large in violation of law; a pinfold.
Stone
To wall or face with stones; to line or fortify with stones; as, to stone a well; to stone a cellar.
Pound
A level stretch in a canal between locks.
Stone
To rub, scour, or sharpen with a stone.
Pound
A kind of net, having a large inclosure with a narrow entrance into which fish are directed by wings spreading outward.
Stone
A lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter;
He threw a rock at me
Pound
A certain specified weight; especially, a legal standard consisting of an established number of ounces.
Stone
Material consisting of the aggregate of minerals like those making up the Earth's crust;
That mountain is solid rock
Stone is abundant in New England and there are many quarries
Pound
A British denomination of money of account, equivalent to twenty shillings sterling, and equal in value to about $4.86. There is no coin known by this name, but the gold sovereign is of the same value.
Stone
Building material consisting of a piece of rock hewn in a definite shape for a special purpose;
He wanted a special stone to mark the site
Pound
16 ounces;
He tried to lift 100 pounds
Stone
A crystalline rock that can be cut and polished for jewelry;
He had the gem set in a ring for his wife
She had jewels made of all the rarest stones
Pound
The basic unit of money in Great Britain; equal to 100 pence
Stone
The hard inner (usually woody) layer of the pericarp of some fruits (as peaches or plums or cherries or olives) that contains the seed;
You should remove the stones from prunes before cooking
Pound
The basic unit of money in Syria; equal to 100 piasters
Stone
An avoirdupois unit used to measure the weight of a human body; equal to 14 pounds;
A heavy chap who must have weighed more than twenty stone
Pound
The basic unit of money in the Sudan; equal to 100 piasters
Stone
United States filmmaker (born in 1946)
Pound
The basic unit of money in Lebanon; equal to 100 piasters
Stone
United States feminist and suffragist (1818-1893)
Pound
Formerly the basic unit of money in Ireland; equal to 100 pence
Stone
United States journalist who advocated liberal causes (1907-1989)
Pound
The basic unit of money in Egypt; equal to 100 piasters
Stone
United States jurist who served on the United States Supreme Court as Chief Justice (1872-1946)
Pound
The basic unit of money in Cyprus; equal to 100 cents
Stone
United States architect (1902-1978)
Pound
A nontechnical unit of force equal to the mass of 1 pound with an acceleration of free fall equal to 32 feet/sec/sec
Stone
A lack of feeling or expression or movement;
He must have a heart of stone
Her face was as hard as stone
Pound
United States writer who lived in Europe; strongly influenced the development of modern literature (1885-1972)
Stone
Kill by throwing stones at;
Adulterers should be stoned according to the Koran
Pound
A public enclosure for stray or unlicensed dogs;
Unlicensed dogs will be taken to the pound
Stone
Remove the pits from;
Pit plums and cherries
Pound
The act of pounding (delivering repeated heavy blows);
The sudden hammer of fists caught him off guard
The pounding of feet on the hallway
Stone
Of any of various dull tannish-gray colors
Pound
Hit hard with the hand, fist, or some heavy instrument;
The salesman pounded the door knocker
A bible-thumping Southern Baptist
Stone
Commonly used to measure body weight in the UK.
She lost half a stone in a month.
Pound
Strike or drive against with a heavy impact;
Ram the gate with a sledgehammer
Pound on the door
Stone
A traditional weight measure in British culture.
The jockey must weigh less than nine stone.
Pound
Move heavily or clumsily;
The heavy man lumbered across the room
Stone
An older, less frequently used unit outside the UK.
The athlete's weight is recorded in stone.
Pound
Move rhythmically;
Her heart was beating fast
Pound
Partition off into compartments;
The locks pound the water of the canal
Pound
Shut up or confine in any enclosure or within any bounds or limits;
The prisoners are safely pounded
Pound
Place or shut up in a pound;
Pound the cows so they don't stray
Pound
Break down and crush by beating, as with a pestle;
Pound the roots with a heavy flat stone
Pound
A unit of weight equal to 16 ounces.
The package weighs five pounds.
Pound
An expression of body weight.
He weighs 180 pounds.
Pound
A standard unit in U.S. commerce.
Apples are sold at two dollars per pound.
Common Curiosities
What is a pound?
A unit of weight in the Imperial system, equal to 16 ounces.
Where is the pound commonly used?
Primarily in the United States for various measurements.
Is the stone used in the U.S.?
No, it is not commonly used in the U.S.
Is the pound used in the UK?
Yes, but the stone is preferred for body weight.
How many kilograms are in a pound?
One pound is approximately 0.45359237 kilograms.
What is a stone?
A unit of weight in the British Imperial system, equal to 14 pounds.
Where is the stone commonly used?
Mainly in the United Kingdom for expressing body weight.
How many kilograms are in a stone?
One stone is approximately 6.35 kilograms.
Can the pound be used for measuring food?
Yes, it is commonly used for food measurements in the U.S.
Why is the stone still used in the UK?
Tradition and cultural preference.
How many pounds are in a stone?
There are 14 pounds in a stone.
Is the stone used in sports?
Rarely, it's mostly used for body weight.
Do people outside the UK understand 'stone'?
Less commonly, as it's mainly a British unit.
Can you convert pounds to stone?
Yes, divide the number of pounds by 14 to get the weight in stone.
Is there a metric equivalent for the stone?
Not directly, but 6.35 kilograms is its approximate equivalent.
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Written by
Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
Co-written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
