rock
ROCK is a four-letter word meaning a formation of minerals; it scores 10 Scrabble points and has one anagram, CORK.
Noun 4 meanings
A formation of minerals, specifically:
“The face of the cliff is solid rock.”
A large hill or island having no vegetation.
“The captain named it Pearl Rock after the rising sun illuminated the surface of the island.”
Something that is strong, stable, and dependable; a person who provides security or support to another.
“1991, Robert Harling and Andrew Bergman, Soapdish, Paramount Pictures, Celeste Talbert: She is my rock, my right hand.”
A lump or cube of ice.
“I'll have a whisky on the rocks, please.”
Verb 4 meanings
To pelt with rocks; to stone.
To move gently back and forth.
“Rock the baby to sleep.”
To cause to shake or sway violently.
“Don't rock the boat.”
To sway or tilt violently back and forth.
“The boat rocked at anchor.”
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English rocke, rokke (“rock formation”), from Old English *rocc (“rock”), as in Old English stānrocc (“high stone rock, peak, obelisk”), and also later from Anglo-Norman roque, (compare Modern French roc, roche, rocher), from Medieval Latin rocca (attested 767), of uncertain origin, sometimes said to be of Celtic (in particular, perhaps Gaulish) origin (compare Breton roc'h).
Similar and opposite words
ROCK is an everyday word with a compact, high-value spelling: its K contributes half of the 10-point base score. The letters also rearrange into CORK, its sole anagram. For word games, the most striking feature is the contrast between that single rearrangement and a much larger set of one-letter neighbours.
ROCK at a glance
- ROCK has four letters and scores 10 points before board bonuses.
- Its letters are R, O, C and K; K is worth five points.
- CORK is the only anagram of ROCK.
- The word has 19 one-letter neighbours, including LOCK, RACK and ROOK.
What is the meaning of ROCK?
ROCK means a formation of minerals. That definition points to the solid material, not a list of figurative meanings. It is a common four-letter word, so players are more likely to recognize it than many short entries built around the same letters.
ROCK scores 10 points in Scrabble: R and O are worth one each, C is worth three, and K is worth five. K supplies half the base score, so keep it on a premium letter square when the board offers one. The total does not include any bonuses from the board.
ROCK is recognized in Collins, NWL2023 and ENABLE. Those dictionaries agree on its word-game status, though the mineral definition is narrower than the word’s full everyday use. Check your game's word list when playing with a different dictionary.
ROCK anagrams and one-letter neighbours
CORK is the only anagram: it uses every letter in ROCK once, changing the order rather than adding or dropping a tile. That makes the pair easy to verify on a rack. If you have R, O, C and K, there is just one other arrangement to check.
The 19 one-letter neighbours differ from ROCK by a single tile. Familiar examples include LOCK, DOCK, MOCK, SOCK and RACK; ROOK changes only the C. Other neighbours, such as NOCK and WOCK, are less familiar, so recognition alone is not a reliable legality test.
ROCK also rhymes with words such as STOCK, BLOCK, CLOCK and KNOCK. Its shared “ock” ending is a quick way to remember those sound matches, but rhymes are not necessarily playable neighbours: they can have different lengths or require several letter changes.
Rhymes with rock
All rhymesOne letter away
Questions people ask
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