Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - marble

 I. noun  Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French marbre, from Latin marmor, from Greek marmaros  Date: 12th century  1.  a. limestone that is more or less crystallized by metamorphism, that ranges from granular to compact in texture, that is capable of taking a high polish, and that is used especially in architecture and sculpture  b. something (as a piece of sculpture) composed of or made from ~  c. something suggesting ~ (as in hardness, coldness, or smoothness) a heart of ~  2.  a. a little ball made of a hard substance (as glass) and used in various games  b. plural but singular in construction any of several games played with these little balls  c. plural the rewards to be won in competition especially for a championship — used in the phrase all the ~s a game being played for all the ~s  3. marbling  4. plural elements of common sense; especially sanity persons who are born without all their ~s — Arthur Miller  • ~ adjective  II. transitive verb  (~d; marbling)  Date: 1675 to give a veined or mottled appearance to ~ the edges of a book