(n.) A crystalline rock, consisting, like granite, of quartz, feldspar, and mica, but having these materials, especially the mica, arranged in planes, so that it breaks rather easily into coarse slabs or flags. Hornblende sometimes takes the place of the mica, and it is then called hornblendic / syenitic gneiss. Similar varieties of related rocks are also called gneiss.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
| APA | Webster's. (2011). gneiss. Retrieved September 24, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/gneiss/definitions/2012832 |
| Chicago | Webster's. 2011. "gneiss" http://smartdefine.org/gneiss/definitions/2012832 (accessed September 24, 2026). |
| Harvard | Webster's 2011, gneiss, Smart Define, viewed 24 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/gneiss/definitions/2012832>. |
| MLA | Webster's. "gneiss" 27 May 2011. Web. 24 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/gneiss/definitions/2012832> |