A lodestone is a naturally magnetic rock that can attract iron and other metals. If you hold a lodestone near a paper clip or nail, the metal will actually jump toward it or stick to it, pulled by an invisible magnetic force.

For thousands of years, lodestones were humanity's only source of magnets. Ancient sailors discovered that a lodestone hanging from a string would always point north, which led to the invention of the magnetic compass. This changed the world: sailors could navigate across open oceans even when clouds hid the sun and stars. Explorers used compass needles made from lodestones to cross the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Scientists eventually figured out how to make artificial magnets that were stronger and more reliable than lodestones, but the natural rock remains fascinating because it's one of the few stones on Earth that has magnetic powers all on its own.

The word is also used figuratively to describe anything that attracts people powerfully, like how a popular arcade might be a lodestone for kids in the neighborhood.