grind
/ɡrʌɪnd
/verb (past and past participle ground /ɡraʊnd/)
1 [with object] Reduce (something) to small particles or powder by crushing it: grind some black pepper over the salad she ground up the rice prior to boiling...
- If the root is ground to a powder, as some growers do, it is then boiled to extract the liquorice essence.
- With so many Mexican items in stores across the US, you can make your own chili powder by grinding your own spices.
- The bark is ground to an off-white powder that has a sweet taste and a pinelike odor.
Synonyms
crush, pound, pulverize, mill, powder, granulate, grate, mince, shred, crumble, pestle, mash, smash, press, fragment, kibble
technical triturate, comminute
archaic levigate, bray
1.1Sharpen, smooth, or produce (something) by crushing or by friction: power from a waterwheel was used to grind cutlery...
- The large upright stone also bears the marks of where new adze heads were ground and sharpened.
- After cooling slowly, the piece is then ground to remove excess enamel, and polished.
- Some people actually shave or grind down parts of their skates so that they can fit larger wheels.
Synonyms
sharpen, whet, make sharp/sharper, hone, file, strop;
smooth, polish, sand, sandpaper
1.2Operate (a mill or machine) by turning the handle: she was grinding a coffee mill...
- We had no bread for quite a while, so we got wheat berries, and took turns grinding a coffee mill with our hands.
- Anyone who likes preparing a good meal has undoubtedly had the experience of enthusiastically shaking or grinding the pepper-mill over a pot only to find themselves in a sneezing fit moments later.
1.3 [no object] (Of a mill or machine) work with a crushing action: the old mill was grinding again...
- Ever since the Americans built up the Dominican sugar industry in the 1920s, it is Haitian muscle that has kept the mills grinding and the cane cut.
- And those mills grind remorselessly and cruelly at times.
- A handful of huts, a small mill grinding by the stream's edge, a place of twenty ploughs, no more.
2Rub or cause to rub together gratingly: [no object]: tectonic plates that inexorably grind against each other [with object]: he keeps me awake at night, grinding his teeth...
- My teeth grind together, and my hackles rise, and I want to find the radio or whatever it is and rip it to bits.
- Where these plates meet, they grind together, creating earthquakes.
- She closed her eyes, her teeth grinding together.
Synonyms
rub, grate, scrape, rasp
gnash, grit
2.1 [with object] Press or rub (something) into a surface: she ground a half-smoked cigarette into the ashtray...
- When we had new Tarmac laid on our drive, people were not only driving through it but actually grinding their tyres into the newly-finished surface, in spite of the warning signs.
- He dropped his cigarette and ground it with his foot, the very motion making me ripple.
- Kienan tossed his cigarette away and ground it into the deck.
2.2 [no object, with adverbial] Move noisily and laboriously: the truck was grinding slowly up the hill...
- Remember, the wheels of the justice system can grind very slowly, at least in the US.
- The justice system grinds slowly and gets off to many a false start, but it ends up triumphant.
- He can then grind slowly westwards, picking up centres as the rest fight amongst themselves.
Synonyms
move laboriously, strain, struggle, drag oneself, fight one's way, labour;
chug
North American informal putter
3 [no object] informal (Of a dancer) gyrate the hips erotically: go-go girls grinding to blaring disco...
- Although the video did have a lot of ‘bloke appeal’, with the singer and her dancers grinding and gyrating from start to finish, I got the impression that it was all her idea.
- Jack knew that Angela wasn't the type of girl to grind while dancing, and he doubted whether she knew how to.
- Jude glanced around, seeing Andy grinding with some girl who was not Claudia.
3.1British vulgar slang, dated Have sexual intercourse.
noun
1A crushing or grating sound or motion: the crunch and grind of bulldozers figurative the slow grind of the US legal system...
- People discover they are capable of things they had hardly dreamt of, and realise talents and potentials previously crushed by the grind of capitalism.
- The slow grind of American law has produced indictments.
- "We use half a tank getting up the Kaimais and then we have the slow grind down the other side, " he said.
1.1The size of ground particles: only the right grind gives you all the fine flavour...
- Visitors can choose either roasted coffee beans, medium grind coffee, fine blend coffee or cappuccino in different sizes and packets.
- This grind we call a Turkish Grind which is the finest grind yet.
- The flour texture is a medium grind perfectly suited for my breads, cookies and muffins.
2Hard dull work: relief from the daily grind...
- It's like taking a step away from the daily grind, the hard slog, the trials and the tribulations so you can focus on nothing but having fun for three whole days.
- Each worker has a tale of hard work, staff shortages and the daily grind to survive.
- Others ditch the daily grind for a slower-paced life.
Synonyms
chore, slog, travail;
drudgery, toil, hard work, donkey work, labour, slavery, exertion
informal fag, sweat
2.1US informal An excessively hard-working student.About 1957, MIT undergraduates began referring to ‘gnurds,’ studious grinds, especially in science and engineering....
- She is an insufferably sensible young woman a grind at school, hiding behind thick glasses and inside bulky cardigans.
- You sound like a total grind. Like you never skipped a class the day after a party.
2.2Irish A private tuition class: experienced teacher offers grinds in Maths and Irish, to all levels...
- Expensive grinds and extra tutorial classes also feature in today's lifestyle of even the youngest students.
- The rich can afford to send their children to fee-paying schools and then top that up with grinds to get them into the best courses.
- If even half of Leaving Cert students were paying for grinds at this rate of €45 per hour, it would make the industry worth €50 million a year.
3 informal A dancer’s erotic gyration of the hips: a bump and grind...
- Two women did concentrated bumps and grinds, bumps and grinds, bumps and grinds.
- A voluptuous black girl in leather and a thicket of beaded dreadlocks jumped in front of him and mirrored his strokes, his bumps and grinds.
- How often do we get to see a bump and grind performed on pointe?
3.1British vulgar slang, dated An act of sexual intercourse.
Phrases
grind to a halt (or come to a grinding halt)
Phrasal verbs
grind away
grind someone down
grind on
grind something out
Origin
Old English grindan, probably of Germanic origin. Although no cognates are known, it may be distantly related to Latin frendere 'rub away, gnash'.