Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To crush, pulverize, or reduce to powder by friction, especially by rubbing between two hard surfaces.
- intransitive verb To shape, sharpen, or refine with friction.
- intransitive verb To rub (two surfaces) together harshly; gnash.
- intransitive verb To bear down on harshly; crush.
- intransitive verb To oppress or weaken gradually or persistently.
- intransitive verb To operate by turning a crank.
- intransitive verb To produce or process by turning a crank.
- intransitive verb To produce mechanically or without inspiration.
- intransitive verb To instill or teach by persistent repetition.
- intransitive verb To perform the operation of grinding something.
- intransitive verb To become crushed, pulverized, or powdered by friction.
- intransitive verb To move with noisy friction; grate.
- intransitive verb To ride a skateboard, a snowboard, or skis over a grind rail or narrow surface, often with the board or skis at right angles to the direction of movement.
- intransitive verb Informal To devote oneself to study or work.
- intransitive verb Slang To rotate the pelvis erotically, as in the manner of a stripteaser.
- noun The act of grinding.
- noun A crunching or grinding noise.
- noun A specific grade or degree of pulverization, as of coffee beans.
- noun Informal A laborious task, routine, or study.
- noun Informal A student who works or studies excessively.
- noun Slang An erotic rotation of the pelvis.
- idiom (grind it out) To make a persistent effort in doing something that is difficult; work at something persistently.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Nautical, a kink, half-turn, or twist in a rope.
- To break and reduce to fine particles by pounding, crushing, or rubbing, as in a mill or a mortar, or with the teeth; bray; triturate: as, to
grind corn. - To produce by grinding, or by action comparable to that of grinding: as, to
grind flour; to grind out a tune on an organ. - To wear down, smooth, or sharpen by friction; give a smooth surface, edge, or point to, as by friction of a wheel or revolving stone; whet.
- To grate or rub harshly together; grit.
- To set in motion or operate, as by turning a crank: as, to
grind a coffee-mill; to grind a hand-organ. - To oppress by severe exactions; afflict with hardship or cruelty.
- To satirize severely; make a jest of.
- To teach in a dull, laborious manner.
- To study or learn by close application or hard work; master laboriously: as, to
grind out a problem. - To perform the act or operation of grinding, grating, or harshly rubbing; turn a mill, a grindstone, or some similar machine.
- To be grated or rubbed together: as, the jaws grind.
- To be ground or pulverized by pounding or rubbing: as, dry corn grinds fine.
- To be polished or sharpened by friction: as, marble or steel grinds readily.
- To perform tedious and distasteful work; drudge; especially, to study hard; prepare for examination by close application.
- noun The act of grinding, or turning a mill, a grindstone, etc.
- noun The sound of grinding or grating.
- noun Hard or tedious and distasteful work; constant employment; especially, in college slang, laborious study; close application to study.
- noun One who studies laboriously or with dogged application.
- noun A piece of satire; a jest.
- noun A satirist; an inveterate jester.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The act of reducing to powder, or of sharpening, by friction.
- noun colloq. Any severe continuous work or occupation; esp., hard and uninteresting study.
- noun College Slang A student that studies hard; a dig; a wonk.
- intransitive verb To perform the operation of grinding something; to turn the millstones.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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I would argue, however, that the term grind as socially used in this area is not terribly reliable.
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"But I feel that -- that if something came into his life --" She blushed, but went on bravely -- "something to take him out of what he calls the grind --"
Out of the Primitive Robert Ames Bennet 1912
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In Volume Two of Canadian Literature in English, W.J. Keith cites a series of literary-critical books whose authors are "concerned, first and foremost, with good writing … The sole axe they grind is the need to nurture excellence."
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In Volume Two of Canadian Literature in English, W.J. Keith cites a series of literary-critical books whose authors are "concerned, first and foremost, with good writing … The sole axe they grind is the need to nurture excellence."
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The only “ax” I have to grind is as a business owner who operates on the up and up.
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I usually buy the cheapest pork roasts or whole legs and after removing the skin grind the deer with the pork almost even along with fresh garlic and onions.
A Better Burger: Five Tips for Making Ground Venison Patties 2009
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The Midshipmen were the league's worst defense for the second consecutive season, and this team simply could not win grind-it-out, low-scoring affairs.
Patriot League 2010
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I usually buy the cheapest pork roasts or whole legs and after removing the skin grind the deer with the pork almost even along with fresh garlic and onions.
A Better Burger: Five Tips for Making Ground Venison Patties 2009
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Support Hillary because she knows what the grind is like.
Clinton adviser: Clinton 'willing' to lend campaign more money 2008
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The daily grind is pulverizing me; things I consider important are getting left by the wayside, getting laid to waste.
Archive 2008-12-01 2008
mager commented on the word grind
working hard, focusing. "on my daily grind"
June 12, 2007
gangerh commented on the word grind
A slang synonym for fuck. As in, when crashing gears, 'another grind like that and we'll have to get engaged'.
July 31, 2009