Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

grind

Pronunciation: /grʌɪnd/

Translate grind | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of grind

verb (past and past participle ground /graʊnd/)

  • 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
  • sharpen, smooth, or produce (something) by crushing or by friction:power from a waterwheel was used to grind cutlery
  • operate (a mill or machine) by turning the handle:she was grinding a coffee mill
  • [no object] (of a mill or machine) work with a crushing action: the old mill was grinding again
  • 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
  • [with object] press or rub (something) into a surface:she ground a half-smoked cigarette into the ashtray
  • [no object, with adverbial] move noisily and laboriously:the truck was grinding slowly up the hill
  • 3 [no object] informal (of a dancer) gyrate the hips erotically:go-go girls grinding to blaring disco
  • British vulgar slang, dated have sexual intercourse.

noun

  • 1a crushing or grating sound or motion:the crunch and grind of bulldozers figurativethe slow grind of the US legal system
  • the size of ground particles:only the right grind gives you all the fine flavour
  • 2hard dull work:relief from the daily grind
  • US informal an excessively hard-working student.
  • Irish a private tuition class:experienced teacher offers grinds in Maths and Irish, to all levels
  • 3 informal a dancer’s erotic gyration of the hips: a bump and grind
  • British vulgar slang, dated an act of sexual intercourse.

Phrases

grind to a halt (or come to a grinding halt)

slow down gradually and then stop completely: in summer traffic all but grinds to a halt the surge of modernism finally seemed to grind to a halt

Phrasal Verbs

grind away

work or study hard: he began to grind away in a job as a research assistant

grind someone down

wear someone down with continuous harsh treatment:mundane everyday things which just grind people down

grind on

continue for a long time in a wearying or tedious way:the rail talks grind on

grind something out

produce something dull or tedious slowly and laboriously:the band was grinding out the inevitable summer songs

Origin:

Old English grindan, probably of Germanic origin. Although no cognates are known, it may be distantly related to Latin frendere 'rub away, gnash'

grind in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of grind in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

  |  Cite

Word of the day

kempt

/ kɛm(p)t /
adjective
maintained in a neat and clean condition …