GRAIN

texture, grain

(noun) the physical composition of something (especially with respect to the size and shape of the small constituents of a substance); “breadfruit has the same texture as bread”; “sand of a fine grain”; “fish with a delicate flavor and texture”; “a stone of coarse grain”

grain

(noun) the direction, texture, or pattern of fibers found in wood or leather or stone or in a woven fabric; “saw the board across the grain”

grain

(noun) the smallest possible unit of anything; “there was a grain of truth in what he said”; “he does not have a grain of sense”

grain, food grain, cereal

(noun) foodstuff prepared from the starchy grains of cereal grasses

grain

(noun) a relatively small granular particle of a substance; “a grain of sand”; “a grain of sugar”

grain

(noun) a cereal grass; “wheat is a grain that is grown in Kansas”

grain, caryopsis

(noun) dry seed-like fruit produced by the cereal grasses: e.g. wheat, barley, Indian corn

grain

(noun) 1/7000 pound; equals a troy grain or 64.799 milligrams

grain

(noun) 1/60 dram; equals an avoirdupois grain or 64.799 milligrams

grain, metric grain

(noun) a weight unit used for pearls or diamonds: 50 mg or 1/4 carat

grain

(noun) the side of leather from which the hair has been removed

granulate, grain

(verb) become granular

granulate, grain

(verb) form into grains

grain

(verb) paint (a surface) to make it look like stone or wood

ingrain, grain

(verb) thoroughly work in; “His hands were grained with dirt”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Noun

grain (countable and uncountable, plural grains)

(uncountable) The harvested seeds of various grass food crops eg: wheat, corn, barley.

(uncountable) Similar seeds from any food crop, e.g, buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa.

(countable) A single seed of grass food crops.

(countable, uncountable) The crops from which grain is harvested.

(uncountable) A linear texture of a material or surface.

(countable) A single particle of a substance.

(countable) A very small unit of weight, in England equal to 1/480 of an ounce troy, 0.0648 grams or, to be more exact, 64.79891 milligrams (0.002285714 avoirdupois ounce). A carat grain or pearl grain is 1/4 carat or 50 milligrams. The old French grain was 1/9216 livre or 53.11 milligrams, and in the mesures usuelles permitted from 1812 to 1839, with the livre redefined as 500 grams, it was 54.25 milligrams.

(countable) A former unit of gold purity, also known as carat grain, equal to 1/4 "carat" (karat).

(materials) A region within a material having a single crystal structure or direction.

A reddish dye made from the coccus insect, or kermes; hence, a red color of any tint or hue, as crimson, scarlet, etc.; sometimes used by the poets as equivalent to Tyrian purple.

The hair side of a piece of leather, or the marking on that side.

(in the plural) The remains of grain, etc, after brewing or distillation; hence, any residuum. Also called draff.

(botany) A rounded prominence on the back of a sepal, as in the common dock.

Temper; natural disposition; inclination.

(photography, videography) Visual texture in processed photographic film due to the presence of small particles of a metallic silver, or dye clouds, developed from silver halide that have received enough photons.

Verb

grain (third-person singular simple present grains, present participle graining, simple past and past participle grained)

To feed grain to.

(transitive) To make granular; to form into grains.

(intransitive) To form grains, or to assume a granular form, as the result of crystallization; to granulate.

To texture a surface in imitation of the grain of a substance such as wood.

(tanning) To remove the hair or fat from a skin.

(tanning) To soften leather.

To yield fruit.

Etymology 2

Noun

grain (plural grains)

A branch of a tree; a stalk or stem of a plant.

A tine, prong, or fork.

One of the branches of a valley or river.

An iron fish spear or harpoon, with a number of points half-barbed inwardly.

(founding) A thin piece of metal, used in a mould to steady a core.

Anagrams

• A ring, Nigra, Ragin, Rigan, agrin, nigra, raign, raing

Proper noun

Grain

A village on the Isle of Grain, Medway borough, Kent, England (OS grid ref TQ8876).

Usage notes

Although Wikipedia calls this village St James, which is apparently the name of the parish, Grain is the name that appears on maps, including those of the Ordnance Survey.

Anagrams

• A ring, Nigra, Ragin, Rigan, agrin, nigra, raign, raing

Source: Wiktionary


Grain, v. & n.

Definition: See Groan. [Obs.]

Grain, n. Etym: [F. grain, L. granum, grain, seed, small kernel, small particle. See Corn, and cf. Garner, n., Garnet, Gram the chick- pea, Granule, Kernel.]

1. A single small hard seed; a kernel, especially of those plants, like wheat, whose seeds are used for food.

2. The fruit of certain grasses which furnish the chief food of man, as corn, wheat, rye, oats, etc., or the plants themselves; -- used collectively. Storehouses crammed with grain. Shak.

3. Any small, hard particle, as of sand, sugar, salt, etc.; hence, any minute portion or particle; as, a grain of gunpowder, of pollen, of starch, of sense, of wit, etc. I . . . with a grain of manhood well resolved. Milton.

4. The unit of the English system of weights; -- so called because considered equal to the average of grains taken from the middle of the ears of wheat. 7,000 grains constitute the pound avoirdupois, and 5,760 grains the pound troy. A grain is equal to .0648 gram. See Gram.

5. A reddish dye made from the coccus insect, or kermes; hence, a red color of any tint or hue, as crimson, scarlet, etc.; sometimes used by the poets as equivalent to Tyrian purple. All in a robe of darkest grain. Milton. Doing as the dyers do, who, having first dipped their silks in colors of less value, then give' them the last tincture of crimson in grain. Quoted by Coleridge, preface to Aids to Reflection.

6. The composite particles of any substance; that arrangement of the particles of any body which determines its comparative roughness or hardness; texture; as, marble, sugar, sandstone, etc., of fine grain. Hard box, and linden of a softer grain. Dryden.

7. The direction, arrangement, or appearance of the fibers in wood, or of the strata in stone, slate, etc. Knots, by the conflux of meeting sap, Infect the sound pine and divert his grain Tortive and errant from his course of growth. Shak.

8. The fiber which forms the substance of wood or of any fibrous material.

9. The hair side of a piece of leather, or the marking on that side. Knight.

10. pl.

Definition: The remains of grain, etc., after brewing or distillation; hence, any residuum. Also called draff.

11. (Bot.)

Definition: A rounded prominence on the back of a sepal, as in the common dock. See Grained, a., 4.

12. Temper; natural disposition; inclination. [Obs.] Brothers . . . not united in grain. Hayward.

13. A sort of spice, the grain of paradise. [Obs.] He cheweth grain and licorice, To smellen sweet. Chaucer. Against the grain, against or across the direction of the fibers; hence, against one's wishes or tastes; unwillingly; unpleasantly; reluctantly; with difficulty. Swift.Saintsbury.-- A grain of allowance, a slight indulgence or latitude a small allowance.

– Grain binder, an attachment to a harvester for binding the grain into sheaves.

– Grain colors, dyes made from the coccus or kermes in sect.

– Grain leather. (a) Dressed horse hides. (b) Goat, seal, and other skins blacked on the grain side for women's shoes, etc.

– Grain moth (Zoöl.), one of several small moths, of the family Tineidæ (as Tinea granella and Butalis cereAlella), whose larvæ devour grain in storehouses.

– Grain side (Leather), the side of a skin or hide from which the hair has been removed; -- opposed to flesh side.

– Grains of paradise, the seeds of a species of amomum.

– grain tin, crystalline tin ore metallic tin smelted with charcoal.

– Grain weevil (Zoöl.), a small red weevil (Sitophilus granarius), which destroys stored wheat and othar grain, by eating out the interior.

– Grain worm (Zoöl.), the larva of the grain moth. See grain moth, above.

– In grain, of a fast color; deeply seated; fixed; innate; genuine. "Anguish in grain." Herbert.-- To dye in grain, to dye of a fast color by means of the coccus or kermes grain [see Grain, n., 5]; hence, to dye firmly; also, to dye in the wool, or in the raw material. See under Dye. The red roses flush up in her cheeks . . . Likce crimson dyed in grain. Spenser.

– To go against the grain of (a person), to be repugnant to; to vex, irritate, mortify, or trouble.

Grain, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Grained; p. pr. & vb. n. Graining.]

1. To paint in imitation of the grain of wood, marble, etc.

2. To form (powder, sugar, etc.) into grains.

3. To take the hair off (skins); to soften and raise the grain of (leather, etc.).

Grain, v. i. Etym: [F. grainer, grener. See Grain, n.]

1. To yield fruit. [Obs.] Gower.

2. To form grains, or to assume a granular ferm, as the result of crystallization; to granulate.

Grain, n. Etym: [See Groin a part of the body.]

1. A branch of a tree; a stalk or stem of a plant. [Obs.] G. Douglas.

2. A tine, prong, or fork. Specifically: (a) One the branches of a valley or of a river. (b) pl.

Definition: An iron first speak or harpoon, having four or more barbed points.

3. A blade of a sword, knife, etc.

4. (Founding)

Definition: A thin piece of metal, used in a mold to steady a core.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

24 April 2024

DECIDE

(verb) reach, make, or come to a decision about something; “We finally decided after lengthy deliberations”


coffee icon

Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, the largest coffee press is 230 cm (7 ft 6 in) in height and 72 cm (2 ft 4 in) in diameter and was created by Salzillo Tea and Coffee (Spain) in Murcia, Spain, in February 2007. The cafetière consists of a stainless steel container, a filtering piston, and a superior lid.

coffee icon