The expression “coffee break” was first attested in 1952 in glossy magazine advertisements by the Pan-American Coffee Bureau.
GRINDINGLY
Etymology
Adverb
grindingly (comparative more grindingly, superlative most grindingly)
With a grinding sound or motion.
With tedious repetition; mechanically.
It was a grindingly dull lecture.
Source: Wiktionary
Grind"ing*ly, adv.
Definition: In a grinding manner. [Colloq.]
GRINDING
Grind"ing, a. & n.
Definition: from Grind. Grinding frame, an English name for a cotton spinning machine.
– Grinding mill. (a) A mill for grinding grain. (b) A lapidary's lathe.
GRIND
Grind, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ground; p. pr. & vb. n. Grinding.] Etym: [AS. grindan; perh. akin to L. frendere to gnash, grind. Cf. Grist.]
1. To reduce to powder by friction, as in a mill, or with the teeth; to crush into small fragments; to produce as by the action of millstones. Take the millstones, and grind meal. Is. xivii. 2.
2. To wear down, polish, or sharpen, by friction; to make smooth, sharp, or pointed; to whet, as a knife or drill; to rub against one another, as teeth, etc.
3. To oppress by severe exactions; to harass. To grind the subject or defraud the prince. Dryden.
4. To study hard for examination. [College Slang]
Grind, v. i.
1. To perform the operation of grinding something; to turn the millstones. Send thee Into the common prison, there to grind. Milton.
2. To become ground or pulverized by friction; as, this corn grinds well.
3. To become polished or sharpened by friction; as, glass grinds smooth; steel grinds to a sharp edge.
4. To move with much difficulty or friction; to grate.
5. To perform hard aud distasteful service; to drudge; to study hard, as for an examination. Farrar.
Grind, n.
1. The act of reducing to powder, or of sharpening, by friction.
2. Any severe continuous work or occupation; esp., hard and uninteresting study. [Colloq.] T. Hughes.
3. A hard student; a dig. [College Slang]
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
18 January 2025
SHTIK
(noun) (Yiddish) a little; a piece; “give him a shtik cake”; “he’s a shtik crazy”; “he played a shtik Beethoven”
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