Thesaurus: grain

Related headwords

Definitions

1. v. & n. See Groan.
2. n. A single small hard seed; a kernel, especially of those plants, like wheat, whose seeds are used for food.
3. n. The fruit of certain grasses which furnish the chief food of man, as corn, wheat, rye, oats, etc., or the plants themselves; -- used collectively.
4. n. 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.
5. n. 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.
6. n. 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.
7. n. 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.
8. n. The direction, arrangement, or appearance of the fibers in wood, or of the strata in stone, slate, etc.
9. n. The fiber which forms the substance of wood or of any fibrous material.
10. n. The hair side of a piece of leather, or the marking on that side.
11. n. The remains of grain, etc., after brewing or distillation; hence, any residuum. Also called draff.
12. n. A rounded prominence on the back of a sepal, as in the common dock. See Grained, a., 4.
13. a. Temper; natural disposition; inclination.
14. a. A sort of spice, the grain of paradise.
15. v. t. To paint in imitation of the grain of wood, marble, etc.
16. v. t. To form (powder, sugar, etc.) into grains.
17. v. t. To take the hair off (skins); to soften and raise the grain of (leather, etc.).
18. n. To yield fruit.
19. n. To form grains, or to assume a granular ferm, as the result of crystallization; to granulate.
20. n. A branch of a tree; a stalk or stem of a plant.
21. n. A tine, prong, or fork.
22. n. One the branches of a valley or of a river.
23. n. An iron first speak or harpoon, having four or more barbed points.
24. n. A blade of a sword, knife, etc.
25. n. A thin piece of metal, used in a mold to steady a core.