grain definition | Dictionary.com

grain

[greyn]

–noun

1.	a small, hard seed, esp. the seed of a food plant such as wheat, corn, rye, oats, rice, or millet.

2.	the gathered seed of food plants, esp. of cereal plants.

3.	such plants collectively.

4.	any small, hard particle, as of sand, gold, pepper, or gunpowder.

the smallest unit of weight in most systems, originally determined by the weight of a plump grain of wheat. In the U.S. and British systems, as in avoirdupois, troy, and apothecaries' weights, the grain is identical. In an avoirdupois ounce there are 437.5 grains; in the troy and apothecaries' ounces there are 480 grains (one grain equals 0.0648 gram).

6.	the smallest possible amount of anything: a grain of truth.

7.	the arrangement or direction of fibers in wood, or the pattern resulting from this.

8.	the direction in which the fibers of a piece of dressed wood, as a board, rise to the surface: You should work with or across the grain, but never against.

9.	the side of leather from which the hair has been removed.

10.	a stamped pattern that imitates the natural grain of leather: used either on leather to simulate a different type of natural leather, or on coated cloth.

11.

Textiles.

a.	the fibers or yarn in a piece of fabric as differentiated from the fabric itself.

b.	the direction of threads in a woven fabric in relation to the selvage.

12.	the lamination or cleavage of stone, coal, etc.

13.	Metallurgy. any of the individual crystalline particles forming a metal.

14.	Jewelry. a unit of weight equal to 50 milligrams or ¹/₄ carat, used for pearls and sometimes for diamonds.

15.	the size of constituent particles of any substance; texture: sugar of fine grain.

16.	a granular texture or appearance: a stone of coarse grain.

17.	a state of crystallization: boiled to the grain.

18.	temper or natural character: two brothers of similar grain.

19.	Rocketry. a unit of solid propellant.

20.	Obsolete. color or hue.

–verb (used with object)

21.	to form into grains; granulate.

22.	to give a granular appearance to.

23.	to paint in imitation of the grain of wood, stone, etc.: metal doors grained to resemble oak.

24.	to feed grain to (an animal).

25.

Tanning.

a.	to remove the hair from (skins).

b.	to soften and raise the grain of (leather).

—Idioms

26.	against the or one's grain, in opposition to one's temper, inclination, or character: Haggling always went against her grain.

27.	with a grain of salt. salt ¹ (def. 23).

Origin:
1250–1300; ME grain, grein < OF grain < L grānum seed, grain; see corn ¹

Related forms:

grainer, noun

grainless, adjective

Synonyms:
6. bit, speck, trace, jot, iota, whit, tittle.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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grain (grān)

1. A small, dry, one-seeded fruit of a cereal grass, having the fruit and the seed walls united: a single grain of wheat; gleaned the grains from the ground one at a time. Also called caryopsis.
2. The fruits of cereal grasses especially after having been harvested, considered as a group: The grain was stored in a silo.
3. A cereal grass: Wheat is a grain grown in Kansas.
4. Cereal grasses considered as a group: Grain is grown along the river.
5. A relatively small discrete particulate or crystalline mass: a grain of sand.
6. A small amount or the smallest amount possible: hasn't a grain of sense.
7. The side of a hide or piece of leather from which the hair or fur has been removed.
8. The pattern or markings on this side of leather.
9. Basic temperament or nature; disposition.
10. An essential quality or characteristic.
1. A cereal grass: Wheat is a grain grown in Kansas.
2. Cereal grasses considered as a group: Grain is grown along the river.
3. A relatively small discrete particulate or crystalline mass: a grain of sand.
4. A small amount or the smallest amount possible: hasn't a grain of sense.
5. The side of a hide or piece of leather from which the hair or fur has been removed.
6. The pattern or markings on this side of leather.
7. Basic temperament or nature; disposition.
8. An essential quality or characteristic.
1. A relatively small discrete particulate or crystalline mass: a grain of sand.
2. A small amount or the smallest amount possible: hasn't a grain of sense.
3. The side of a hide or piece of leather from which the hair or fur has been removed.
4. The pattern or markings on this side of leather.
5. Basic temperament or nature; disposition.
6. An essential quality or characteristic.
Aerospace A mass of solid propellant.
Abbr. gr. A unit of weight in the U.S. Customary System, an avoirdupois unit equal to 0.002285 ounce (0.065 gram). See Table at measurement.
The arrangement, direction, or pattern of the fibrous tissue in wood.
1. The side of a hide or piece of leather from which the hair or fur has been removed.
2. The pattern or markings on this side of leather.
3. Basic temperament or nature; disposition.
4. An essential quality or characteristic.
The pattern produced, as in stone, by the arrangement of particulate constituents.
The relative size of the particles composing a substance or pattern: a coarse grain.
A painted, stamped, or printed design that imitates the pattern found in wood, leather, or stone.
The direction or texture of fibers in a woven fabric.
A state of fine crystallization.
1. Basic temperament or nature; disposition.
2. An essential quality or characteristic.
Archaic Color; tint.

v. grained, grain·ing, grains

v. tr.

To cause to form into grains; granulate.
To paint, stamp, or print with a design imitating the grain of wood, leather, or stone.
To give a granular or rough texture to.
To remove the hair or fur from (hides) in preparation for tanning.

v. intr.
To form grains.

[Middle English, from Old French graine, from Latin grānum; see gə-no- in Indo-European roots.]
grain'er n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Grain

Grain\, v. & n. See Groan. [Obs.]

Grain

Grain\, n. [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. The remains of grain, etc., after brewing or distillation; hence, any residuum. Also called draff.

11. (Bot.) 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 (Zo["o]l.), one of several small moths, of the family Tineid[ae] (as Tinea granella and Butalis cerealella), whose larv[ae] 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 (Zo["o]l.), a small red weevil (Sitophilus granarius), which destroys stored wheat and othar grain, by eating out the interior.

Grain worm (Zo["o]l.), 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

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

Grain\, v. i. [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

Grain\, n. [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. An iron first speak or harpoon, having four or more barbed points.

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

4. (Founding) A thin piece of metal, used in a mold to steady a core.

Language Translation for : grain

Spanish: grano,

German: das Korn,

Japanese: 穀粒

More Translations »

grain

c.1202, from O.Fr. grein, from L. granum "seed" (see corn). As collective sing. meaning "seed of wheat and allied grasses used as food," it is attested from c.1315. Extended in M.E. to other objects (e.g. salt, sand). Used of wood (1565), from the arrangement of fibers, which resemble seeds. Hence, against the grain (1650), a metaphor from carpentry: cutting across the fibers of the wood is more difficult than cutting along them.

Main Entry: grain
Pronunciation: 'grAn
Function: noun
1 a : a seed or fruit of a cereal grass b : the seeds or fruits of variousfood plants including the cereal grasses and in commercial and statutory usage other plants (as the soybean) c : plants producing grain
2 : a small hard particleor crystal (as of sand or salt)
3 : a unit of avoirdupois, Troy, and apothecaries' weight equal to 0.0648 gram or 0.002286 avoirdupois ounce or 0.002083 Troy ounce—abbreviation gr

grain (grān)
n.

A small, dry, one-seeded fruit of a cereal grass, having the fruit and the seed walls united.
The fruits of cereal grasses especially after having been harvested, considered as a group.
A relatively small discrete particulate or crystalline mass.
Abbr. gr. A unit of weight in the U.S. Customary System, an avoirdupois unit equal to 0.002286 ounce (0.065 gram).

grain (grān) Pronunciation Key

See caryopsis.
A small particle of something, such as salt, pollen, or sand.
A unit of weight in the US Customary System, equal to ²/₁₀₀₀ of an ounce (0.07 gram). See Table at measurement.

GRAIN
A pictorial query language.
["Pictorial Information Systems", S.K. Chang et al eds, Springer 1980].
(1995-01-23)

grain
granularity

Grain

used, in Amos 9:9, of a small stone or kernel; in Matt. 13:31, of an individual seed of mustard; in John 12:24, 1 Cor. 15:37, of wheat. The Hebrews sowed only wheat, barley, and spelt; rye and oats are not mentioned in Scripture.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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grain

see against the grain; with a grain of salt.

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