grain

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

Noun

  1. The harvested seeds of various grass food crops eg: wheat, corn, barley.
    • We stored a thousand tons of grain for the winter.
  2. Similar seeds from any food crop, e.g., buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa.
  3. A single seed of grass food crops.
    • a grain of wheat
    • grains of oat
  4. The crops from which grain is harvested.
    • The fields were planted with grain.
    • A grain, which in England is generally given to horſes, but which in Scotland ſupports the people. - 1755 April 15, Samuel Johnson, “Oats”, in A Dictionary of the English Language: […], volume II (L–Z), London: […]...
  5. A linear texture of a material or surface.
    • Cut along the grain of the wood.
    • He doesn't like to shave against the grain.
  6. A single particle of a substance.
    • a grain of sand
    • a grain of salt
  7. Any of various small units of mass originally notionally based on grain's weight, variously standardized at different places and times, including

    Synonyms: troy grain

    1. The English grain of ¹⁄₅₇₆₀ troy pound or ¹⁄₇₀₀₀ pound avoirdupois, now exactly 64.79891 mg.

    2. The metric, carat, or pearl grain of ¹⁄₄ carat used for measuring precious stones and pearls, now exactly 50 mg.

    3. (historical) The French grain of ¹⁄₉₂₁₆ livre, equivalent to 53.11 mg at metricization and equal to exactly 54.25 mg from 1812–1839 as part of the mesures usuelles.

  8. Any of various small units of length originally notionally based on a grain's width, variously standardized at different places and times.
  9. The carat grain of ¹⁄₄ carat as a measure of gold purity, creating a 96-point scale between 0% and 100% purity.
  10. A region within a material having a single crystal structure or direction.
  11. The solid piece of fuel in an individual solid-fuel rocket engine.
  12. 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 - 1646 (indicated as 1645), John Milton, “Penseroso”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], →OCLC:
    • […] doing as the dyers do, who, having first dipped their silks in colours of less value, then give them the last tincture of crimson in grain. - a. 1825, Quoted by Coleridge, preface to Aids to Reflection

Origin

From Middle English greyn, grayn, grein, from Old French grain, grein, from Latin grānum (“seed”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm (“grain”). Doublet of corn, gram, granum, and grao.

Forms

grains

Synonyms

grain

Hypernyms

food

Hyponyms

wheat rye rice maize barley millet oat sorghum

Related

coarse-grained fine-grained garnet grain alcohol grain car grain neutral spirit grains of paradise grain spirit granary granular granularity granulate granulation grenade grosgrain guinea grains neutral grain spirit cereal scythe combine field mill

Derived

against the grain ancient grain argyrophilic grain disease brewers' spent grains distillers' grains end grain feedgrain feed grain felt grain foodgrain go against the grain grainage grain beetle grain boundary grain corn grain elevator grain engulfment grain entrapment grainfall grainfield grainflow grainish grain itch grainland

Noun Entry 2

  1. A branch of a tree; a stalk or stem of a plant; an offshoot.
  2. A tine, prong, or fork.

    1. One of the branches of a valley or river.

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

      • Served 5 lb of fish per man which was caught by striking with grains - 4 May 1770, Stephen Forwood (gunner on H.M. Bark Endeavour), journal (quoted by Parkin (page 195)

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

    4. An arm of a cross.

  3. A thin piece of metal, used in a mould to steady a core.
  4. A branch or arm of a stream, inlet, or sea.
  5. A fork in a river valley or ravine.
  6. The branch of a family; clan.
  7. The groin; crotch.
  8. The fangs of a tooth.

Origin

From Middle English grayn, from Old Norse grein (“bough, branch”), from Proto-Germanic *grainiz (“branch, twig, ramification”), of unknown origin. Related to English grove (“thicket”).

Forms

grains grane

Synonyms

grain

Hypernyms

food

Hyponyms

wheat rye rice maize barley millet oat sorghum

Related

scythe combine field granary mill

Verb

  1. To feed grain to.
    • He said that no man loved his horses, unless his own hands grained them. Every Christmas he gave them brimming measures. - 1852, Herman Melville, Pierre; or The Ambiguities:
  2. To make granular; to form into grains.
  3. To form grains, or to assume a granular form, as the result of crystallization; to granulate.
  4. To texture a surface in imitation of the grain of a substance such as wood.
  5. To remove the hair or fat from a skin.
  6. To soften leather.
  7. To yield fruit.

Forms

grains graining grained

Derived

grain up