grind

1 of 2

verb

ground ˈgrau̇nd How to pronounce grind (audio) ; grinding

transitive verb

1
: to reduce to powder or small fragments by friction (as in a mill or with the teeth)
grind the coffee beans
2
: to wear down, polish, or sharpen by friction
grind an ax
3
a
: oppress, harass
tyrants who grind their subjects
b
: to weaken or destroy gradually
usually used with down
poverty ground her spirit down
4
a
: to press together with a rotating motion
grind the teeth
b
: to rub or press harshly
ground the cigarette out
5
: to operate or produce by turning a crank
grind a hand organ

intransitive verb

1
: to perform the operation of grinding
2
: to become pulverized, polished, or sharpened by friction
3
: to move with difficulty or friction especially so as to make a grating noise
gears grinding
4
: drudge
especially : to study hard
grind for an exam
5
: to rotate the hips in an erotic manner
grindingly adverb

grind

2 of 2

noun

1
a
: an act of grinding
b
: the sound of grinding
2
a
: dreary, monotonous, or difficult labor, study, or routine
the dull grind of office work
b
: one who works or studies excessively
a grind who never goes to parties
3
: the result of grinding
also : material ground to a particular degree of fineness
a drip grind of coffee
4
: an action of rotating the hips in an erotic manner (as in a dance or in a burlesque striptease act) compare bump entry 1 sense 3
Choose the Right Synonym for grind

work, labor, travail, toil, drudgery, grind mean activity involving effort or exertion.

work may imply activity of body, of mind, of a machine, or of a natural force.

too tired to do any work

labor applies to physical or intellectual work involving great and often strenuous exertion.

farmers demanding fair compensation for their labor

travail is bookish for labor involving pain or suffering.

years of travail were lost when the house burned

toil implies prolonged and fatiguing labor.

his lot would be years of back-breaking toil

drudgery suggests dull and irksome labor.

an editorial job with a good deal of drudgery

grind implies labor exhausting to mind or body.

the grind of the assembly line

Examples of grind in a Sentence

Verb The corn is ground into meal. The steel grinds to a sharp edge. She kept grinding the car's gears. He grinds his teeth in his sleep. I could hear the gears grinding. Noun I need a break from the daily grind. the dull grind of office work
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Saadat, who is of Persian heritage, has a dedicated brass mortar and pestle to finely grind saffron and a Japanese suribachi for crushing cardamom. Naz Deravian, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Mar. 2024 Tahira Ehsan does about half the prep and cooking — hand grinding the spices, sweating down the alliums and mashing them into an onion paste — at her home. Travis M. Andrews, Washington Post, 12 Mar. 2024 The score was most indicative of the slow, grinding nature of the semifinal. Matt Schubert, The Denver Post, 8 Mar. 2024 That's why my advice is to always buy locally roasted coffee beans and grind them at home (with a burr grinder). Jaina Grey, WIRED, 7 Mar. 2024 Mainland China and Hong Kong overcame morning losses to grind higher on high volumes that were over 100% of the 1-year average, an indication that someone is buying. Brendan Ahern, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024 If a wheel is deformed, another machine in the shop can grind it true. David Waldstein, New York Times, 1 Mar. 2024 Maine lobster was ground to a velvety texture, tucked into pasta and cooked to just the right amount of doneness, then covered in a tomato cream sauce dotted with roasted garlic cloves. Benjy Egel, Sacramento Bee, 29 Feb. 2024 The cinnamon originated in Sri Lanka and was shipped to Ecuador, where it was ground into a powder. Will Fitzgibbon, New York Times, 27 Feb. 2024
Noun
The former will give you more control over the coarseness of the grind, while a spice grinder will cover more ground faster. Carly Westerfield, Bon Appétit, 9 Mar. 2024 The next decades were a grind of incremental medical progress: A child born with CF in the ’50s could expect to live until age 5. Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic, 7 Mar. 2024 Manual entries, from medical expenses to schedule E’s and C’s, are part of the daily grind. Bryce Welker, Miami Herald, 7 Mar. 2024 In reality, an orchestra is about three buses worth of co-workers; the concert hall is a conspicuously spacious office; and the tour is nothing if not a daily grind — albeit a dazzling one. Michael Andor Brodeur, Washington Post, 6 Mar. 2024 But Credit Karma’s research shows that some are embracing a penny-pinching lifestyle to turn that dream of escaping the conventional grind into a reality. Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 1 Mar. 2024 This one played out as expected, a physical grind in which the ball seemed like a magnet for defenders. Darren Sabedra, The Mercury News, 24 Feb. 2024 Despite these risks, for many, the financial prospects of entrepreneurship prove to be a strong motivator in their decision to leave the 9-5 grind behind. Melissa Houston, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2024 Netflix gets the look and action right in a lavish series based on the Nickelodeon show, but too-elemental dialogue and uneven performances make this eight-episode sit a bit of a grind for anyone who has gotten past puberty. Brian Lowry, CNN, 22 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'grind.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb and Noun

Middle English, from Old English grindan; akin to Latin frendere to crush, grind

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of grind was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near grind

Cite this Entry

“Grind.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grind. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

grind

1 of 2 verb
ground ˈgrau̇nd How to pronounce grind (audio) ; grinding
1
: to reduce to powder or pieces by friction (as in a mill or with the teeth)
2
: to wear down, polish, or sharpen by friction : whet
3
: to press with a scraping noise : grit
4
5
a
: to operate or produce by turning a crank
b
: to produce by steady hard work
grind out an essay
6
: to move with difficulty or friction especially so as to make a scraping noise
grind the gears

grind

2 of 2 noun
1
a
: an act of grinding
b
: the sound of grinding
2
a
: steady hard work
especially : study that takes much effort
b
: a student who studies too much
3
: the result of grinding
especially : the size of particle obtained by grinding

Medical Definition

grind

transitive verb
ground ˈgrau̇nd How to pronounce grind (audio) ; grinding
1
: to reduce to powder or small fragments by friction (as with the teeth)
2
: to press together and move with a rotating or back-and-forth motion see bruxism

More from Merriam-Webster on grind

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