Grain

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Grain, v. & n. 

 See Groan.  [1913 Webster]

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.].

•  A single small hard seed; a kernel, especially of those plants, like wheat, whose seeds are used for food.  [1913 Webster]
•  The fruit of certain grasses which furnish the chief food of man, as corn, wheat, rye, oats, etc., or the plants themselves; -- used collectively.  [1913 Webster]

  "Storehouses crammed with grain."  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  "I . . . with a grain of manhood well resolved."  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  "All in a robe of darkest grain."  [1913 Webster]

  "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."  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  "Hard box, and linden of a softer grain."  [1913 Webster]
•  The direction, arrangement, or appearance of the fibers in wood, or of the strata in stone, slate, etc.  [1913 Webster]

  "Knots, by the conflux of meeting sap,
  Infect the sound pine and divert his grain
  Tortive and errant from his course of growth."  [1913 Webster]
•  The fiber which forms the substance of wood or of any fibrous material.  [1913 Webster]
•  The hair side of a piece of leather, or the marking on that side.  Knight.  [1913 Webster]
•  The remains of grain, etc., after brewing or distillation; hence, any residuum. Also called draff.  [1913 Webster]
•  A rounded prominence on the back of a sepal, as in the common dock. See Grained, a., 4.  [1913 Webster]
•  Temper; natural disposition; inclination.  [1913 Webster]

  "Brothers . . . not united in grain."  [1913 Webster]
•  A sort of spice, the grain of paradise.  [1913 Webster]

  "He cheweth grain and licorice,
  To smellen sweet."  [1913 Webster]

  "The red roses flush up in her cheeks . . .
  Likce crimson dyed in grain."

Grain, v. t. 

•  To paint in imitation of the grain of wood, marble, etc.  [1913 Webster]
•  To form (powder, sugar, etc.) into grains.  [1913 Webster]
•  To take the hair off (skins); to soften and raise the grain of (leather, etc.).  [1913 Webster]

Grain, v. i. [F. grainer, grener. See Grain, n.].

•  To yield fruit.  Gower.  [1913 Webster]
•  To form grains, or to assume a granular form, as the result of crystallization; to granulate.  [1913 Webster]

Grain, n. [See Groin a part of the body.].

•  A branch of a tree; a stalk or stem of a plant.  G. Douglas.  [1913 Webster]
•  A tine, prong, or fork.  [1913 Webster]
•  A blade of a sword, knife, etc.  [1913 Webster]
•  A thin piece of metal, used in a mold to steady a core.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Grain, n. & v.
--n.
1 a fruit or seed of a cereal.
2 a (collect.) wheat or any allied grass used as food, corn. b (collect.) their fruit. c any particular species of corn.
3 a a small hard particle of salt, sand, etc. b a discrete particle or crystal, usu. small, in a rock or metal. c a piece of solid propellant for use in a rocket engine.
4 the smallest unit of weight in the troy system (equivalent to 1/480 of an ounce), and in the avoirdupois system (equivalent to 1/437.5 of an ounce).
5 the smallest possible quantity (not a grain of truth in it).
6 a roughness of surface. b Photog. a granular appearance on a photograph or negative.
7 the texture of skin, wood, stone, etc.; the arrangement and size of constituent particles.
8 a a pattern of lines of fibre in wood or paper. b lamination or planes of cleavage in stone, coal, etc.
9 nature, temper, tendency.
10 a hist. kermes or cochineal, or dye made from either of these. b poet. dye; colour.
--v.
1 tr. paint in imitation of the grain of wood or marble.
2 tr. give a granular surface to.
3 tr. dye in grain.
4 tr. & intr. form into grains.
5 tr. remove hair from (hides).

Idiom

against the grain contrary to one's natural inclination or feeling. grain-leather leather dressed with grain-side out. grain-side the side of a hide on which the hair was. grains of Paradise capsules of a W. African plant (Aframomum melegueta), used as a spice and a drug. in grain thorough, genuine, by nature, downright, indelible.

Derivative

grained adj. (also in comb.). grainer n. grainless adj.

Etymology

ME f. OF f. L granum

THESAURUS

Grain

abrade, ace, acorn, aftergrass, animus, apply paint, aptitude, atom, atomize, bamboo, barley, beat, bedaub, bedizen, begild, bent, berry, besmear, bias, bird seed, bit, blood, body-build, bran, brand, bray, break up, breccia, brecciate, breed, brush on paint, calcimine, cane, cast, cat food, cereal, cereal plant, character, characteristic, characteristics, chicken feed, chop, clan, coarsen, coat, color, come to dust, comminute, complexion, composition, constituents, constitution, contriturate, corn, cover, crasis, crumb, crumble, crumble into dust, crumble to dust, crush, dab, daub, debris, deep-dye, denomination, description, designation, detritus, dharma, diathesis, dip, disintegrate, disposition, distemper, dog food, dole, dot, double-dye, dram, dribble, driblet, drop, droplet, dwarf, dye, eatage, eccentricity, effloresce, emblazon, enamel, engild, ensilage, ethos, face, fall to dust, fall to pieces, farinaceous plant, farthing, fast-dye, feather, feed, feel, fiber, finish, flaxseed, fleck, flour, flyspeck, fodder, fog, forage, forage grass, form, fragment, frame, fresco, fruit, genius, genre, genus, gild, glaze, gloss, gnat, gobbet, graminaceous plant, granular texture, granulate, granule, granulet, granulize, grass, grate, gravel, grind, grind to powder, grist, grit, groat, habit, hair, handful, hay, hayseed, hint, hue, humor, humors, idiosyncrasy, ilk, illuminate, imbue, inclination, indentation, individualism, ingrain, iota, japan, jot, kernel, kidney, kin, kind, knub, label, lacquer, lawn grass, lay on color, leaning, levigate, line, linseed, little, little bit, lot, lota, make, makeup, manner, mark, mash, meal, mental set, mettle, microbe, microorganism, midge, mill, mind, mind-set, minim, minimum, minutia, minutiae, mite, modicum, mold, molecule, morsel, mote, nap, nature, nub, number, nut, nutshell, oats, ornamental grass, ounce, paint, parget, particle, pasturage, pasture, pattern, pebble, persuasion, pestle, pet food, phylum, physique, pigment, pile, pinch, pinhead, pinpoint, pip, pit, pittance, pock, point, pound, powder, predilection, predisposition, preference, prime, proclivity, propensity, property, protuberance, provender, pulverize, quality, race, reduce to powder, reed, roughen, sand, scintilla, scrap, scratch, scratch feed, scrunch, scruple, seed, set, shade, shadow, shag, shape, shard, shellac, shingle, shred, silage, slant, slop on paint, slops, smash, smear, smidgen, smidgin, smitch, smooth, snip, snippet, somatotype, sort, soupcon, species, speck, spirit, spoonful, spot, squash, stain, stamp, stipple, stone, strain, straw, streak, stripe, structure, style, suchness, suggestion, surface, surface texture, swill, system, taste, temper, temperament, tendency, tenor, texture, the like of, the likes of, thimbleful, tinct, tincture, tinge, tint, tiny bit, tittle, tone, tooth, trace, tribe, trifling amount, triturate, trivia, turn, turn of mind, twist, type, undercoat, vanishing point, variety, varnish, vein, wale, warp, wash, way, weave, wheat, whit, whitewash, woof

ROGET THESAURUS

Grain

Intrinsicality

N intrinsicality, inbeing, inherence, inhesion, subjectiveness, ego, egohood, essence, noumenon, essentialness, essential part, quintessence, incarnation, quiddity, gist, pith, marrow, core, sap, lifeblood, backbone, heart, soul, important part, principle, nature, constitution, character, type, quality, crasis, diathesis, habit, temper, temperament, spirit, humor, grain, disposition, endowment, capacity, capability, moods, declensions, features, aspects, peculiarities, idiosyncrasy, oddity, idiocrasy, diagnostics, derived from within, subjective, intrinsic, intrinsical, fundamental, normal, implanted, inherent, essential, natural, innate, inborn, inbred, ingrained, inwrought, coeval with birth, genetous, haematobious, syngenic, radical, incarnate, thoroughbred, hereditary, inherited, immanent, congenital, congenite, connate, running in the blood, ingenerate, ingenite, indigenous, in the grain, bred in the bone, instinctive, inward, internal, to the manner born, virtual, characteristic, invariable, incurable, incorrigible, ineradicable, fixed, intrinsically, at bottom, in the main, in effect, practically, virtually, substantially, au fond, fairly, character is higher than intellect, come give us a taste of your quality, magnos homines virtute metimur non fortuna, non numero haec judicantur sed pondere, vital spark of heavenly flame.

Smallness

N smallness, littleness, tenuity, paucity, fewness, meanness, insignificance (unimportance), mediocrity, moderation, small quantity, modicum, trace, hint, minimum, vanishing point, material point, atom, particle, molecule, corpuscle, point, speck, dot, mote, jot, iota, ace, minutiae, details, look, thought, idea, soupcon, dab, dight, whit, tittle, shade, shadow, spark, scintilla, gleam, touch, cast, grain, scruple, granule, globule, minim, sup, sip, sop, spice, drop, droplet, sprinkling, dash, morceau, screed, smack, tinge, tincture, inch, patch, scantling, tatter, cantlet, flitter, gobbet, mite, bit, morsel, crumb, seed, fritter, shive, snip, snippet, snick, snack, snatch, slip, scrag, chip, chipping, shiver, sliver, driblet, clipping, paring, shaving, hair, nutshell, thimbleful, spoonful, handful, capful, mouthful, fragment, fraction, drop in the ocean, animalcule, trifle, mere nothing, next to nothing, hardly anything, just enough to swear by, the shadow of a shade, finiteness, finite quantity, small, little, diminutive, minute, fine, inconsiderable, paltry, faint, slender, light, slight, scanty, scant, limited, meager, sparing, few, low, so-so, middling, tolerable, no great shakes, below par, under par, below the mark, at a low ebb, halfway, moderate, modest, tender, subtle, inappreciable, evanescent, infinitesimal, homeopathic, very small, atomic, corpuscular, microscopic, molecular, subatomic, mere, simple, sheer, stark, bare, near run, dull, petty, shallow, stolid, ungifted, unintelligent, to a small extent, on a small scale, a little bit, a wee bit, slightly, imperceptibly, miserably, wretchedly, insufficiently, imperfectly, faintly, passably, pretty well, well enough, partially, in part, in a certain degree, to a certain degree, to a certain extent, comparatively, some, rather in some degree, in some measure, something, somewhat, simply, only, purely, merely, at least, at the least, at most, at the most, ever so little, as little as may be, tant soit peu, in ever so small a degree, thus far, pro tanto, within bounds, in a manner, after a fashion, so to speak, almost, nearly, well-nigh, short of, not quite, all but, near upon, close upon, peu s'en faut, near the mark, within an ace of, within an inch of, on the brink of, scarcely, hardly, barely, only just, no more than, about, thereabouts, somewhere about, nearly, say, be the same, be little more or less, no ways, no way, no wise, not at all, not in the least, not a bit, not a bit of it, not a whit, not a jot, not a shadow, in no wise, in no respect, by no means, by no manner of means, on no account, at no hand, dare pondus idonea fumo, magno conatu magnas nugas, small sands the mountain, moments make the year.

Affections

N affections, affect, character, qualities, disposition, nature, spirit, tone, temper, temperament, diathesis, idiosyncrasy, cast of mind, cast of soul, habit of mind, habit of soul, frame of mind, frame of soul, predilection, turn, natural turn of mind, bent, bias, predisposition, proneness, proclivity, propensity, propenseness, propension, propendency, vein, humor, mood, grain, mettle, sympathy, soul, heart, breast, bosom, inner man, heart's core, heart's strings, heart's blood, heart of hearts, bottom of one's heart, penetralia mentis, secret and inmost recesses of the heart, cockles of one's heart, inmost heart, inmost soul, backbone, passion, pervading spirit, ruling passion, master passion, furore, fullness of the heart, heyday of the blood, flesh and blood, flow of soul, energy, fervor, fire, force, affected, characterized, formed, molded, cast, attempered, tempered, framed, predisposed, prone, inclined, having a bias, tinctured with, imbued with, penetrated with, eaten up with, inborn, inbred, ingrained, deep-rooted, ineffaceable, inveterate, pathoscopic, congenital, dyed in the wool, implanted by nature, inherent, in the grain, affective, in one's heart, at heart, heart and soul, affection is a coal that must be cool'd else suffe.

Tendency

N tendency, aptness, aptitude, proneness, proclivity, bent, turn, tone, bias, set, leaning to, predisposition, inclination, propensity, susceptibility, conatus, nisus, liability, quality, nature, temperament, idiocrasy, idiosyncrasy, cast, vein, grain, humor, mood, drift, conduciveness, conducement, applicability, subservience, tending, conducive, working towards, in a fair way to, calculated to, liable, subservient, useful, subsidiary, for, whither.

Ornament

VB ornament, overlay with ornament, overcharge, smell of the lamp, ornament, embellish, enrich, decorate, adorn, bead, beautify, adonize, smarten, furbish, polish, gild, varnish, whitewash, enamel, japan, lacquer, paint, grain, garnish, trim, dizen, bedizen, prink, prank, trick out, fig out, deck, bedeck, dight, bedight, array, begawd, titivate, dress, dress up, spangle, bespangle, powder, embroider, work, chase, emboss, fret, emblazon, illuminate, illustrate, become.

Roughness

N roughness, tooth, grain, texture, ripple, asperity, rugosity, salebrosity, corrugation, nodosity, arborescence, pilosity, brush, hair, beard, shag, mane, whisker, moustache, imperial, tress, lock, curl, ringlet, fimbriae, pili, cilia, villi, lovelock, beaucatcher, curl paper, goatee, papillote, scalp lock, plumage, plumosity, plume, panache, crest, feather, tuft, fringe, toupee, wool, velvet, plush, nap, pile, floss, fur, down, byssus, moss, bur, fluff, knot (convolution), rough, uneven, scabrous, scaly, knotted, rugged, rugose, rugous, knurly, asperous, crisp, salebrous, gnarled, unpolished, unsmooth, roughhewn, craggy, cragged, crankling, scraggy, prickly, arborescent, leafy, well-wooded, feathery, plumose, plumigerous, laciniate, laciniform, laciniose, pappose, pileous, pilose, trichogenous, trichoid, tufted, fimbriated, hairy, ciliated, filamentous, hirsute, crinose, crinite, bushy, hispid, villous, pappous, bearded, pilous, shaggy, shagged, fringed, befringed, setous, setose, setaceous, like quills upon the fretful porcupine, rough as a nutmeg grater, rough as a bear, downy, velvety, flocculent, woolly, lanate, lanated, lanuginous, lanuginose, tomentose, fluffy, against the grain, cabello luengo y corto el seso.

Gravity

N gravity, gravitation, weight, heaviness, specific gravity, pondorosity, pressure, load, burden, burthen, ballast, counterpoise, lump of, mass of, weight of, lead, millstone, mountain, Ossa on Pelion, weighing, ponderation, trutination, weights, avoirdupois weight, troy weight, apothecaries' weight, grain, scruple, drachma, ounce, pound, lb, arroba, load, stone, hundredweight, cwt, ton, long ton, metric ton, quintal, carat, pennyweight, tod, gram, centigram, milligram, microgram, kilogram, nanogram, picogram, femtogram, attogram, balance, scale, scales, steelyard, beam, weighbridge, spring balance, piezoelectric balance, analytical balance, two-pan balance, one-pan balance, postal scale, baby scale, statics, weighty, weighing, heavy as lead, ponderous, ponderable, lumpish, lumpy, cumbersome, burdensome, cumbrous, unwieldy, massive, incumbent, superincumbent.

Texture

N texture, structure (form), organization, anatomy, frame, mold, fabric, construction, framework, carcass, architecture, stratification, cleavage, substance, stuff, compages, parenchyma, constitution, staple, organism, organography, osteology, myology, splanchnology, neurology, angiography, adeology, angiography, adenography, texture, surface texture, intertexture, contexture, tissue, grain, web, surface, warp and woof, warp and weft, tooth, nap, flatness (smoothness), fineness of grain, coarseness of grain, dry goods, silk, satin, muslin, burlap, histology, structural, organic, anatomic, anatomical, textural, textile, fine grained, coarse grained, fine, delicate, subtile, gossamery, filmy, silky, satiny, coarse, homespun, rough, gritty, smooth, smooth as silk, smooth as satin.

Pulverulence

N powderiness, pulverulence, sandiness, efflorescence, friability, powder, dust, sand, shingle, sawdust, grit, meal, bran, flour, farina, rice, paddy, spore, sporule, crumb, seed, grain, particle, limature, filings, debris, detritus, tailings, talus slope, scobs, magistery, fine powder, flocculi, smoke, cloud of dust, cloud of sand, cloud of smoke, puff of smoke, volume of smoke, sand storm, dust storm, pulverization, comminution, attenuation, granulation, disintegration, subaction, contusion, trituration, levigation, abrasion, detrition, multure, limitation, tripsis, filing, mill, arrastra, gristmill, grater, rasp, file, mortar and pestle, nutmeg grater, teeth, grinder, grindstone, kern, quern, koniology, powdery, pulverulent, granular, mealy, floury, farinaceous, branny, furfuraceous, flocculent, dusty, sandy, sabulous, psammous, arenose, arenarious, arenaceous, gritty, efflorescent, impalpable, lentiginous, lepidote, sabuline, sporaceous, sporous, pulverizable, friable, crumbly, shivery, pulverized, attrite, in pieces.

Color

VB color, dye, tinge, stain, tint, tinct, paint, wash, ingrain, grain, illuminate, emblazon, bedizen, imbue, paint.