grind
/graind/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun:
- The act of reducing something to small particles or powder: The physical process of crushing, pulverizing, or wearing down by friction.
- Hard, monotonous, and routine work: A tedious and repetitive task or daily routine.
- The degree of fineness of a ground substance: The coarseness or fineness of particles after grinding, especially for coffee.
- A student who studies excessively and is considered dull or boring: (Informal, often derogatory) A person who studies very hard in a way perceived as uninteresting or obsessive.
Verb:
- To reduce to small particles or powder by crushing or friction: To pulverize, crush, or mill a substance.
- To shape, sharpen, or smooth by friction against a rough surface: To wear down or polish by abrasion, such as sharpening a blade.
- To press or rub together with a harsh, grating sound: To make a noise by friction, often involuntarily.
- To operate or produce by turning a crank: To produce something, often mechanically or laboriously.
- To work or study very hard and monotonously: To engage in tedious, laborious effort.
- To dance in a suggestive manner involving hip rotations: (Informal) A style of erotic dancing involving close contact.
Examples of Usage
Noun:
- The grind of the coffee beans filled the kitchen with a rich aroma. (Referring to the act/particle size.)
- He was tired of the daily grind at the factory. (Referring to monotonous work.)
- This espresso requires a fine grind. (Referring to particle fineness.)
- He was labeled a grind because he spent all his time in the library. (Referring to a studious person.)
Verb:
- Please grind the peppercorns for the sauce. (To reduce to particles.)
- The sculptor will grind the marble to a smooth finish. (To shape by abrasion.)
- She would grind her teeth in her sleep. (To rub together with sound.)
- The old organ grinder would grind out tunes on the street corner. (To produce mechanically.)
- I have to grind away at this report all night. (To work hard and tediously.)
Advanced Usage
- "the grind": Used idiomatically to refer to the exhausting routine of daily work or life.
- After ten years, he finally escaped the corporate grind.
- "grind to a halt": To gradually slow down and stop completely.
- Traffic ground to a halt during the snowstorm.
- "grind one's gears": (Informal) To annoy or irritate someone greatly.
- His constant complaining really grinds my gears.
Variants and Related Words
- Grinder (n): A machine or device for grinding; a person who grinds (e.g., a knife grinder); (informal) a sandwich on a long roll.
- Grinding (adj/n): Describing something that is harsh, oppressive, or wearing (e.g., grinding poverty); the present participle or gerund of the verb.
- Ground (v): The past tense and past participle of 'grind'.
Synonyms
- Verb: Crush, pulverize, mill, grate, rasp, polish, sharpen, drudge, toil, labor.
- Noun: Drudgery, toil, chore, routine, pulverization.
Related Phrasal Verbs
- Grind away (at something): To work hard at something for a long time, especially something tedious.
- She's been grinding away at her dissertation for months.
- Grind down: To weaken or destroy someone's spirit or resistance through prolonged pressure.
- The oppressive regime slowly ground down the people's will to resist.
- Grind on: To continue for a long time in a tedious, monotonous way.
- The negotiations ground on for weeks without resolution.
- Grind out: To produce something, especially mechanically, routinely, or with effort but without inspiration.
- The writer ground out three novels a year.
Related Idioms
- Have an axe to grind: To have a private, often selfish, motive or goal for doing something.
- He's praising the new policy, but I think he has an axe to grind.
- Grind one's own axe: To pursue one's own personal interests or agenda.
- The daily grind: The monotonous routine of everyday work or responsibilities.
Noun
- the act of grinding to a powder or dust
- hard monotonous routine work
- the grade of particle fineness to which a substance is ground
- a coarse grind of coffee
- an insignificant student who is ridiculed as being affected or boringly studious
Verb
- shape or form by grinding
- grind lenses for glasses and cameras
- created by grinding
- grind designs into the glass bowl
- reduce to small pieces or particles by pounding or abrading
- grind the spices in a mortar
- mash the garlic
- dance by rotating the pelvis in an erotically suggestive way, often while in contact with one's partner such that the dancers' legs are interlaced
- work hard
- She was digging away at her math homework
- Lexicographers drudge all day long
- make a grating or grinding sound by rubbing together
- grate one's teeth in anger
- press or grind with a crushing noise