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Grain   /greɪn/   Listen
noun
Grain  n.  
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."
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."
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." "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."
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."
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."
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.
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."
13.
A sort of spice, the grain of paradise. (Obs.) "He cheweth grain and licorice, To smellen sweet."
Against the grain, against or across the direction of the fibers; hence, against one's wishes or tastes; unwillingly; unpleasantly; reluctantly; with difficulty.
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 insect.
Grain leather.
(a)
Dressed horse hides.
(b)
Goat, seal, and other skins blacked on the grain side for women's shoes, etc.
Grain moth (Zool.), one of several small moths, of the family Tineidae (as Tinea granella and Butalis cerealella), whose larvae 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 (Zool.), a small red weevil (Sitophilus granarius), which destroys stored wheat and other grain, by eating out the interior.
Grain worm (Zool.), the larva of the grain moth. See grain moth, above.
In grain, of a fast color; deeply seated; fixed; innate; genuine. "Anguish in grain."
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."
To go against the grain of (a person), to be repugnant to; to vex, irritate, mortify, or trouble.


Grain  n.  
1.
A branch of a tree; a stalk or stem of a plant. (Obs.)
2.
A tine, prong, or fork. Specifically:
(a)
One the branches of a valley or of a river.
(b)
pl. An iron fish spear 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.


verb
Grain  v. t.  (past & past part. grained; pres. part. 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  v. i.  
1.
To yield fruit. (Obs.)
2.
To form grains, or to assume a granular form, as the result of crystallization; to granulate.


Grain  v., n.  See Groan. (Obs.)





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Grain" Quotes from Famous Books



... the cry of agony—the pallid face of a hungry child finds a quick response to its mute appeal; but when we know that hundreds are rendered homeless every day, and countless thousands are killed and wounded, men and boys mowed down like a field of grain, and with as little compunction, we grow a little bit numb to human misery. What does it matter if there is a family north of the track living on soda biscuits and turnips? War hardens us to ...
— In Times Like These • Nellie L. McClung
... a man of the world, his parents had made him too happy, he had received too much adulation in society, to be possessed of noble sentiments. The grain of gold dropped by his mother into his heart was beaten thin in the smithy of Parisian society; he had spread it superficially, and it was worn away by the friction of life. Charles was only twenty-one years old. At that age the freshness of youth seems inseparable from ...
— Eugenie Grandet • Honore de Balzac
... coffee, Geddie read the column of print. Following a listed statement of Mr. Tolliver's real estate and bonds, came a description of the yacht's furnishings, and then the grain of news no bigger than a mustard seed. Mr. Tolliver, with a party of favoured guests, would sail the next day on a six weeks' cruise along the Central American and South American coasts and among the Bahama Islands. Among the guests were Mrs. ...
— Cabbages and Kings • O. Henry
... other side of Bolton there are grassy foothills, well watered—a big stretch of country very much like that about Crawfordsville. Already there are orchards there, considerable small farming, grain-raising and hay. Swinnerton planned to build a town out there in the heart of that fertile country where there are now a number of settlements and to have the P. C. & W. run a seventy-five-mile spur out that way. The management naturally will not stand for ...
— Under Handicap - A Novel • Jackson Gregory
... universal. The whole country is becoming protectionist. All young men, even in Hamburg and Bremen, believe in protection as "the thing." The Prussian landlord, whose soul was steeped in free trade so long as Prussia was a grain-exporting country, cherishes protectionist convictions now that she must largely import cereals. The bureaucrat who had never sworn by other economic lawgivers than Adam Smith and his followers, now accepts ...
— Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 4 of 8 • Various


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