grind

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
7
Words With Friends
9
Letters
5
Pronunciation
/ˈɡɹaɪnd/
See all 2 pronunciations
/ˈɡɹaɪnd/ · /ˈɡɹɪnd/

Definition of grind

27 senses · 2 parts of speech · etymology included

verb

  1. (transitive)To reduce to smaller pieces by crushing with lateral motion.
See all 27 definitions

verb

  1. (transitive)To reduce to smaller pieces by crushing with lateral motion.
  2. (transitive)To shape with the force of friction.
    “grind a lens; grind an axe”
  3. To remove material by rubbing with an abrasive surface.
  4. (intransitive)To become ground, pulverized, or polished by friction.
    “This corn grinds well.”
    “Steel grinds to a sharp edge.”
  5. To move with much difficulty or friction; to grate.
  6. (intransitive)To slide the flat portion of a skateboard or snowboard across an obstacle such as a railing.
  7. (transitive)To oppress, hold down or weaken.
  8. (intransitive, slang)To rotate the hips erotically.
    “She said, "How'd you like to waste some time?" / And I could not resist when I saw little Nikki grind”
  9. (slang)To dance in a sexually suggestive way with both partners in very close proximity, often pressed against each other.
  10. (slang)To rub one's body against another's in a sexual way; to frottage.
    “She wanted to grind herself against him, wanted to moan, loud and free, wanted to take his hand and make him touch her more firmly.”
    “He ground against her until he was muttering curses, his kiss rougher than before.”
    “She kept grinding until they were both spent: their bliss washing over them entirely.”
    “This morning, we woke up and made out for a solid forty-five minutes, grinding like teenagers until she came against my thigh.”
  11. To repeat a task a large number of times in a row to achieve a specific goal.
    “These enemies give lots of loot when killed, so many players fight them to grind for resources.”
    “The first level of the game is the best place to grind extra lives.”
    “For a while I used to grind demons and try to get the count higher.”
    “Similarly, nearly all massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), such as Dungeons & Dragons Online, feature grind: Players repeat tasks, or often “quests”, to gain in-game currency to spend on weapons or other ancillary items.”
    “To extend the variety past that, you'll need to unlock new units in each class, meaning you have to grind through the rather lengthy process of using every one of your class’ weapons and skills significantly across several matches.”
  12. (transitive)To operate by turning a crank.
    “to grind an organ”
  13. To produce mechanically and repetitively as if by turning a crank.
  14. (dated)To automatically format and indent code.
  15. (Hawaii, slang)To eat.
    “Eh, brah, let's go grind.”
  16. To instill through repetitive teaching.
    “Grinding lessons into students' heads does not motivate them to learn.”
  17. (intransitive, slang)To work or study hard; to hustle or drudge.
    “to grind LeetCode”
    “One evening, during evening work, Charlie was trying hard to do the verses which had been set to his form. […] Wilton, whose conduct had been more impertinent than that of any one else, said to Charlie— “I say, young Evson, how you are grinding.” “I have these verses to do,” said Charlie simply.”
  18. (slang, transitive)To annoy or irritate (a person); to grind one's gears.
    “I need to pontificate on something that really grinds me. So here goes. I am sick and tired of lazy thinkers using the defense of “legislated morality.””

noun

  1. (countable, uncountable)The act of reducing to powder, or of sharpening, by friction.
  2. (countable, uncountable)Something that has been reduced to powder, something that has been ground.
  3. (countable, uncountable)A specific degree of pulverization of coffee beans.
    “This bag contains espresso grind.”
  4. (countable, uncountable)A tedious and laborious task.
    “This homework is a grind.”
    “Running again in more open agricultural country, the Harrogate line encounters a short downgrade before the stiff uphill grind to Harrogate begins.”
  5. (countable, uncountable)A grinding trick on a skateboard or snowboard.
  6. (archaic, countable, slang, uncountable)One who studies hard.
    “If you are at all bright, don't be a grind. Grinding may make a second-hand genius of you (for all the real things are dead), and if you become a genius you will be sure to smoke dope or swallow laudanum. They all did it.”
    “[…] I suppose I don't know much about books, compared with you—” “Oh, I was never much of a grind,” the other cut in hastily.”
  7. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, uncountable)Clipping of grindcore (“subgenre of heavy metal”).
  8. (slang, uncountable)Hustle; hard work.
    “I've been on the grind all week, trying to make ends meet.”
    “Everyone has to work, they mourned, and that takes its toll. They weren't glamourising the grind because they knew their effort didn't match the supposed rewards.”
  9. A traditional communal pilot whale hunt in the Faroe Islands.

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Middle English grynden, from Old English grindan, from Proto-West Germanic *grindan, from Proto-Germanic *grindaną. Cognate with Saterland Frisian gríende, griene (“to grind, mill”), Dutch grinden (“to grind”, rare) and grind (“gravel, shingle”), Albanian grind (“to brawl, fight”).

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