Library / English Dictionary

GRAIN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The physical composition of something (especially with respect to the size and shape of the small constituents of a substance)

Example:

a stone of coarse grain

Synonyms:

grain; texture

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("grain" is a kind of...):

composition; constitution; make-up; makeup; physical composition (the way in which someone or something is composed)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The direction, texture, or pattern of fibers found in wood or leather or stone or in a woven fabric

Example:

saw the board across the grain

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("grain" is a kind of...):

texture (the characteristic appearance of a surface having a tactile quality)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "grain"):

wood grain; woodgrain; woodiness (texture produced by the fibers in wood)

graining; woodgraining (a texture like that of wood)

Derivation:

grain (paint (a surface) to make it look like stone or wood)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The smallest possible unit of anything

Example:

he does not have a grain of sense

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("grain" is a kind of...):

littleness; smallness (the property of having a relatively small size)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Foodstuff prepared from the starchy grains of cereal grasses

Synonyms:

cereal; food grain; grain

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Hypernyms ("grain" is a kind of...):

food product; foodstuff (a substance that can be used or prepared for use as food)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "grain"):

malt (a cereal grain (usually barley) that is kiln-dried after having been germinated by soaking in water; used especially in brewing and distilling)

Indian rice; wild rice (grains of aquatic grass of North America)

rice (grains used as food either unpolished or more often polished)

oat (seed of the annual grass Avena sativa (spoken of primarily in the plural as 'oats'))

wheat; wheat berry (grains of common wheat; sometimes cooked whole or cracked as cereal; usually ground into flour)

buckwheat (grain ground into flour)

barley; barleycorn (a grain of barley)

millet (small seed of any of various annual cereal grasses especially Setaria italica)

groats (the hulled and crushed grain of various cereals)

grist (grain intended to be or that has been ground)

corn; edible corn (ears of corn that can be prepared and served for human food)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A relatively small granular particle of a substance

Example:

a grain of sugar

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("grain" is a kind of...):

atom; corpuscle; molecule; mote; particle; speck ((nontechnical usage) a tiny piece of anything)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "grain"):

granule (a tiny grain)

Derivation:

grain (become granular)

grain (form into grains)

grain (paint (a surface) to make it look like stone or wood)

grainy; granular (composed of or covered with particles resembling meal in texture or consistency)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A cereal grass

Example:

wheat is a grain that is grown in Kansas

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("grain" is a kind of...):

cereal; cereal grass (grass whose starchy grains are used as food: wheat; rice; rye; oats; maize; buckwheat; millet)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Dry seed-like fruit produced by the cereal grasses: e.g. wheat, barley, Indian corn

Synonyms:

caryopsis; grain

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("grain" is a kind of...):

seed (a small hard fruit)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "grain"):

amaranth (seed of amaranth plants used as a native cereal in Central and South America)

barleycorn (a grain of barley)

wheat berry (a grain of wheat)

kernel (a single whole grain of a cereal)

rye (the seed of the cereal grass)

Sense 8

Meaning:

1/7000 pound; equals a troy grain or 64.799 milligrams

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Hypernyms ("grain" is a kind of...):

avoirdupois unit (any of the units of the avoirdupois system of weights)

Holonyms ("grain" is a part of...):

dram (1/16 ounce or 1.771 grams)

Sense 9

Meaning:

1/60 dram; equals an avoirdupois grain or 64.799 milligrams

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Hypernyms ("grain" is a kind of...):

troy unit (any of the unit of the troy system of weights)

apothecaries' unit; apothecaries' weight (any weight unit used in pharmacy; an ounce is equal to 480 grains and a pound is equal to 12 ounces)

Holonyms ("grain" is a part of...):

scruple (a unit of apothecary weight equal to 20 grains)

pennyweight (a unit of apothecary weight equal to 24 grains)

Sense 10

Meaning:

A weight unit used for pearls or diamonds: 50 mg or 1/4 carat

Synonyms:

grain; metric grain

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Hypernyms ("grain" is a kind of...):

metric weight unit; weight unit (a decimal unit of weight based on the gram)

Meronyms (parts of "grain"):

mg; milligram (one thousandth (1/1,000) gram)

Holonyms ("grain" is a part of...):

decigram; dg (1/10 gram)

Sense 11

Meaning:

The side of leather from which the hair has been removed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("grain" is a kind of...):

leather (an animal skin made smooth and flexible by removing the hair and then tanning)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Become granular

Synonyms:

grain; granulate

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "grain" is one way to...):

change form; change shape; deform (assume a different shape or form)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

grain (a relatively small granular particle of a substance)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Form into grains

Synonyms:

grain; granulate

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "grain" is one way to...):

form (assume a form or shape)

Cause:

grain; granulate (become granular)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

grain (a relatively small granular particle of a substance)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Paint (a surface) to make it look like stone or wood

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "grain" is one way to...):

paint (apply paint to; coat with paint)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

grain (the direction, texture, or pattern of fibers found in wood or leather or stone or in a woven fabric)

grain (a relatively small granular particle of a substance)

graining (a texture like that of wood)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Thoroughly work in

Example:

His hands were grained with dirt

Synonyms:

grain; ingrain

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "grain" is one way to...):

penetrate; perforate (pass into or through, often by overcoming resistance)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

In food, fiber is the part of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains that cannot be digested.

(Dietary Fiber, NCI Dictionary)

For the model, they put grains of “naphthalene and biphenyl — two toxic, carbon and hydrogen bearing compounds believed to exist on Titan’s surface — into a small cylinder.”

('Electric Sands' Cover Titan, VOA News)

The outer wall layer of a spore or pollen grain.

(Exine, NOAA Paleoclimate Glossary)

But as soon as the first rays of the sun shone into the garden he saw all the ten sacks standing side by side, quite full, and not a single grain was missing.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

A type of chemical found in small amounts in plants and certain foods (such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, oils, and whole grains).

(Bioactive compound, NCI Dictionary)

These I heated before the fire, as well as I could, and rubbed them till the husks came off, which I made a shift to winnow from the grain.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Such perfect color I never saw, the grass so green, sky so blue, grain so yellow, woods so dark, I was in a rapture all the way.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

For example, the relative proportion of oleic acid was higher in children who consumed a lot of sugar and lower in children who consumed plenty of whole grain products.

(Blood Fatty Acids Reveal Your Child's Diet, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Aminobenzoic acid is found in grains and foods from animals.

(Aminobenzoic acid, NCI Dictionary)

The non-SI unit of mass equal to 60 grains, 3 scruples, 1/8 troy ounce, or approximately 3.8879 grams.

(Apothecaries Dram Mass Unit, NCI Thesaurus)