Library / English Dictionary

MILL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of grinding to a powder or dust

Synonyms:

grind; mill; pulverisation; pulverization

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

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

compaction; crunch; crush (the act of crushing)

Derivation:

mill (grind with a mill)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A plant consisting of one or more buildings with facilities for manufacturing

Synonyms:

factory; manufactory; manufacturing plant; mill

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

industrial plant; plant; works (buildings for carrying on industrial labor)

Meronyms (parts of "mill"):

shop floor (workplace consisting of the part of a factory housing the machines)

assembly line; line; production line (mechanical system in a factory whereby an article is conveyed through sites at which successive operations are performed on it)

Domain member category:

conveyer; conveyer belt; conveyor; conveyor belt; transporter (a moving belt that transports objects (as in a factory))

closed-circuit television (a television system that is not used for broadcasting but is connected by cables to designated monitors (as in a factory or theater))

uptime (a period of time when something (as a machine or factory) is functioning and available for use)

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

assembly plant (a factory where manufactured parts are assembled into a finished product)

auto factory; automobile factory; car factory (a factory where automobiles are manufactured)

cannery (a factory where food is canned)

chemical plant (an industrial plant where chemicals are produced)

foundry; metalworks (factory where metal castings are produced)

lumbermill; sawmill (a mill for dressing logs and lumber)

paper mill (a mill where paper is manufactured)

stamp mill; stamping mill (a mill in which ore is crushed with stamps)

steel factory; steel mill; steel plant; steelworks (a factory where steel is made)

sweatshop (factory where workers do piecework for poor pay and are prevented from forming unions; common in the clothing industry)

textile mill (a factory for making textiles)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Machinery that processes materials by grinding or crushing

Synonyms:

grinder; mill; milling machinery

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

machinery (machines or machine systems collectively)

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

windmill (a mill that is powered by the wind)

water mill (a mill powered by a water wheel)

tread-wheel; treadmill; treadwheel (a mill that is powered by men or animals walking on a circular belt or climbing steps)

spicemill (a mill for grinding spices)

quern (a primitive stone mill for grinding corn by hand)

pepper grinder; pepper mill (a mill for grinding pepper)

meat grinder (a mill for grinding meat)

gristmill (a mill for grinding grain (especially the customer's own grain))

flour mill (a mill for grinding grain into flour)

coffee grinder; coffee mill (a mill that grinds roasted coffee beans)

cider mill (mill that extracts juice from apples to make apple cider)

Derivation:

mill (grind with a mill)

Sense 4

Meaning:

English philosopher and economist remembered for his interpretations of empiricism and utilitarianism (1806-1873)

Synonyms:

John Mill; John Stuart Mill; Mill

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Instance hypernyms:

economic expert; economist (an expert in the science of economics)

philosopher (a specialist in philosophy)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Scottish philosopher who expounded Bentham's utilitarianism; father of John Stuart Mill (1773-1836)

Synonyms:

James Mill; Mill

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Instance hypernyms:

philosopher (a specialist in philosophy)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Grind with a mill

Example:

mill grain

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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

bray; comminute; crunch; grind; mash (reduce to small pieces or particles by pounding or abrading)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

mill (the act of grinding to a powder or dust)

mill (machinery that processes materials by grinding or crushing)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Roll out (metal) with a rolling machine

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

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

roll; roll out (flatten or spread with a roller)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Produce a ridge around the edge of

Example:

mill a coin

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

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

groove (make a groove in, or provide with a groove)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

milling (corrugated edge of a coin)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Move about in a confused manner

Synonyms:

mill; mill about; mill around

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

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

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Credits

 Context examples: 

He spoke often to me; but the sound of his voice pierced my ears like that of a water-mill, yet his words were articulate enough.

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

Later on they would have to begin living life and going through the mill as he had gone.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Colloidal oatmeal, whole oats milled to a fine powder, with anti-pruritic activity.

(Oatmeal Powder, NCI Thesaurus)

I am sure he still means to impose on me if possible, and get a cousin of his own into a certain mill, which I design for somebody else.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Saturday evening was as fine as was ever known, and the great body of holiday-makers laid out yesterday for visits to Mulgrave Woods, Robin Hood's Bay, Rig Mill, Runswick, Staithes, and the various trips in the neighbourhood of Whitby.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

They were of the same large type as Thornton, living close to the earth, thinking simply and seeing clearly; and ere they swung the raft into the big eddy by the saw-mill at Dawson, they understood Buck and his ways, and did not insist upon an intimacy such as obtained with Skeet and Nig.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

He kept a summer cottage in Mill Valley, under the shadow of Mount Tamalpais, and never occupied it except when he loafed through the winter months and read Nietzsche and Schopenhauer to rest his brain.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

And then, all of a sudden, a shrill voice broke forth out of the darkness: “Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!” and so forth, without pause or change, like the clacking of a tiny mill.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The researchers used vinasse, a byproduct of sugarcane ethanol and sugar production, and a residue known as POME (palm oil mill effluent), which results from palm processing and is used in the fertirrigation of plantations.

(Brazilian researchers identify microalgae that can provide biofuels, Agência Brasil)

It is in a German-speaking country—in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. ‘Remarkable as being the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous glass-factories and paper-mills.’ Ha, ha, my boy, what do you make of that?

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)