flour

FLOW-ur/ˈflaʊ̯.ɚ/UKFLOW-uh/ˈflaʊ̯.ə/

7 meanings of flour

1
noununcountable
A fine powder made by grinding grain such as wheat, used to bake bread and cakes.
Like the fine dust you get when you crush dry seeds into powder.
Mix the flour with water to make a simple dough.
He dusted the table with flour before rolling out the pastry.
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2
verbtransitive
To cover the surface of something with flour.
Like sprinkling powder over a cake to coat the top.
Flour the pan so the cake won't stick.
She floured the chicken before frying it.
Similardust, dredge
3
noununcountable
A fine powder made by grinding some material other than grain.
Like the fine dust left behind after grinding a hard rock.
The workshop used fine emery flour to polish the metal.
Workers ground the dried roots into a fine flour.
Similarpowder, dust
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4
noununcountable
A food made by grinding cleaned wheat into a fine, dry powder with the bran and germ removed.
The bag of flour from the mill is pure white wheat.
This recipe needs plain white flour, not whole wheat.
Similarwheatmeal
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5
verbtransitive
To grind a material into a fine powder.
Like crushing a dry cookie into fine crumbs.
Old mills flour the grain between heavy stone wheels.
She floured the dried peas to make a smooth paste.
Similargrind, mill, pulverize
6
verbintransitive
Of mercury, to break up into tiny drops during metal refining.
Like a drop of oil splitting into many tiny beads when shaken in water.
If the mercury flours, it can no longer trap the gold.
The mercury began to flour after hours in the dirty ore.
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Less common meaning

7
nounobsoleteuncountable
Obsolete form of flower. You'll only find this old spelling in very old writing.
that nobody is wished to see my dead body. & that no murnurs walk behind me at my funeral. & that no flours be planted on my grave.
1886, Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge: The Life and Death of a Man of Character.Here, flours means flowers, an old spelling.
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Practice

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Origin

This is really the same word as "flower." It once meant the "finest part" of the ground grain.