# grain

Pronunciation: say "GRAYN" /ɡɹeɪn/

## Noun

1. Wheat, rice, corn, barley, and similar crops, or their harvested seeds used for food; also seeds used like them, such as quinoa.
   - Simple: Plants like wheat, rice, and corn, or their seeds that we eat.
   - _Drought reduced the grain available for both bread and animal feed._
   - _Ships waited at the port to load grain bound for overseas markets._
2. The pattern of lines running through a material such as wood, showing its texture and direction.
   - Simple: The lines and pattern you see and feel running through wood or other material.
   - _The carpenter planed the plank in the direction of the grain._
   - _Polished granite revealed a subtle grain beneath the surface._
3. An individual minute particle of a substance, such as sand, salt, or pollen.
   - Simple: One tiny piece of something, like a bit of sand or salt.
   - _A grain of pollen lodged in the flower's narrow throat._
   - _Fine grains of dust settled across every shelf in the attic._
4. An individual seed of a grass food crop such as wheat, rice, or barley.
   - Simple: One small seed from a grass plant like wheat or rice.
   - _He examined each grain of barley for signs of mold._
   - _A handful of wheat holds several hundred separate grains._
5. A small unit of mass equal to 1/7000 of an avoirdupois pound, standardized as exactly 64.79891 milligrams.
   - Simple: A very small unit of weight, equal to about 65 milligrams.
   - _The recipe for the ointment called for two grains of the powdered root._
   - _He trimmed the bullet's weight by a single grain to improve accuracy._
6. The visible speckled texture in developed photographic film, caused by tiny particles of silver or clouds of dye.
   - Simple: The speckled, rough look in old or fast-film photographs.
   - _Pushing the film two stops in development brought out coarse grain._
   - _The portrait's soft grain lent it a warm, nostalgic quality._
7. The hair side of a piece of leather, or the pattern of markings visible on that side.
   - Simple: The outer surface of leather, on the side where the animal's hair once grew.
   - _Tanners prize a tight, even grain when choosing hides for fine shoes._
   - _You can read the grain of the leather to judge where the hide came from._
8. A region within a solid material where the crystal structure shares a single, uniform orientation.
   - Simple: A small area inside a metal or rock where the crystal pattern points one way.
   - _Etching the polished sample revealed the boundary between one grain and the next._
   - _Cold working distorts the metal's grains and changes its properties._
10. A person's natural temper, disposition, or inclination: the underlying bent of one's character.
   - Simple: Someone's natural mood or the way they tend to be.
   - _Saying no to a friend has always gone against my grain._
   - _Lying ran against the grain of everything she believed about herself._

## Verb

9. To finish a surface with a pattern that imitates the natural grain of wood or stone.
   - Simple: To paint or mark a surface so it looks like wood or stone.
   - _They grained the cheap cabinet doors so they passed for walnut._
   - _A practiced hand can grain a paneled wall in a single afternoon._
11. To feed grain to livestock.
   - Simple: To give grain to animals as food.
   - _The rancher grains the steers through the cold months to keep their weight up._
   - _Stable hands grain the working horses twice a day._
12. To form, or be formed, into small grains or crystals.
   - Simple: To turn, or make something turn, into small grains or crystals.
   - _As the syrup cooled, the sugar began to grain into tiny crystals._
   - _Confectioners grain the syrup deliberately to give the fudge its texture._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A unit of mass equal to one quarter of a carat, used for weighing precious stones and pearls, now fixed at exactly 50 milligrams.
- (noun) The solid remains left after grain is used in brewing or distilling; by extension, any residue.
- (noun) The single solid piece of fuel contained in an individual solid-fuel rocket engine.
- (noun) A quarter-carat unit formerly used to express gold purity on a 96-point scale running from base metal to fully pure gold.
- (noun) A French unit of mass equal to one part in 9,216 of a livre, roughly 53 milligrams, and exactly 54.25 milligrams between 1812 and 1839.
- (noun) A small unit of length, originally based loosely on the width of a grain and standardized differently across various places and eras.
- (noun) A red dye made from the kermes insect, and by extension any deep red hue such as crimson or scarlet.
- (noun) A branch or fork of a river, stream, valley, or inlet.
- (noun) An offshoot of a plant, such as a tree branch or a stem or stalk.
- (noun) A single pointed prong or tine, or a forked part that divides into several points.
- (noun) The blade of a sword, knife, or similar weapon or tool.
- (noun) One of the projecting arms of a cross.
- (noun) An iron fish spear or harpoon fitted with several points that are half-barbed on the inside.
- (noun) A rounded swelling on the back of a sepal, such as those found on the common dock.
- (noun) A thin piece of metal used inside a mold to steady the core during casting.
- (verb) In tanning, to scrape the hair and fat off an animal hide.
- (verb) To make leather supple and pliable.
- (verb) Of a plant, to bear fruit or seed.
- (noun) A line of descent within a family, or a whole kinship group.
- (noun) The groin, where the legs meet the body.
- (noun) The roots of a tooth, which hold it in the jaw.

## Origin

The Proto-Indo-European word *ǵr̥h₂nóm ("grain") developed into Latin grānum ("seed"), then Old French grain, borrowed into Middle English as greyn, giving modern English grain. Its doublets are corn, gram, granum, and grao.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/grain (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).