grained

1. 1
   adjective

   Marked by a grain or grains: the natural lines, texture, or particles within a material.

   The finely grained walnut gave the cabinet a warm, patterned look.

   She ran her fingers across the grained face of the polished stone.

   Similartextured, veined, figured

2. 2
   adjectivein compounds

   Having grain of a particular described kind, whether fine, coarse, close, or open in texture.

   The cabinetmaker preferred close grained timber for its smooth, even finish.

   Open grained woods like oak need filler before they take a glossy varnish.

   Similartextured

   Note

   A combining form more than a free adjective: it nearly always follows a hyphen and a modifier, as in close-grained timber or long-grained rice. The pair shows how wide the frame is. Close describes the texture of wood, while long describes the shape of each kernel. Grained itself takes no comparative, so any degree belongs to the modifier, as in finer-grained.

3. 3
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of grain.

   The craftsman grained the inexpensive pine to mimic costly walnut.

   Each panel had been carefully grained by hand before the varnish went on.

   Note

   One past form serves several unrelated trades. A decorator who grained a door painted a wood figure onto it. A tanner who grained a hide stripped its hair or fat, or softened the leather. Livestock are grained when they are fed grain. Something that has grained, with no object, has crystallized into granules. The object usually tells you which craft is meant, and the decorator's use settled into the faux-wood adjective.

4. 4
   adjective

   Finished with a stain or paint that imitates the pattern of natural wood.

   The Victorian hallway featured grained doors made of humble pine.

   Restorers uncovered original grained surfaces beneath several layers of later paint.

   Note

   Here the grain is painted on, not grown. That makes a phrase like a grained door genuinely two-sided. It can describe wood whose own figure shows, as in the natural-grain meaning, or a humble panel dressed up to look like better wood. Words such as pine, paint or restoration usually settle it. When they do not, saying painted grain removes the doubt.

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