# mill

Pronunciation: say "MIL" /mɪl/

## Noun

1. A manufacturing plant that produces materials such as paper, steel, textiles, or flooring.
   - Simple: A large factory that makes things like paper, steel, or cloth.
   - _The steel mill ran three shifts to meet wartime demand._
   - _Layoffs at the textile mill devastated the local economy._
2. A building that houses grinding machinery, or one used for a similar trade such as weaving, fulling, or dyeing, including the whole business with its outbuildings and grounds.
   - Simple: A building where grain is ground, or where work like weaving or cloth-making is done.
   - _We toured the old stone mill, its waterwheel still turning beside the granary and stables._
   - _They converted the abandoned mill into apartments overlooking the canal._
3. A device or machine for grinding substances such as grain, spices, or other materials into powder, sometimes also used for polishing.
   - Simple: A machine or tool that grinds things like grain, coffee, or pepper into small pieces or powder.
   - _Give the soup a few turns of the pepper mill before serving._
   - _Grinding beans in a hand-cranked coffee mill each morning gives a fresher cup._
5. An establishment that routinely processes or turns out large quantities of something with little regard for quality, such as a business selling worthless diplomas or ready-made essays.
   - Simple: A place or business that turns out lots of something quickly and carelessly, like fake degrees.
   - _The agency had become a visa mill, stamping applications without real scrutiny._
   - _Reviewers dismissed the studio as a content mill churning out forgettable films._
8. A machine tool that shapes solid metal, wood, or plastic by removing material with a rotating cutter.
   - Simple: A machine that cuts and shapes hard materials like metal, wood, or plastic.
   - _The machinist set up the mill to cut a precise groove in the aluminum._
   - _A CNC mill can shape complex parts from a single block of titanium._
9. A unit of money equal to one thousandth of a US dollar (one tenth of a cent), used chiefly in property tax millage rates and utility pricing.
   - Simple: One thousandth of a dollar, a tenth of a cent, used mainly in tax and utility rates.
   - _The county set its levy at twelve mills for the coming fiscal year._
   - _A single mill on a property assessed at $200,000 yields $200 in tax._
10. The rotating cutting tool fitted to a milling machine.
   - Simple: The cutting tool that does the work in a milling machine.
   - _He fitted a four-flute mill into the spindle before the run._
   - _The carbide mill sliced cleanly through the aluminum block._
11. Another spelling of mil: a million, especially a million dollars, pounds, or other units of money. *(colloquial)* — Alternative form of mil (“million”).
   - Simple: Another spelling of mil: a million, usually a million dollars or pounds.
   - _The new deal pays the striker around fifteen mill a year._
   - _Her startup raised just over a mill in its first round._
12. Short for millimeter, used informally: a unit of length equal to one thousandth of a meter. *(colloquial)* — Clipping of millimeter.
   - Simple: Short for millimeter, used in casual talk: a unit of length equal to one thousandth of a meter.
   - _Shave another two mills off the edge so the door closes._
   - _The metric gauge showed the tread was down to about three mill._
13. An engine, especially that of a car, motorcycle, or aircraft. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: An engine, especially in a car or motorcycle.
   - _Mechanics swapped out the tired old mill for a rebuilt one._
   - _The drag racer's mill roared to life at the starting line._
14. A machine that expels juice or sap from plant tissue by pressure, sometimes combined with grinding or cutting.
   - Simple: A machine that squeezes juice or sap out of plants, sometimes by crushing them too.
   - _Farmers fed the sugarcane into the mill to extract the juice._
   - _Every fall, the old cider mill squeezed juice from bushels of apples._

## Verb

4. To grind or otherwise process something in a mill or similar machine.
   - Simple: To crush or grind something into smaller pieces using a machine.
   - _Local farmers mill their wheat into flour at the cooperative._
   - _The company mills bauxite into a fine powder for industrial use._
6. To move about without clear purpose or direction, as people in a crowd.
   - Simple: To move around with no clear purpose or direction.
   - _Shoppers milled through the market with no particular destination._
   - _Commuters mill on the platform whenever a train is delayed._
7. To use a machine to shape something or treat its surface by polishing, dressing, or other finishing work.
   - Simple: To shape, smooth, or finish something using a machine.
   - _Engineers mill the surface flat before assembling the engine._
   - _The plant milled the steel plates to exact thickness._
15. To decorate or ridge the edge of a coin or similar cylindrical object by engraving grooves or a pattern into it.
   - Simple: To cut small grooves or a pattern around the edge of a round object like a coin.
   - _Mints once milled coin edges so people could not shave off the silver._
   - _The press can mill thousands of coins an hour, ridging each edge cleanly._
16. To roll steel or similar metal into bars by passing it through heavy rollers.
   - Simple: To press hot metal into bars or strips using heavy rollers.
   - _Local plants mill steel into bars destined for shipyards._
   - _At the plant, hot steel is milled into bars between heavy rollers._
17. To cause a crowd or herd to move around in a confused or circling mass.
   - Simple: To make a group of people or animals move around in a circle.
   - _Experienced drovers mill the herd to settle restless steers at nightfall._
   - _When the herd stampeded, the riders turned the leaders and milled the cattle until they settled._

## Noun

18. A fistfight or a boxing bout. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A boxing match or a fistfight.
   - _Spectators wagered heavily on the mill behind the inn._
   - _A famous mill in 1810 drew thousands to the meadow._

## Other meanings

- (noun) The raised or ridged edge or surface formed by milling an object such as a coin or screw.
- (noun) Another spelling of mil: a unit of length equal to one thousandth of an inch, used for small thicknesses.
- (verb) To send a card from a deck directly into the discard pile.
- (noun) In card games, the moving of cards straight from a player's deck to the discard pile, or a strategy that wins by emptying the opponent's deck this way.
- (verb) To fight with the fists, or to beat someone with repeated heavy blows.
- (noun) A line of three matching pieces formed in nine men's morris and similar games.
- (noun) A cylinder of tempered steel with a design standing out from its surface, rolled over copper or another soft metal to stamp a mirror image of that design.
- (noun) In mining, a cavity cut in rock across the line of the main workings, dug out to supply material for backfilling.
- (noun) In a mine, a shaft or chute that ore is dropped down to a lower level.
- (noun) A treadmill that prisoners were made to walk as punishment.
- (noun) The lockup on an army base where soldiers under arrest are held.
- (noun) A place where soldiers had their clothes and bodies cleared of lice, also called a cootie mill.
- (noun) A typewriter that a telegraph or radio operator used to type out incoming messages.
- (verb) Of a whale or other air-breathing animal, to move along below the surface of the water.
- (verb) Of a whale, to turn abruptly and head off another way.
- (verb) To thicken and clean woven cloth by beating and washing it in a mill.
- (verb) To whisk hot chocolate until a foam forms on top.
- (verb) Of grain, to have its husks removed in a mill.
- (verb) In mining, to pack a steep inner shaft with broken ore that is later taken out from the base.
- (verb) To break into a building in order to steal.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–8, 10, 13–18** — The Latin verb molō ("to grind, mill"), closely linked to Proto-Germanic *muljaną ("to grind, crush"), lies behind Late Latin molīna. This passed into Proto-West Germanic as *mulīnu, then into Old English as mylen and Middle English as mylne or mille. Moline, moulin, and blin are doublets.
**Meanings 9, 12** — Ultimately from Latin "millesimum." The sense "millimetre" is a separate clipping of the word "millimetre."
**Meaning 11** — A clipping of "million."

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