sand

Less common meanings

4. 4
   beige (describing)adjective

   Of a pale, warm beige like that of ordinary sand.

   The walls were painted a soft sand tone.

   He preferred sand curtains to bright white ones.

   Similarbeige, tan, fawn, buff, sandy

5. 5
   noununcountable

   A light shade of beige resembling the usual color of sand.

   The designer chose sand for the curtains to match the wood floor.

   Walls washed in pale sand made the room feel larger.

   Similarbeige, tan, fawn, buff

6. 6
   cover with gritverbtransitive

   To cover a surface with a layer of sand.

   Workers sand the icy walkways every winter morning.

   The crew sanded the frozen parking lot before the store opened.

   Similargrit

   Note

   Here sand is added to a surface, not rubbed against it. In Xavier Herbert's Capricornia (1938), a train could be stopped suddenly by sanding the rails and reversing the driving gear. Boris Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago (1957; English translation by Max Hayward and Manya Harari, 1958) describes freshly sanded paths. Because the smoothing sense shares every form, context decides: sanded rails or paths are strewn with sand, while a sanded board has been smoothed. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • Xavier Herbert wrote Capricornia, first published in 1938. en.wikipedia.org
   • Capricornia describes stopping a train suddenly by sanding the rails and reversing the driving gear. en.wiktionary.org
   • Boris Pasternak wrote Doctor Zhivago, first published in 1957. en.wikipedia.org
   • The English translation by Max Hayward and Manya Harari appeared in 1958. en.wikipedia.org
   • Doctor Zhivago in that translation describes freshly sanded paths. en.wiktionary.org
7. 7
   timenounfigurativelycountable

   A moment or interval of time, or the span of one's life, imagined as the sand running through an hourglass.

   Approaching forty, he worried that the sands of his youth had nearly run through the glass.

   As the last sands of the old year ran out, the friends gathered on the roof to count down to midnight.

   UsageMostly plural, as in the sands of time.

   Note

   The hourglass turns the grains into a clock. Shakespeare's The Third Part of Henry the Sixth has "The sands are numbered that make up my life." The sense lives mostly in the plural and in the phrase sands of time, which Longfellow's "A Psalm of Life" (1838) made memorable with "Footprints on the sands of time." Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • William Shakespeare wrote The Third Part of Henry the Sixth. gutenberg.org
   • The play contains the quoted line, spoken by York in Act I, scene iv; 'numbered' modernizes 'number'd'. shakespeare.mit.edu
   • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote A Psalm of Life. en.wikipedia.org
   • A Psalm of Life was first published in 1838. rpo.library.utoronto.ca
   • A Psalm of Life contains the quoted words. en.wikisource.org
8. 8
   eye crustnoununcountable

   Dried mucus that collects in the inner corner of the eye, often left from sleep.

   Still groggy, he rubbed the sand out of his eyes and shuffled toward the coffee pot.

   When the toddler woke from his nap, his mother gently wiped the sand from the corners of his eyes.

   UsageCommon phrase: rub the sand out of your eyes. Sleep is another everyday word for it.

   Similarsleep, gunk

   Note

   Everyday speech has many names for this morning crust, including sleep, sleep crust and eye gunk. Sand is one of them, sometimes as sleepy sand. The Moran Eye Center noted in 2018 that the medical term is rheum, "though you rarely hear it used." Sand is the informal word for home and casual talk; rheum belongs in clinical writing. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • The Moran Eye Center made the cited statement in 2018. en.wiktionary.org
   • The source identifies rheum as the medical term and uses the exact quoted words. healthcare.utah.edu
9. 9
   nounobsoletecountable

   A single grain or particle of sand, considered on its own.

   One sand another. Not more resembles that sweet rosy lad

   1611, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”

   Note

   The word could once be counted grain by grain. Shakespeare's Cymbeline, first printed in 1623, has "One sand another / Not more resembles," where modern English would say one grain of sand. That use is now obsolete. Today the ordinary sense is a mass noun, so for a single particle, write grain of sand. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

   • Sand formerly had a countable sense meaning a single grain. en.wiktionary.org
   • William Shakespeare wrote Cymbeline. internetshakespeare.uvic.ca
   • Cymbeline was first published in 1623. en.wikipedia.org
   • The quoted words occur in Cymbeline; Arviragus speaks them in Act V, scene v. shakespeare.mit.edu
10. 10
    sleepy feelingnounfigurativelyuncountable

    Drowsiness imagined as sand in the eyes, making them feel heavy and ready to close.

    Long before the film ended, the sand had crept into the children's eyes.

    She fought the sand in her eyes, determined to finish the chapter.

    Similardrowsiness, sleepiness, sleep

    Note

    The idiom goes with the Sandman of European folklore, who puts people to sleep by sprinkling magical sand onto their eyes. So sand in someone's eyes means drowsiness, not grit. It suits bedtime talk and gentle storytelling, as when the sand is said to creep into the children's eyes. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • The Sandman belongs to European folklore. en.wikipedia.org
    • The Sandman induces sleep by sprinkling magical sand into people's eyes. en.wiktionary.org
11. 11
    couragenoundateduncountable

    Personal courage; firmness of spirit in the face of difficulty.

    Everyone agreed the captain had sand enough to see the voyage through.

    There was youngsters all around him, and he stood there lookin’ at me and never turned a hair. He had sand, that Morrell.

    1979, Louis L'Amour, Bendigo Shafter

    UsageOften after have or take: she had sand; it took sand to go on.

    Similargrit

    Oppositecowardice, timidity

    Note

    A dated way to praise nerve, close kin to its synonym grit. Mark Twain's Huck says a girl "was just full of sand," a character in Louis L'Amour's 1979 novel says a man "had sand," and Charles Portis's True Grit (1968) has "I admire your sand." Today it sounds old-fashioned and colorful, so use it for period flavor rather than plain praise. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

    • Sand means personal courage and is synonymous with grit. en.wiktionary.org
    • Mark Twain's narrator Huck describes a girl as "just full of sand." gutenberg.org
    • The L'Amour novel containing the quotation was first published in 1979. openlibrary.org
    • Charles Portis wrote True Grit, first published in 1968. en.wikipedia.org
    • True Grit contains "I admire your sand," spoken by Stonehill. arts.gov
12. 12
    blot inkverbhistoricaltransitive

    To dry or blot wet ink by sprinkling fine sand over the writing.

    Before blotting paper was common, clerks would sand each page the moment they finished writing.

    The officer wrote until he had finished, read over to himself what he had written, sanded it, and handed it to Defarge, with the words "In secret."

    1859, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

    Similarblot

    Note

    A desk habit from the age of pen and ink, before blotting paper took over. Fine sand was scattered over wet writing, and the loose grains were then tipped away. Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities (1859) shows the routine: an officer finishes writing, reads it over, "sanded it," and hands it on. The sense is historical, so use it for period scenes rather than present practice. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • The chronology is too sweeping: blotting sand was also used alongside blotting paper, as an alternative. getty.edu
    • Sand was sprinkled over freshly written text to dry the ink. goteborgsstadsmuseum.se
    • The excess grains were removed after application. en.wikipedia.org
    • Charles Dickens wrote A Tale of Two Cities, first published in 1859. ibiblio.org
    • The novel's narrator describes an officer finishing his writing, reading it, sanding it and handing it on; sanded it is exact wording. gutenberg.org
13. 13
    nouncolloquial

    Ellipsis of sandpiper: any of various small wading shorebirds, in casual birdwatchers' talk.