# sand

Pronunciation: say "SAND" /sænd/

## Noun

1. Loose grains of rock, finer than gravel but coarser than silt (about 0.06 to 2 mm), that form beaches and deserts and are used in building; also a particular type of it.
   - Simple: Tiny loose grains of rock that cover beaches and deserts and are used in building.
   - _Builders mix sand into concrete to give it strength._
   - _The desert wind shaped the loose sand into towering dunes._
2. A beach or other broad mass of sand, such as a stretch of open shore.
   - Simple: A beach or large stretch of ground covered in sand.
   - _Every evening the fishermen hauled their boats up onto the wide sands below the village._
   - _By midmorning the sand was crowded with families, towels, and bright umbrellas._
5. A light shade of beige resembling the usual color of sand.
   - Simple: A pale tan color, like that of most sand.
   - _The designer chose sand for the curtains to match the wood floor._
   - _Walls washed in pale sand made the room feel larger._
7. A moment or interval of time, or the span of one's life, imagined as the sand running through an hourglass.
   - Simple: A moment or stretch of time, pictured as grains slipping through a glass timer.
   - _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._
8. Dried mucus that collects in the inner corner of the eye, often left from sleep.
   - Simple: Dried bits of mucus that gather in the corner of the eye after 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._
10. Drowsiness imagined as sand in the eyes, making them feel heavy and ready to close.
   - Simple: A sleepy feeling that makes your eyes feel heavy, as if sand were in them.
   - _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._

## Verb

3. To smooth or clean the surface of something by rubbing it with sand or sandpaper.
   - Simple: To rub the surface of something with sandpaper to make it smooth.
   - _Carpenters sand each board until the grain feels perfectly smooth._
   - _She sanded the old door to remove the peeling varnish._
6. To cover a surface with a layer of sand.
   - Simple: To spread sand over something so that it is covered.
   - _Workers sand the icy walkways every winter morning._
   - _The crew sanded the frozen parking lot before the store opened._
12. To dry or blot wet ink by sprinkling fine sand over the writing.
   - Simple: To dry wet ink by sprinkling sand over it.
   - _Before blotting paper was common, clerks would sand each page the moment they finished writing._
   - _He sanded the signed contract, then poured the loose grains back into the shaker._

## Adjective

4. Of a pale, warm beige like that of ordinary sand.
   - Simple: Having a pale tan color, like that of most sand.
   - _The walls were painted a soft sand tone._
   - _He preferred sand curtains to bright white ones._

## Noun

9. A single grain or particle of sand, considered on its own. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A single tiny grain of sand.
11. Personal courage; firmness of spirit in the face of difficulty. *(dated)*
   - Simple: Strong courage and the will to keep going when things are hard.
   - _Everyone agreed the captain had sand enough to see the voyage through._
   - _It took genuine sand to ride alone across the open frontier._

## Other meanings

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

## Origin

**Meanings 1–2, 4–5, 7–11** — From Middle English "sond" or "sand", from Old English "sand", tracing back to Proto-Germanic *samdaz, whose deeper source is uncertain and may be a pre-Indo-European word of western Europe. It is related to Dutch "zand", German "Sand", and Latin "sabulum" (sand, gravel).
**Meanings 3, 6, 12** — From Middle English "sanden", formed from the noun "sand".

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