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单词 grain
释义

grainn.1

Brit. /ɡreɪn/, U.S. /ɡreɪn/
Forms: Middle English–1500s greyn(e, Middle English grein(e, Middle English–1600s grayn(e, Middle English, 1600s grane, (1500s grene, Middle English plural grennys), 1500s–1600s graine, Middle English– grain.
Etymology: Two formations: (1) < Old French grain, grein (modern French grain) = Provençal gran, gra, Spanish grano, Portuguese grão, Italian grano < Latin grānum a grain, seed; (2) < Old French grain(n)e (modern French graine) seeds collectively, seed = Provençal grana, Spanish grana, Italian grana < popular Latin grāna (feminine), originally plural of grānum.
I. Seed; seed of cereal plants, corn.
†1.
a. A single seed of a plant, esp. one which is small, hard, and roundish in form. (After 15th cent. almost exclusively: the stone or pip of a fruit.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > seed > [noun]
corna700
kernelc1000
seedOE
grain1377
pippina1382
acinusa1398
acine1597
seedling1675
vegetable egg1675
seedlet1754
pip1773
oilseed1887
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvii. lxxxi. 971 A grayne is þe leste party boþe of seed and of tree... In euery grayne is boþe piþþe and rynde.
a1400–50 Alexander 1984 Loo, here a gloue full of graynes I graythe þe to take.
c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 31 Vch gresse mot grow of graynez dede.
c1420 Pallad. on Husb. iii. 805 Ek peris men deuyde, And pike awey the greyne of euery side.
1486 Bk. St. Albans C vij b Take ye greynes of shaffelegre.
c1503 R. Arnold Chron. f. lxiijv/2 Wan ye mone is in tauro it is good tyme to plante trees of greynes and pepins.
1528 T. Paynell tr. Arnaldus de Villa Nova in Joannes de Mediolano Regimen Sanitatis Salerni sig. G iv b The lyuer is fatted with them [grapes]..if they be clensed from y graynes or kyrnels.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 430 The stones or graines of Vitis alba, otherwise called Brione.
a1677 J. Taylor Contempl. State Man (1684) i. iv. 47 Life..is so frail and slippery, that..even the grain of a Grape hath been able to..overthrow it.
1796 H. Hunter tr. J.-H. B. de Saint-Pierre Stud. Nature (1799) II. Explan. Plates 11 Aquatic grains have characters entirely opposite to those which are produced on the mountains.
1823 J. Badcock Domest. Amusem. 187 A grain of a raisin.
figurative.1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xix. 269 Grace gaue greynes, the cardynales vertues, And sewe hem in mannes soule.1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis I. 14 They no greine of pite sowe.a1400–50 Alexander 5622 Sum grayne of godhede..was growen ȝow within.14.. Purif. Marie in Tundale's Vis. (1843) 135 That he..lyke a dowve bysyly aspye Wher he of vertu gedur may the greyne.c1440 Psalmi Penitent. (1894) 16 Yn my flesch ther nys non helthe, Therfor, of grace sende me greynus.
†b. in the grain: in the stage of forming or producing seed. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > seed > plant having seed > [adverb] > forming seed
in the grain1613
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage viii. ii. 734 Where Wheate and Mays will not grow, but so vnequally, that at one instant, some is in the grasse, other in the graine.
2. spec. A seed or corn of a cereal plant.In botanical language a grain of a cereal plant is not a ‘seed’ but a ‘fruit’ of the kind called caryopsis n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > cereal, corn, or grain > [noun] > a single grain
cornc1000
grainc1380
pickle1552
rice grain1763
c1380 Eng. Wycliffite Serm. in Sel. Wks. II. 35 Þe secounde fruyt, of the sixtiþe greyn.
1426 J. Lydgate tr. G. de Guileville Pilgrimage Life Man 3315 She hadde..Off a lytel barly greyn Makyd an Er large & pleyn.
1530 Myroure Oure Ladye (Fawkes) (1873) ii. 201 Blyssed be thow..that haste sowen a grayne of the beste whete in the best lande.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 764 At the end of every song,..laying downe two or three Graines of Wheate.
1806 C. Hutton Course Math. (ed. 5) I. 25 The original of all weights used in England, was a grain or corn of wheat, gathered out of the middle of the ear.
1848 A. Gray Man. Bot. Northern U.S. p. xxxiii A Caryopsis or Grain.
1885 G. L. Goodale in A. Gray & G. L. Goodale Bot. Text-bk. (ed. 6) II. i. iv. 181 The so-called ‘grains’ of the cereals are fruits instead of seeds.
3. collective singular.
a. The fruit or seed of wheat and the allied food-plants or grasses (†rarely of beans, etc.); the plants themselves whether reaped or standing; = corn n.1 3, 4 †Also grain of wheat.In England the colloquial word for this sense is corn, which in the U.S. has a different application.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > cereal, corn, or grain > [noun]
corn871
grainc1315
frumentc1440
stuff1461
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > cereal, corn, or grain > [noun] > cereal plants or corn
cornc897
vetchc1300
grainc1315
blade1553
Pennsylvania corn1739
cereal1868
c1315 Shoreham 30 Jesus seyth the vygne be hys, And eke the greyn of wete.
1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. vii. 112 Schal no greyn that heer groweth gladen ow at neode.
c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 598 Wel wiste he, by the droghte and by the reyn The yeldynge of his seed and of his greyn.
c1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 217 Eek hillis yeld is Wel gretter grayn and fewer, then in feeld is.
1467 in J. T. Smith & L. T. Smith Eng. Gilds (1870) 382 Barly ne malte ne none other greyne.
?1552 Certayne Causes Decaye Eng. sig. Avij Euery ploughe to sell .xxx. quarters of grayne by the yeare.
1598 W. Phillip tr. J. H. van Linschoten Disc. Voy. E. & W. Indies i. xxxvii. 71/2 They haue a custome..to cast corne & other graine vpon the ground to feed birds & beastes withal.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. ii. 66 A Girnell for grayne.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 120 The lab'ring Swain Scratch'd with a Rake, a Furrow for his Grain . View more context for this quotation
1730 J. Thomson Summer in Seasons 76 Wide flies the tedded grain.
1740 W. Somervile Hobbinol ii. 133 The ripen'd Grain, whose bending Ears Invite the Reaper's Hand.
1753 J. Bartlet Gentleman's Farriery i. 2 Beans afford the strongest nourishment of all grain.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth V. 344 All this tribe..feeding upon grain.
1818 W. Cobbett Year's Resid. U.S.A. i. i. 15 The general harvest for grain (what we call corn) is a full month earlier than in the South of England!
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess Concl. 162 A lord of fat prize-oxen and of sheep,..A pamphleteer on guano and on grain.
1879 J. D. Burns Mem. & Rem. 422 The husbandman employs different processes in preparing his grain for use.
b. A particular species of corn. †Also in plural. Crops of grain.
ΚΠ
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (1839) xxxi. 310 Corn of dyverse greynes and of Ryzs.
c1460 J. Fortescue Governance of Eng. (1714) 95 This Realme gave to their Kyng..the ixth Scheff of their Graynys.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. cxxxvi. f. lxxii Whete & other graynes were at an excedyng pryce.
1528–30 tr. T. Littleton Tenures (new ed.) f. vi If the lessee sowe the lande, & the lessour..before that his greynes be rype putteth hym out, yet [etc.].
1704 Old Tour in Scotl. in Blackwood's Mag. Feb. (1818) 520/2 Barley is a sumer grain, and beer a winter grain.
1732 J. Arbuthnot Pract. Rules of Diet i. 250 Mays is not so easily brought to Fermentation as other Grains.
1767 A. Young Farmer's Lett. 310 The grain, or grass, which seems best to suit it [the soil].
1825 Philos. Jrnl. 25 Apr. The grains which extend farthest to the north in Europe are barley and oats.
1870 J. Yeats Nat. Hist. Commerce 128 Wheat is the chief grain of temperate and sub-temperate climates.
c. figurative. (Cf. a like use of Latin farina.)
ΚΠ
1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue ii. iii. 27 [Those men] are both of one graine, sowne and reaped vnder one and the same Moone, bread of the same meale.
4. Specialized applications of the plural.
a. (In full grains of Paradise: in early use also singular): the capsules of Amomum Meleguetta of Western Africa (cf. cardamom n. b), used as a spice and in medicine; called also Guinea grains (see Guinea n.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > additive > spice > [noun] > malaguetta pepper
grains of Paradise?a1366
malagueta1568
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > medicinal and culinary plants > medicinal and culinary plant or part of plant > [noun] > fruit or seed > grain of paradise
grains of Paradise?a1366
amomuma1398
malagueta1568
paradise grains1705
?a1366 Romaunt Rose 1369 Clowe-gelofre, and licoryce, Gingere, and greyn de Parys [Fr. Graine de paradis].
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Miller's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 504 But first he cheweth grayn and likorys To smellen swete.
c1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture 126 Graynes of paradise, hoote & moyst þey be.
a1475 Liber Cocorum (Sloane) (1862) 38 Take..Of maces, cloves and graynys also.
1542 A. Borde Compend. Regyment Helth xxii. sig. L.i Graynes be good for the stomake and the hed.
1631 B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre iv. iv. 58 in Wks. II I'ld cure him now..with..garlike, long-pepper, and graines.
1669 J. Worlidge Systema Agriculturæ (1681) 225 Steep the Regulus of Antimony in Ale, with a little of the Spice called Grains.
1705 tr. W. Bosman New Descr. Coast of Guinea xvi. 305 Malagueta, otherwise called Paradise-Grains, or Guinea Pepper.
1743 W. Ellis Suppl. to London & Country Brewer (ed. 2) 288 When I found it [Two-Penny Drink] left a hot Tang behind it, it gave me just Reason to believe they had used Grains of Paradise, or long Pepper, both which will save Malt.
1812 J. Smyth Pract. of Customs ii. 84 Guinea Grains and Grains of Paradise are considered, by the Trade, as one and the same article.
1850 C. Kingsley Alton Locke I. viii. 127 Beer poisoned wi' grains o' paradise, and cocculus indicus.
b. Refuse malt left after brewing or distilling.In the first quot. the sense seems to be ‘malt’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > malting > [noun] > malt > refuse malt
draffc1275
malt-culms?c1450
malt-dustc1450
ale grounds1577
grain1583
ale grains1630
culmings1688
malt-culmingsa1728
malt tails1743
tail-dust1764
1583 T. Stocker tr. Tragicall Hist. Ciuile Warres Lowe Countries i. f.118v And the fift day, they made ordenaunces concerning their flesh victual, and Graynes, which they began to bake [Fr. gasteaus de brassin qu'on commençoit a cuyre].
1583 T. Stocker tr. Tragicall Hist. Ciuile Warres Lowe Countries i. f.118v The greater sort of the common people dronk water, by reason that the grains was baked into bread.
1595 in Court Leet Rec. Manch. (1885) II. 94 No persone..shall sell any Draffe graynes or branne by any other measure then onlye by the measure that they by..theire corne bye.
1616 G. Markham tr. C. Estienne et al. Maison Rustique (rev. ed.) i. xxiv. 105 There is also two other Foods..excellent for Hogges: the first whereof is Ale or Beere Graines.
a1658 J. Cleveland Coachman of St. James's in Wks. (1687) 347 There's Difference in the Reins Of Horses fed with Oats, and fed with Grains.
1719 T. Bates in Philos. Trans. 1717–19 (Royal Soc.) 30 880 The feeding Cows with Distillers Grains was a new Custom.
1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 138. ⁋13 I met Miss Busy carrying grains to a sick cow.
1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) II. 34 Brewers' Grains. In Norfolk, grains have been employed as a manure.
1880 Daily Tel. 9 Jan. (advt.) Owing to the deficient root crop..stockowners should use ale or stout grains.
†c. = duckweed n. (Also greens: see green n.1)
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > aquatic, marsh, and sea-shore plants > [noun] > duckweeds and allies
endemetea1387
duckweedc1440
frog's foot1526
greens1526
duck's meat1538
water lentil1548
grain1578
fen lentil1601
Pistia1754
lemna1789
lentil-dew1800
water lettuce1847
Jenny Greenteeth1852
creed1880
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball i. lxxi. 107 In English water Lentils, Duckes meate, and Graynes.
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 690 Ducks meate: some terme it after the Greek water Lentils, and of others it is named Graines.
5.
†a. A berry, grape. (So French grain.) Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > fruit or reproductive product > [noun] > berry
berryc1000
grainc1315
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > berry > [noun]
cropa700
berryc1000
grainc1315
blobc1750
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > berry > [noun] > grape
grapec1290
raisinc1300
grainc1315
c1315 Shoreham 23 Ase the wyne to gadere flouthe Of manye greyne ytake.
c1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 273 Þe cure herof is with electuari maad of greynes of lauri.
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Lev. xix. 10 Nethir in thi vyner thou schalt gadere reysyns and greynes falling down [L. racemos et grana cadentia].
c1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode (1869) ii. cxlvii. 134 I serue of vinegre and of vergeous, and of greynes þat ben soure and greene.
1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed 155 Excellent Grapes..which they..load and unload..without hurting the least grain.
1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Compl. Gard'ner i. iii. xiv. 157 The Chassela's..is a very sweet Grape..its grain or Berry is large and crackling.
b. One of the parts of a collective fruit.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > [noun] > parts of fruit
flesh1574
acetary1672
grain1674
peg1817
sarcocarp1819
pig1859
albedo1923
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > fruit or reproductive product > [noun] > compound or aggregate fruit > part of collective fruit
clove1634
grain1674
acinus1707
drupel1835
drupeole1866
drupelet1880
fruitlet1882
fructule1885
monocarp1952
1674 A. Cremer tr. J. Scheffer Hist. Lapland 141 Each Berry being divided as it were into graines of a pale yellow color.
1859 W. S. Coleman Our Woodlands 106 The grains of which it [the dewberry] is composed are..covered with fine bloom.
c. (See quot. 1836.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > part defined by form or function > protuberance or lump > [noun]
node1391
knot1398
burble1555
tubercle1597
hump1709
pustule1756
wart1793
papula1795
nodule1796
papule1821
papilla1832
grain1836
wartlet1856
1836 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Plants (rev. ed.) 1100 The segments of the flowers of Rumex have tubercles which are called grains.
II. Senses originally transferred from senses 1, 2.
†6. A bead, esp. one of the beads of a rosary (so French grain); also, a pearl. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > pearl > [noun]
margaritea1325
graina1350
pearlc1375
margerya1387
pebble1600
onion1688
mabe1940
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > types of ornamentation > jewellery > jewellery of specific shape or form > [noun] > bead(s)
graina1350
juniper-beads1486
beadc1500
adder-stone1587
bead-stone1677
adder-bead1694
wampumpeag1705
wampum1753
strand1825
a1350 in G. L. Brook Harley Lyrics (1968) 40 A grein in golde þat godly shon.
1579 W. Fulke Heskins Parl. Repealed in D. Heskins Ouerthrowne 456 Their graines of the Trinitie, and such other gaudes.
1630 J. Wadsworth Eng. Spanish Pilgrime (new ed.) iii. 18 They haue..Meddals and hallowed graines from his holinesse.
1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. J. Albert de Mandelslo 254 in Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors They sold us a fat Sheep..for 7. or 8. grains of Coral or Agat, and a Capon for 3. or 4. grains of counterfeit Coral.
7.
a. A small, hard, usually roundish particle (e.g. of sand, gold, salt, pepper). with a grain of salt (figurative): see salt n.1
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > granular texture > [noun] > a grain or granule
grainc1290
curn1474
quern1503
granule1652
granula1694
the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > a separate part > a piece or bit > a particle > hard and round
cornc888
grainc1290
kernelc1450
cornel1590
sand1596
granule1652
kern1753
parvule1887
c1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 417/486 Þare nas inne [the grave of S. John] nouȝht bote smale greynes..i-cleoped Manna in holi write.
1384 G. Chaucer Hous of Fame ii. 183 And moo berdys in two oures..then greynes be of sondes.
c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 303 Grauel & sande han stonys and greynys wyth-oute noumbre.
c1500 Melusine (1895) xxi. 128 One grayne of peper alone smertith more on mans tonge than doth a sacke full of whete.
1601 R. Johnson tr. G. Botero Trauellers Breuiat 104 In many riuers are found graines of gold.
1601 R. Johnson tr. G. Botero Trauellers Breuiat 104 He maketh graines of salt and pepper to passe for currant coine.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan iii. xlii. 270 The Multiplication of a grain of Mustard-seed.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost viii. 17 This Earth a spot, a graine, An Atom, with the Firmament compar'd. View more context for this quotation
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. 124 The surface of them [obelisks in Egypt] seems to be covered with little grains.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 44 Gold Dust, Guinea Grains.
1799 Scot. Described (ed. 2) 16 Gold has been gathered in Grains among the sands of the Elvan.
1813 J. Thomson Lect. Inflammation 289 The smooth surface..is..raised into a number of small eminences, like grains or papillæ. These little eminences are termed granulations.
1838 E. Brown Serm. iii. 45 What so insignificant in the inanimate creation as a grain of dust?
1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems lxxxvi. 4 In all that bodily largeness, Lives not a grain of salt, breathes not a charm anywhere.
1888 F. Hume Madame Midas i. ii. 23 A paper full of grains of gold.
b. spec. Of gunpowder: a particle of definite size, varying according to requirements. (Also poetic in collective sense.) Also attributive in large grain, small grain, etc. grain powder.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [noun] > explosive for use with firearms > grain of
corn1595
powder corn1612
grain1667
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 817 The Smuttie graine With sudden blaze diffus'd, inflames the Aire. View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vi. 515 Sulphurous and Nitrous Foame..they reduc'd To blackest grain, and into store conveyd. View more context for this quotation
1716 J. Gay Trivia iii. 78 The smutty Train With running Blaze awakes the barrell'd Grain.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine at Cannon The powder..expands so as to occupy a much greater space than when in grains.
1846 W. Greener Sci. Gunnery (new ed.) 248 All barrels have a size of grain that will suit them best.
1859 F. A. Griffiths Artillerist's Man. (1862) 92 Large grain, or common powder.
c. Of incense (see quot. 1853).
ΚΠ
1853 D. Rock Church our Fathers III. ii. 98 A deacon sang..the blessing of this candle, as well as of the incense, large knobs of which, or as they are now called ‘grains’, were stuck up on it at one part of this ceremony.
†d. A lump or nugget (of gold). Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > precious metal > [noun] > gold > lump or bar of gold
rulea1382
tongue1535
grain1613
gold bar1713
gold brick1820
lob1825
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 913 That admirable graine of gold..weighed in the first finding..many thousand crowns.
e. Any of the irregularly shaped discrete particles or crystals in a rock or a metal, usually but not necessarily small: (a) in Geology; (b) in Metallurgy.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > minerals > mineral structure or appearance > [noun] > grain
grain1813
chondrule1889
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > texture or colour > [noun] > texture > irregular particle
grain1813
(i)
1813 R. Bakewell Introd. Geol. i. 25 Granitic, composed of grains or crystals closely united without a cement.
1830 Edinb. New Philos. Jrnl. 9 268 It [sc. the granite] is not throughout pure, but is occasionally mixed with the gneiss,..or its ingredients, especially felspar, are disseminated in grains or crystals.
1882 A. Geikie Text-bk. Geol. ii. ii. 140 Pitchstone... Examined microscopically, it is found to consist of glass in which are diffused..angular or irregular grains, or more definitely formed crystals.
1939 A. Johannsen Descr. Petrogr. Igneous Rocks (ed. 2) I. iii. 31 When the constituents [of the rock] are..from walnut to cocoanut size, it is very coarse-grained. Occasionally rocks are of still larger grain; certain pegmatites, for example, have grains of several cubic meters or more in size.
1970 Encycl. Brit. X. 163/1 The high-silica rocks are generally light coloured and their excess of silica is expressed in abundant grains of quartz.
(ii)1900 J. A. Ewing & W. Rosenhain in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 193 355 When the polished surface of a metal, such as gold or iron, is lightly etched, and is then examined by means of normally reflected..light, the surface appears divided up into a number of areas separated by more or less polygonal boundaries. These areas are the sections of the crystalline grains which constitute the mass of the metal.1923 R. Glazebrook Dict. Appl. Physics V. 392/2 A section cut parallel to the direction of extension shows that the metal still consists of an aggregate of grains, but instead of a system of equi-axed crystals we now find grains elongated in the direction of extension.1953 Sci. News 29 36 The atoms [in a metal] are..aligned in small regions called grains; one grain containing rows of atoms lying at an angle to the rows in the neighbouring grains.1965 W. A. Tiller in R. W. Cahn Physical Metall. ix. 431 The main volume of the ingot generally consists of a zone of long columnar grains and a zone of equiaxed grains.
f. Aeronautics. A piece of solid propellant of the shape and size used in a rocket engine.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > chemical fuel > [noun] > solid
solid fuel1891
Sterno1915
Meta1921
grain1952
1952 K. W. Gatland Devel. Guided Missile 125 Tiny Tim... Solid-propellent (4 × 40 lb solventless extruded ballistite grains, discharge through 24 nozzles).
1954 K. W. Gatland Devel. Guided Missile (ed. 2) i. 34 The smokeless propellants used in modern rocket projectiles..may be produced in the form of tubes, or grains, of any desired length and thickness.
1962 F. I. Ordway et al. Basic Astronautics x. 417 Early solid rocket grains were ignited at one end and burned ‘cigarette fashion’ along the chamber.
1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. (rev. ed.) XI. 606/2 In some rockets there is more than one grain inside the same combustion chamber.
8. The smallest English and U.S. unit of weight (for the origin see quot. 1543); now = 1/ 5760 of a lb. Troy, 1/ 7000 of a lb. avoirdupois. diamond grain (see quot. 1883). fine grain (see fine adj. 2a(b)).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement by weighing > [noun] > unit or denomination of weight > smallest unit or grain
grain1543
1543 R. Record Ground of Artes i. sig. N.v After ye statutes of England,..the leaste portion of weyghte is commonly a grayne, meanynge a grayne or corne of whete, drye, and gathered out of the myddell of ye eare.
1660 R. Boyle New Exper. Physico-mechanicall vi. 59 We found the weight increas'd onely by one Grain.
1672 J. Dryden Conquest Granada ii. Epil. 159 None of 'em, no not Jonson, in his height Could pass, without allowing grains for weight.
1684 R. Waller tr. Ess. Nat. Exper. Acad. del Cimento 77 A pair of Scales that turned with the 1/ 48 part of a Grane.
?1750 J. Wesley Primitive Physick (ed. 2) 91 Take..from eight to twelve Grains of Calomel.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 763 The assayers' grains are called fine grains.
1870 W. S. Jevons Elem. Lessons Logic xxvi. 222 When a chemist analyses a few grains of water.
1883 A. H. Church Precious Stones vii. 50 It [the carat] is, however, spoken of as being equal to 4 grains, the grains meant being ‘diamond’ grains, and not ordinary troy or avoirdupois grains. Thus a diamond grain is but .7925 of a true grain.
9. In figurative applications of senses 7, 8: the smallest possible quantity; esp. in negative contexts. For the phrase grains of allowance cf. quot. 1672 at sense 8.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > a small quantity or amount > the smallest amount > a jot
cornc888
grotc888
prickleOE
prickOE
pointc1300
grain1377
hair1377
motec1390
twynt1399
mitec1400
tarec1405
drop1413
ace?1440
tittlea1450
whita1450
jot1526
Jack1530
plack1530
farthingc1540
minima1585
scintil1599
atom1626
scintillation1650
punct1653
doit1660
scintilla1674
rap1792
haet1802
dottle1808
smiggot1823
hooter1839
heartbeat1855
pick1866
filament1868
hoot1878
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. x. 139 I myȝte gete no greyne of his grete wittis.
1559 W. Baldwin et al. Myrroure for Magistrates Clifford ii. 3 My faultes be out so playne..That though I would I can not hide a grayne.
1593 M. Drayton Idea v. sig. E2v If there be remayning but a grayne, Of the olde stocke of famous poesie.
1629 G. Chapman tr. Juvenal Fifth Satyre in Iustification Nero 16 His forme and prime..May well allow him some few Graines of pride.
1643 J. Milton Doctr. Divorce 10 The lonelines which leads him still powerfully to seek a fit help, hath not the least grain of a sin in it.
1647 J. Trapp Comm. Epist. & Rev. (1 Pet. i. 6) When our hearts grow a grain too light, God seeth it but needfull to make us heavy through manifold temptations.
1648 Rous Balm of Love 10 Thou must give every Saint those graines of allowance which the Apostle gives him.
1654 T. Warren Vnbeleevers 98 The Minor are the words of Christ..and need not a graine of allowance.
1676 J. Dryden Dram. Wks. IV. 75 This Honesty of theirs ought to have many Grains for its Allowance.
1706 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. 9 Apr. (O.H.S.) I. 221 A..stupid Blockhead, without one Grain of Learning.
1713 R. Steele Englishman No. 1. 5 Your Man..might have given some Grains of Allowance to a good Droll for being a bad Politician.
1735 Visct. Bolingbroke Diss. upon Parties (ed. 2) 69 He had not a Grain of Pride, or Vanity, in his whole Composition.
1775 R. B. Sheridan Rivals ii. i A little less simplicity with a grain or two more sincerity.
1868 J. H. Blunt Reformation Church of Eng. I. 360 Nor is it probable that it ever had a grain of truth in it.
1879 A. W. Tourgée Fool's Errand xxxiii. 217 An inferior race, whose evidence, at best, would have to be taken with many grains of allowance.
1894 H. Drummond Lowell Lect. Ascent of Man 391 Wedded life without a grain of love.
III. With reference to dyeing. [ < Old French graine; the kermes was believed to consist of seeds or berries.]
10.
a. Historical. The Kermes or Scarlet Grain (see alkermes n. 1); in later use also applied to Cochineal. Also: the dye made from either of these.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > red or redness > red colouring matter > [noun] > dyes and dyestuffs
madderOE
grain1335
alkanet1343
Brazilc1386
crop-maddera1399
red-scarletc1400
alcanna?a1425
lac?c1425
madder root?c1450
incarnationa1475
jarecork1483
orchil1483
mull1507
orcanet1548
Bristol-red1551
red sanders1553
cochineal1582
safflower1583
chay1588
Pernambuco1595
red sanderswood1598
redwood1634
peach woodc1638
scarlet1653
mesteque1667
bow-dye1676
sylvester1697
corkir1703
gamene1703
orchilla1703
crap1721
saffranon1731
kino1788
Turkey red1789
lizary1791
granilla1812
munjeet1813
rubiate1835
orcein1838
purpurin1839
ruby wood1843
sassafrid1852
aal1853
pink salt1853
magenta1860
fuchsine1865
paeonin1865
safranine1868
corallin1873
marina1874
Magdala red1875
alizarin1878
eosin1879
Turkey red oil1879
roccelline1880
ponceau1885
amarant1888
phloxine1890
hypernic1897
Turkish red1900
Lithol red1930
1335–6 in J. T. Fowler Extracts Acct. Rolls Abbey of Durham (1899) II. 527 Ij li. de grayn.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 107 Zuo moche ydept yne grayne.
1465 in Manners & Househ. Expenses Eng. (1841) 164 My Mastyre delyverd..of crymeson owt of greyn, ij. yerdes.
1488–9 Act 4 Hen. VII c. 8 And a brode yerde of Wollen cloth of ony other Colour out of grayne.
c1503 R. Arnold Chron. f. xxxi/1 To sarse syfte and trye out the beste greyne and ther wyth dye and greyne their owne Clothes.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 461 The Scarlet grain..which commeth of the Ilex.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. i. iv. 96 The Spaniards and Portugals brought graine for Scarlet Dye.
1649 E. Reynolds Israels Prayer (new ed.) vi. 68 The grace of God unto the purposes of men is like graine to colours died.
1861 R. T. Hulme tr. C. H. Moquin-Tandon Elements Med. Zool. ii. iii. i. 71 The Common Cochineal..was supposed to be a small berry or grain, known as ‘Shining Grain’.
1883 Contemp. Rev. Sept. 427 The chief reds were scarlet..and grain, imported from Portugal.
figurative.1578 W. Clowes in Lyte Dodoens Commend. Lyte, whose toyle hath not bene light, to dye it in this grayne.1626 T. Aylesbury Passion Serm. 23 Tyranny cloatheth him with one purple, died in the purest graine of his bloud.
b. to dye (rarely, to put) in grain: (originally) to dye in scarlet grain or kermes; afterwards, to dye in any fast colour, to dye in the fibre, or thoroughly (see note on engrain v.1).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > colouring > dyeing > dye [verb (transitive)] > processes or techniques
to dye in grainc1386
woad1463
madder1464
set1529
to dye in (the) wool, in grain1579
alum1598
rake1778
sumac1792
piece-dye1810
gall1822
dung1824
wince1839
winch1845
overdye1857
top1874
to wet out1882
vat1883
cross-dye1885
paddle1909
premetallize1948
spin-dye1948
c1386 G. Chaucer Squire's Tale 503 So depe in greyn he dyed his colours.
1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 9 This sayle..was not white, but redde, dyed in graine, and of the culler of scarlett.
1650 T. Fuller Pisgah-sight of Palestine iv. vi. 99 These colours not being dyed in grain, lose much of their lustre, and gloss in washing.
1715 London Gaz. No. 5387/4 His new invented Art of Printing, Dying or Staining of Calicoes in Grain.
1742 W. Shenstone School-mistress vi Her Apron, dy'd in Grain, as blue, I trow, As is the Hair-bell.
figurative.a1566 R. Edwards Damon & Pithias (1571) sig. Bij A Villaine for his life, a Varlet died in Graine.1597 M. Drayton Englands Heroicall Epist. f. 28 v Greene, Scroope, and Bushie, die his fault in graine.1653 Bp. J. Taylor XXV Serm. xiii. 168 Our reason is first stained and spotted with the dye of our kindred, and country, and our education puts it in grain.1670 S. Wilson Lassels's Voy. Italy (new ed.) i. 221 It is a Gentry dyed in graine, that is, its both witty, and rich.1734 J. Swift Strephon & Cloe in Beautiful Young Nymph 12 She a Goddess dy'd in Grain Was unsusceptible of Stain.1775 E. Burke Corr. (1844) II. 4 My American measures..have a certain unity of colour which has stood wearing for upwards of nine years... It is indeed dyed in grain.
c. in grain [short for dyed in grain, or a rendering of French en graine] adjectival phr. = dyed scarlet or crimson, fast dyed; hence in figurative use, esp. with contemptuous epithets, as ass, fool, knave, rogue, etc.: downright, by nature, pure and simple, genuine, thorough. Also as predicate: indelible, ineradicable, ingrained adj. See also ingrain adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > colouring > dyeing > [adjective] > fast dyed
in grainc1386
grained1455
engrained1598
fast1658
standing1716
ingrain1766
fixed1791
fast-dyed1815
colourfast1851
wash-fast1963
the world > matter > colour > named colours > red or redness > making or becoming red > [adjective] > made red > by dye, stain, or pigment
redOE
purpureda1382
in grainc1386
purpledc1450
engored1602
encrimsoned1609
vermeiled1616
raddled1656
ruddled1691
vermilioned1725
incrimsoned1831
incarmined1863
carmined1893
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > foundation in fact, validity > [adjective] > in its natural state, unsophisticated
purec1300
right1466
sincere1557
in grain?1577
genuine1607
unsophisticate1607
honesta1616
undistracted1656
unsophisticated1664
inartful1714
unabsurd1744
in the raw1785
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > utter or absolute > of a person or his character
utterc1420
complete1526
entirea1533
throughout1532
in grain?1577
consummate1603
essential1604
perfecta1616
thorough1625
thorough-paceda1628
thoroughbred1701
throughgoing1830
through and through1831
thorough-souled1842
ingrained1851
ingrain1865
c1386 G. Chaucer Sir Thopas 16 His rode is lyk scarlet in grayn.
1531 in F. W. Weaver Wells Wills (1890) 22 Maud K. my gowne off vyolett yn grayne.
a1550 (c1441) Lament Duchess of Gloucester (Balliol) in T. Wright Polit. Poems & Songs (1861) II. 208 Farewelle, velvet, and clothes in grayn.
?1577 Misogonus in R. W. Bond Early Plays from Ital. (1911) 190 Now by me trwlye thou art a knave an grane.
1599 J. Minsheu Pleasant Dialogues Spanish & Eng. 34 in R. Percyvall & J. Minsheu Spanish Gram. Go to, make an end babbler in graine.
1606 N. Breton Choice, Chance, & Change sig. A2 Here are conceits of diuerse colours, some in graine and none but will bide the weather.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Game Fol à la haulte game, an arrant foole..; an Asse in graine.
1613 G. Wither Wither's Motto (1633) 518 To maintain a habit for my Minde Of Truth in graine.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) iii. ii. 108 Anti. That's a fault that water will mend. Dro. No sir, 'tis in graine, Noahs flood could not do it. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) i. v. 227 Vio. Excellently done, if God did all. Ol. 'Tis in graine sir, 'twill endure winde and weather. View more context for this quotation
c1650 Roxburghe Ballads (1886) I. 317 Then Drawer, go fill a Quart, and let it be Claret in grain.
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Northumb. 308 Some..who properly may be termed Knaves in grain.
1698 J. Crowne Caligula ii. 16 Princes are slaves in purple, slaves in grain.
1719 in T. D'Urfey Wit & Mirth IV. 60 No Woman shou'd deceive my Thought, With Colours not in Grain.
1760 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy I. xxi. 153 My father, as I told you, was a philosopher in grain.
1793 T. Jefferson Writings (1859) IV. 5 Dumourier was known to be a scoundrel in grain.
1840 T. Carlyle Crit. & Misc. Ess. II. 84 Being palpably a Turk in grain, his intents are wicked.
1862 Sat. Rev. 14 370/2 To paint himself as a saint in grain, but a sinner by accident.
1863 J. Keble Life T. Wilson: Pt. II xvii. 540 He was an antiquarian in grain, and delighted in exact observation.
1886 R. Boyle in Trans. New Shakspere Soc. 585 Massinger's corrupt female natures are in grain.
11. Dye in general, esp. a fast dye; colour, hue. Now only poetic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > [noun] > colour produced by dye
dyec1000
grain1377
the world > matter > colour > colouring > colouring matter > [noun] > dye > fast dye
grain1377
grain-colour1632
steam-colour1844
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xvi. 59 Of o gretnesse, and grene of greyne thei [this thre piles] semen.
c1394 P. Pl. Crede 230 His kyrtel of clene whijt..Hyt was good y-now of ground, greyn for to beren.
1587 M. Grove Pelops & Hippodamia (1878) 100 Ne to change that colour sad, for any other graine.
1593 M. Drayton Idea iii. sig. D2 Beta shall haue the firstling of the foulde, I'le burnish all his hornes with finest gould, and paynt his fleece with purple grayne.
1645 J. Milton Il Penseroso in Poems 38 All in a robe of darkest grain.
a1657 G. Daniel Trinarchodia: Richard II xcvi, in Poems (1878) III. 161 To make his Course-spun beare a Graine Fitt for a finer Thred.
1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 412. ¶4 In Birds..we often see the Male determined in his Courtship by the single Grain or Tincture of a Feather.
1801 R. Southey Thalaba I. i. 23 The ebony..With darkness feeds its boughs of raven grain.
1849 E. Bulwer-Lytton King Arthur ii. lxxxv Cloth of comely grain.
figurative.1641 J. Milton Reason Church-govt. 28 By this is seene..whose vertue is of an unchangeable graine, and whose of a slight wash.1647 N. Bacon Hist. Disc. Govt. 94 Then might that penance be reduced to a ransome, according to the graine of the offence.1660 H. Thurman in A. Wood Life & Times (1891) I. 370 Sins of so deep a graine as of killing a king.1782 J. Trumbull MʽFingal (new ed.) ii. 28 T' evade these crimes of blackest grain, You prate of liberty in vain.
IV. Granular texture.
12.
a. A roughness of surface, giving the appearance of ‘grains’ (sense 7) or small roundish bodies side by side. Hence in an engraving or drawing, a granular appearance produced by dots or lines.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > unevenness > [noun] > roughness > rough surface
grain1390
tooth1811
frosting1864
rasp1869
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > [noun] > grained appearance
grain1812
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > engraving > intaglio printing > [noun] > stippling > a stippled engraving > granular appearance
grain1812
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis III. 27 He seeth her front is large and pleine Withoute frounce of any greine.
1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 278 The little Lyzard, or Stellion starred in body graine [L. atris stellatus corpore guttis].
1625 F. Bacon Transl. Psalms 8 The Compasse heauen, smooth without graine or fold, All set with Spangs of glitt'ring Stars vntold.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica iii. xxiii. 168 The tooth of a Morse or Sea-horse in the midst of the solider part containing a curdled graine . View more context for this quotation
1716 J. Gay Trivia i. 4 And Show'rs soon drench the Camlet's cockled Grain.
1812 R. H. in Examiner 25 May 329/1 We regret that the..Artist does not clear out his copper a little better, so as to obviate a want of clearness of grain.
1821 W. M. Craig Lect. Drawing vii. 401 These cracks..when bit in, form what is called the grain of the work.
1968 Gloss. Terms Offset Lithogr. Printing (B.S.I.) 21 Grain, a roughened state of a lithographic surface which assists the retention of moisture and control of the image.
b. Photography. An appearance of mottling or granulation in a negative.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > a photograph > qualities and effects > [noun] > mottled appearance
mealiness1609
measles1867
grain1890
film grain1921
1890 Internat. Ann. Anthonys Photogr. Bull. 173 The former, owing to a certain amount of grain, are not adapted to make good sharp lantern plates.
13. spec. Of leather:
a. The rough or wrinkled surface resulting from the growth of papillæ.
ΚΠ
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 681 They..leaue it [sc. pigskin] to the sadlers & to them that couer bookes, for which cause it is much better then eyther sheepe or Goates skinnes, for it hath a deeper graine.
1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion xiv. 233 The Staple deepe and thick, through, to the very graine.
1876 J. S. Schultz Leather Manuf. 19 The grain must be fully preserved.
b. = grain-side n. at Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > skin > layer of skin > [noun] > specific layers
epiderma1582
outskin1583
cutis1605
cuticle1615
scarf-skin1615
cuticula1621
epidermis1626
flesh side1630
derma1706
scarfy skin1744
rete mucosum1754
hypoderma1826
chorion1828
dermis1830
corium1835
derm1835
epiderm1835
flesh1839
rete1842
grain1851
hypoderm1855
stratum corneum1857
grain-side1858
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 443/2 The skin is ‘split’... That known as the ‘grain’ (the part to which the fleece of the animal is attached) is very thin.
1885 Harper's Mag. Jan. 276/2 Grains and splits together are again ‘pin-wheeled’.
c. A similar surface produced artificially.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > leather > [noun] > patterned granular surface
grain1530
pebble1875
pebble grain1876
fish-skin grain1879
box grain1897
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 574/1 I grayne ledder, I make it by tannyng crafte to have a grayne, je besanne.
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant ii. 34 These [little dents]..make that grane which we see in Chagrin.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 769 A grain is formed upon the flesh side with the roughened lead plate or grainer of the curriers.
1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) IV. 88 The grain is made by passing a ball of boxwood, with grooves in it, over the skin many times.
1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) IV. 88 Skins..marked with a handsome full grain of considerable size.
d. Short for grain-leather n. at Compounds 2 (see sense Compounds 2).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > leather > [noun] > leather finished in specific way
red leather1418
black work1587
frieze-leather1594
shagreen1677
chagrin1678
wax-leather1711
patent leather1797
satin leather1802
japanned leather1851
Peau d'Espagne1855
grain-leather1858
suede1878
pebble leather1880
suede leather1882
ooze leather1888
blacking leather1895
grain1895
patent1902
ooze1916
1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. Spring & Summer 516/1 A shoe..made from the finest grade of English imported grain... This grain consists of a very fine selection of calfskin, finished on the grain side.
1897 Sears, Roebuck Catal. No. 104. 193/3 Ladies' Bright Grain Button Shoe.
1930 Daily Tel. 1 Dec. 15/1 Washable Grain Cape Gloves.
1949 D. Woodroffe Stand. Handbk. Industr. Leathers i. 16 The grain is dressed for handbags, luggage, men's dress belts.
14. The texture of any substance; the arrangement and size of its constituent particles, appearing in an exposed surface or in a cross-cut or fracture:
a. in flesh or skin.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > skin > textures or states of skin > [noun]
grainc1600
the world > life > the body > bodily substance > flesh > [noun] > texture of
grainc1600
c1600 Grobiana's Nuptialls (Bodl. 30) Prol. f. 13 a Such as ne're swathed their feete in socks, for feare of the graine of their owne bodies.
1637 J. Milton Comus 26 Course complexions And cheeks of sorrie graine.
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World iv. 91 The lean Flesh is black, and of a course grain.
1747 H. Glasse Art of Cookery xxi. 162 The Hen [of the pheasant] if young, has smooth Legs, and her Flesh of a curious Grain.
1780 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting (ed. 2) IV. iv. 25 The head of an old woman,..in which the grain of the skin, the hairs [etc.] were represented with the most exact minuteness.
1823 J. Badcock Domest. Amusem. 68 Dark persons observed to have skin of a finer grain than fair persons.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. iii. 85 His hands, which were of a rough coarse grain, were very dirty.
b. in wood (cf. sense 15).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > other specific kinds of texture > [noun] > grain of wood, stone, or metal
graina1641
bate1664
a1641 J. Smyth Berkeley MSS (1883) I. 161 My selfe havinge..told theire [Oakes'] ages..by the graine..made in a circle in every kind of tree by the yearly assent and consolidation of the sapp.
1664 J. Evelyn Sylva (1679) 17 The Timber is far better, and of a finer grain, which grows upon the Mountains.
1682 N. Grew Anat. Plants iv. i. iv. 153 Giving the Leaf, as it were, a different Grain.
1725 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey II. v. 302 The clouded olive's easy grain.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 91 Mahogany..grown on rocks is the..closest in the grain.
c. in stone, metal, etc.
ΚΠ
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. iii. 55 The English Steel..breaks firie with somewhat a course grain.
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §218 (note) A large flat stone, of a close grain.
1832 G. R. Porter Treat. Manuf. Porcelain & Glass i. 11 The grain in both the Chinese and Saxon pieces appeared compact, smooth, and shining; while that of the French ware was less close..and its grain resembled sugar.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) 22 Close in grain as the rock may appear to the eye.
d. Soap-making. (See quot. 1885.)
ΚΠ
1884 A. Watt Art of Soap-making vi. 59 When a sample of the paste, after being allowed to cool, is firm and solid, and exhibits a good grain or ‘feather’ when cut, the soap is finished.
1885 W. L. Carpenter Treat. Manuf. Soap i. 12 The appearances known as ‘grain’ or ‘strike’ in a hard soap, and ‘fig’ in a soft soap, are due to the crystalline character of soap.
e. concrete. Internal substance.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > [noun] > texture
grain1579
contexturea1639
texture1660
context1706
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Feb. 203 The Axes edge did oft turne againe, As halfe vnwilling to cut the graine.
1600 R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (new ed.) III. 191 The graine of the bone is somewhat more yellow then the Iuory.
1622 M. Drayton 2nd Pt. Poly-olbion xxvi. 121 The lustie Salmon..Whose graine doth rise in flakes, with fatnesse interlarded.
1873 E. Spon Workshop Receipts Ser. i 362/1 The middle of the blade [of whalebone] is of a looser texture than the rest, and is called the grain, being composed of coarse, bristly hairs.
figurative.a1627 J. Hayward Life & Raigne Edward Sixt (1630) 82 They liued..as brothers glued together but not vnited in graine.
15. The longitudinal arrangement of fibres or particles, in lines or veins more or less parallel along which the material is more easily cloven or cut than in any other direction:
a. in wood, producing often the effect of a pattern. grain upset n. Nautical (see quot. 1867).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > other specific kinds of texture > [noun] > grain of wood, stone, or metal > longitudinal arrangement in wood
grain1565
ribbon grain1932
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > [noun] > grain
long grain1542
grain1565
felt-grain1703
silver grain1801
figure1875
fiddle-back1890
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Vndatim crispæ mensæ. Plin. Tables hauynge grayne lyke waues of water.
1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida i. iii. 7 Knots by the conflux of meeting sap, Infects the sound Pine, and diuerts his graine . View more context for this quotation
1674 A. Cremer tr. J. Scheffer Hist. Lapland 47 When the grain of the wood, running from the bottom to the top of the tree, winds it self from the right hand to the left.
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. iv. 68 The Grain of the wood laying along the length of the Bench.
1801 T. A. Knight in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 41 344 There is..in every kind of wood, what workmen call its grain, consisting of two kinds, the false or bastard, and the true or silver grain.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 599 Having the grain of the wood to run in the same direction with the rail.
1834 M. Somerville On Connexion Physical Sci. (1849) xvi. 150 The facility with which the vibrations of sound are transmitted along the grain of a log of wood is well known.
1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. vi. 46 The light shone full upon the grain of certain panels.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Grain upset, when a mast suffers by buccles, it is said to have the grain upset.
b. in flesh.
ΚΠ
1591 A. W. Bk. Cookrye (rev. ed.) 20 b Take Venison and cut it as the graine goeth.
c. in coal, stone, etc.: lamination; stratification; plane of cleavage.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > other specific kinds of texture > [noun] > grain of wood, stone, or metal > in stone
grain1664
run1851
1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. iii. 169 Those Magnetical Atoms that strike..through the Body of every petty Loadstone, accordingly as they are best received by the Grain or Bait of the said Stone.
1703 R. Neve City & Countrey Purchaser 254 Common Stones have a cleaving Grain, (as they lie in the Quarry,) and a breaking one; the first..runs parallel with the Horizon; the other is perpendicular to it.
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) 194 The grain of the laminated moorstone..being nearly parallel thereto.
1830 J. F. W. Herschel Prelim. Disc. Study Nat. Philos. 31 Rock-crystal and Iceland spar..have a grain which glass has not.
1842 J. Gwilt Encycl. Archit. Gloss. 981 Grain, in wood or stone, is the line of direction in which either may be split transversely.
1860 J. Prestwich in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 150 295 As the gun-flint makers observe, ‘flint has no grain’. It has not in fact the slightest cleavage.
1867 W. W. Smyth Treat. Coal & Coal-mining 145 Banks are..worked across the grain of the coal.
1881 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1880–1 9 142 Grain, of coal, the lines of structure or parting parallel with the main gangways.
d. In paper.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > other specific kinds of texture > [noun] > grain of wood, stone, or metal > in paper
grain1922
1922 Paper Trade Jrnl. 15 June 50/2 Grain... In paper the direction of manufacture on the machine, as ‘across the grain’.
1924 Paper Trade Jrnl. 7 Feb. 56/2 Grain direction, the direction in which the fibers flow on a papermaking machine.
1949 Manual of Style (Chicago Univ. Press) (ed. 11) 251 Paper resists bending and folding against the grain. For this reason printers take care to make sure that the grain will run vertically in the completed book, in order that..the book pages will lie flat when the book is opened.
1961 J. P. Casey Pulp & Paper (ed. 2) III. xvii. 1258 The grain of paper must be taken into account in measuring all physical properties.
16.
a. figurative (from senses 14, 15). Quality, nature, temper; inclination, tendency.In first quot. other senses are possible: cf. 3c, 11 figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > disposition or character > [noun]
heartOE
erda1000
moodOE
i-mindOE
i-cundeOE
costc1175
lundc1175
evena1200
kinda1225
custc1275
couragec1300
the manner ofc1300
qualityc1300
talentc1330
attemperancec1374
complexionc1386
dispositiona1387
propertyc1390
naturea1393
assay1393
inclinationa1398
gentlenessa1400
proprietya1400
habitudec1400
makingc1400
conditionc1405
habitc1405
conceitc1425
affecta1460
ingeny1477
engine1488
stomach?1510
mind?a1513
ingine1533
affection1534
vein1536
humour?1563
natural1564
facultyc1565
concept1566
frame1567
temperature1583
geniusa1586
bent1587
constitution1589
composition1597
character1600
tune1600
qualification1602
infusion1604
spirits1604
dispose1609
selfness1611
disposure1613
composurea1616
racea1616
tempera1616
crasisc1616
directiona1639
grain1641
turn1647
complexure1648
genie1653
make1674
personality1710
tonea1751
bearing1795
liver1800
make-up1821
temperament1821
naturalness1850
selfhood1854
Wesen1854
naturel1856
sit1857
fibre1864
character structure1873
mentality1895
mindset1909
psyche1910
where it's (he's, she's) at1967
1641 J. Milton Of Prelatical Episc. 10 All men would have readily seen what grain the testimony had bin of.
1664 J. Dryden Rival Ladies Ded. sig. A2v To work and bend their stubborn Minds, which go not all after the same Grain.
a1677 I. Barrow Wks. (1686) III. 212 Crossing the grain of our nature and desires.
a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 107 The King ought to govern them according to the grain of their own inclinations.
1794 Har'st Rig cxxxiii. 41 The master hardly can restrain Their thrawart humour and cross-grain.
1866 W. R. Alger Solitudes Nature & Man iv. 329 He was separated from ordinary persons in grain and habits.
1876 ‘G. Eliot’ Daniel Deronda I. ii. xvi. 318 Hatred of innocent human obstacles was a form of moral stupidity not in Deronda's grain.
1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 11 Sept. 3/1 Mr. Broadhurst is a representative English workman of the best grain.
b. against (also, contrary to) the grain: contrary to one's disposition or inclination; esp. in to go against the grain.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > opposition > in the face of or in opposition [phrase] > opposed to natural bent
against the wool1393
against the hair1532
against the wooda1568
against (also, contrary to) the graina1616
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) ii. iii. 233 Say..that Your Minds pre-occupy'd with what you rather must do, Then what you should, made you against the graine To Voyce him Consull. View more context for this quotation
1650 T. Hubbert Pilula 65 O this goes against the grain, this cannot be indured.
a1659 F. Osborne Characters (1673) 630 To whom in all things you are bound to obey, though contrary to the grain of Prudence it self.
1691–1701 J. Norris Ess. Ideal World (1704) ii. xii. 514 That which seems..more against the grain of common prejudice.
1694 J. Dryden Love Triumphant v. i. 71 It goes against the grain to give it them.
1778 H. Laurens in J. Sparks Corr. Amer. Revol. (1853) II. 119 Such provision will be against the grain of the people.
1826 W. Scott Jrnl. 12 July (1939) 201 I have dawdled and written letters sorely against the grain all day.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Love thou thy Land in Poems (new ed.) I. 224 Cut Prejudice against the grain.
1861 T. Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. III. xi. 191 I followed your advice at last, though it went against the grain uncommonly.
1871 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues II. 82 The mind..unlike the body, must not be made to work against the grain.
1886 W. Stubbs 17 Lect. Study Hist. Pref. p. v The lectures were written under the pressure of statutory compulsion, and against the grain.
1998 Courier-Jrnl. (Louisville, Kentucky) 7 Mar. 3/2 Daytime-student sleeping hours will be observed in the new campus dormitories, something that must go against the biorhythmical grain of anyone between the ages of 18 and 28.
17. plural. A preparation used in ‘graining’ leather: = grainer n.1 1a (In recent dictionaries.)

Compounds

C1. General relations.
a. Simple attributive.
(a) (In sense 3.)
grain-barge n.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel of specific construction or shape > flat-bottomed boat > [noun] > barge > other types of barge
coal barge1720
budgerow1727
water1727
brick barge1738
tent-barge1796
water barge1798
passage-barge1804
steam barge1812
schooner barge1819
tongkang1834
bumbarge1839
Tom Pudding1880
grain-barge1902
butty1923
support barge1967
reel barge1972
1902 S. E. White Blazed Trail xxix. 204 They were locked through after some delay on account of the grain barges from Duluth.
grain-barn n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > storage or preservation of crops > [noun] > barn > types of
tithe barn1543
tithing barn1659
corn-house1699
Dutch barn1742
staddle barn1794
bank barn1804
staddle granary1816
Pennsylvania barn1823
grain-barn1844
1844 Knickerbocker 23 439 Let us drop into the ‘grain-barn’.
grain-bin n.
ΚΠ
1879 B. F. Taylor Summer-savory xiii. 112 The pulpit, with the architecture of a grain-bin and two stories high.
grain-boat n.
ΚΠ
1891 R. Kipling Light that Failed viii. 144 An Odessa grain-boat.
grain-box n.
ΚΠ
1872 1st Rep. Vermont State Board Agric. 1871–2 312 A convenient grain-box and root-cellar are great aids.
grain-cart n.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > cart, carriage, or wagon > cart or wagon for conveying goods > [noun] > types of > wagon or cart for specific articles
grain-cart1709
meat wagon1843
1709 Brit. Apollo 23–25 Nov. A plain Cart, By Wights ycleped call'd a Grain-Cart.
grain-chamber n.
ΚΠ
1887 H. H. Jackson Between Whiles i. 26 A winding staircase outside led to what had been the grain-chamber.
grain-country n.
ΚΠ
1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth 347 Oats and barley were consequently poured down from the Highlands of Perthshire in great quantities towards those provinces of the county that are called grain-countries.
grain-crop n.
ΚΠ
1822 J. Laing Voy. Spitzbergen 34 The grain crop consists of a small kind of black or grey oats, and a species of barley.
grain-department n.
ΚΠ
1801 Asiatic Ann. Reg. 1800 Characters 56/2 The grain department was placed under his charge.
grain-farm n.
ΚΠ
1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth 400 In grain-farms..the body of the soil must be meliorated before it can be rendered productive.
grain-field n.
ΚΠ
1818 W. Cobbett Year's Resid. U.S.A. i. ii. 129 My hay fields and grain fields.
grain-food n.
ΚΠ
1831 New Eng. Farmer 20 July 4/1 Will not the ox himself, when kept at labor, require grain food as well as the horse?
grain-land n.
ΚΠ
1817 S. R. Brown Western Gazetteer 84 It proves to be excellent grain land.
1938 Times Lit. Suppl. 19 Mar. 181/1 A distinction between grainland, paying tax or rent in kind, and vine-, orchard- and garden-land, paying money-dues.
grain-market n.
ΚΠ
1871 M. Schele de Vere Americanisms (1872) 481 Grain is used in America as corn is in England,..the papers quote therefore daily an account of the Grain Market.
grain-merchant n.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trader > traders or dealers in specific articles > [noun] > in grain
oatmonger1300
corn-monger?1518
corn-merchant1556
corn-master1579
swaler1597
hop-merchant1639
cornfactor1699
corn-dealer1707
corn-jobber1795
grain-merchant1838
grain-dealer1840
grain-bag1890
1838 Lett. fr. Madras (1843) 225 The grain-merchants want to hoard it.
1870 J. K. Medbery Men & Myst. Wall St. 335 All our great grain-merchants..do the same.
grain-mill n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation of grain > milling or grinding > [noun] > corn-mill
millOE
oat mill1482
corn-mill1523
grist-mill1602
barley-mill1797
flouring-mill1797
moulin1837
corn-grinder1841
grain-mill1867
1867 H. Latham Black & White 27 Ellicott..dammed up the Patapsco..and built grain-mills there.
grain-port n.
ΚΠ
1891 Times 26 Oct. 4/4 From..the Pacific grain ports..chartering has been almost at a standstill.
grain-room n.
ΚΠ
1873 J. H. Beadle Undeveloped West xxv. 524 The other officials and employes were..in charge of [the] grain room.
grain-sack n.
grain-ship n.
ΚΠ
1928 L. P. Smith Words & Idioms 12 The basket..hoisted by the Egyptian grainships as an ensign.
1935 Discovery Feb. 61/2 These photographs give a good idea of life on a grain ship.
grain-trade n.
ΚΠ
1857 Chicago Tribune 25 Dec. 2/4 Our principal grain men, Messrs. W. C. Barret & Co., finding nothing to do in the grain trade, have gone to packing pork pretty largely.
(b) (In sense 4b.)
grain-tub n. (in quot. figurative).
ΚΠ
1661 K. W. Confused Characters 80 They are resolved..to..chock and stifle it in the graintub of resistance.
(c) (In sense 7e.)
grain-boundary n.
ΚΠ
1920 Jrnl. Inst. Metals 23 462 This is rather deep etching, but the grain boundaries were revealed better than by light etching.
1957 D. McLean Grain Boundaries in Metals i. 1 A grain boundary in a piece of metal is the boundary separating two crystals (or ‘grains’) that differ either in crystallographic orientation, composition, or dimensions of the crystal lattice, or in two or all of these properties.
grain-size n.
ΚΠ
1912 A. H. Sexton & J. S. G. Primrose Outl. Metall. Iron & Steel (ed. 2) xliv. 545 The grain~size is reduced to very small dimensions by each pass through the rolls, or by each blow of the hammer.
1956 W. Edwards in D. L. Linton Sheffield 13 Inferior thickness and grain-size of sandstones.
1958 F. E. Zeuner Dating Past (ed. 4) 21 Varves..composed of sand below (grain-size chiefly 1·0–0·1 mm.) and silty clay in their upper portion (grain-size under 0·1 mm., chiefly 0·1–0·01 mm.).
1966 D. G. Brandon Mod. Techniques Metallogr. 246 Etched grain boundaries are commonly 1μm or so in width at the low magnifications usually used in grain-size analysis.
(d) (In sense 8.)
grain-weight n.
ΚΠ
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) (at cited word) A Grain-weight of Gold-Bullion is worth two Pence.
1862 H. Spencer First Princ. ii. viii. §73. 253 The portion of metal called a grain-weight.
(e) (In sense 10c.)
grain dyeing n.
ΚΠ
1729 B. Mandeville Fable Bees ii. iii. 153 In some of these Arts, especially Grain or Scarlet-dying, there are Processes really astonishing.
grain-dyer n.
ΚΠ
1791 W. Hamilton tr. C.-L. Berthollet Elements Art of Dyeing I. i. ii. iv.192 I wish..that the distinction between grain and other dyers was abolished.
(f) (In sense 15.)
grain-ways adv.
ΚΠ
1811 J. Parkins Young Man's Best Compan. 519 Holding it grainways to the light.
b. Objective. (In sense 3.)
(a)
grain-carrier n.
ΚΠ
1908 E. Noble (title) The grain carriers.
grain-crusher n.
ΚΠ
1850 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Patents 1849: Agric. 113 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (31st Congr., 1st Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc. 20, Pt. 2) VI Their newly invented horse~powers..their seed sowers and grain-crushers..do much to expedite the labors of the farm.
1850 Mary Wedlake's Priced List Farming Implements 16 (heading) A General Grain Crusher, Crushing the smallest Pulse and the largest: viz., Lentils and Beans.
grain-dealer n.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trader > traders or dealers in specific articles > [noun] > in grain
oatmonger1300
corn-monger?1518
corn-merchant1556
corn-master1579
swaler1597
hop-merchant1639
cornfactor1699
corn-dealer1707
corn-jobber1795
grain-merchant1838
grain-dealer1840
grain-bag1890
1840 C. Mathews Politicians 5 To the invading grain-dealer, the voracious statesman sends a furious inspector.
1868 14th Ann. Rep. Iowa State Agric. Soc. 1867 158 Near the river a portion [of the corn crop is] sold to grain-dealers where it finds a market at St. Louis.
grain-divider n.
ΚΠ
1893 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 3rd Ser. 4 716 The grain dividers are secured to the steel framing in a very substantial manner.
grain-dryer n.
ΚΠ
1884 Cassell's Family Mag. Feb. 189/1 Large grain-dryers..weighing from three to four tons each.
grain-farmer n.
ΚΠ
1804 J. Barrow Acc. Trav. Interior S. Afr. 1797–98 II. vi. 386 The population of this colony may be reduced into four classes... 3. Grain-farmers.
1959 Cape Times 2 July 2/8 Grain farmers are now anxiously looking out for rain for their young crops.
grain-grower n.
ΚΠ
1863 D. G. Mitchell My Farm of Edgewood 131 A professed grain-grower.
1927 H. Peake & H. J. Fleure Peasants & Potters 22 Grain is a more sustaining diet than whelks and limpets, and the grain-growers had more time and more energy to improve the amenities of their surroundings.
1963 Times 13 Mar. 10/7 Stalin accused some of the ‘respected grain-growers’ of staging a sit-down strike and leaving workers and the Red Army without bread.
grain-huller n.
ΚΠ
1850 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Patents 1849: Arts & Manuf. 302 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (31st Congr., 1st Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc. 20, Pt. 1) VI What I claim..is covering..grain hullers with vulcanized India rubber.
grain-rubber n.
ΚΠ
1889 Jrnl. Derbysh. Archæol. Soc. 11 40 Found associated with..grain-rubbers.
grain-scourer n.
ΚΠ
1868 14th Ann. Rep. Iowa State Agric. Soc. 1867 420 We are not behind the rest of the world in inventive skill, for we have invented..Kent's grain scourer.
grain-separator n.
ΚΠ
1883 E. Ingersoll in Harper's Mag. June 75/2 It is fed down into the grain separators..which sift out the chaff.
(b)
grain-carrying n.
ΚΠ
1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 9 May 7/1 The Russian grain-carrying trade.
grain-grinding n.
ΚΠ
1845 F. Douglass Narr. Life F. Douglass ii. 12 The blacksmithing, cartwrighting, coopering..and grain-grinding, were all performed by the slaves.
grain-growing n.
ΚΠ
1813 Weekly Reg. 4 385/2 The public vigilance and scorn must aid the legal authorities; and so it will, in the grain-growing states.
1858 J. A. Warder Hedges & Evergreens i. x. 144 Just as..grain-growing prevails, we find the fences are legally considered inclosures for the cattle, or barriers against them.
1868 14th Ann. Rep. Iowa State Agric. Soc. 1867 148 The enemies to grain-growing are numerous.
1872 W. R. Greg Enigmas ii. 83 The average yield of the splendid grain-growing provinces in America.
(c)
grain-carrying adj.
ΚΠ
1901 Daily Chron. 19 Aug. 5/7 Twenty-nine grain-carrying ships, chartered for European ports.
grain-cutting adj.
ΚΠ
1838 H. W. Ellsworth Valley Upper Wabash v. 47 I have a plan..to introduce the mowing and grain-cutting machine into this state.
grain-eating adj.
ΚΠ
1836 A. Combe Physiol. Digestion i. iv. 64 The granivorous or grain-eating birds.
grain-growing adj.
ΚΠ
1847 H. Howe Hist. Coll. Ohio 123 Cleveland is the great mart of the greatest grain-growing state in the Union.
1857 Trans. Mich. Agric. Soc. 8 621 Macomb county, as a whole, is not a grain growing county.
grain-raising adj.
ΚΠ
1893 A. C. Gunter Miss Dividends 187 Great grain-raising plains.
c. Instrumental. (In sense 3.)
grain-fed adj.
ΚΠ
c1804 M. M. Sherwood Life (1847) xvii. 289 A grain-fed sheep had been killed in the morning.
grain-laden adj.
ΚΠ
1852 C. W. Hoskyns Talpa 112 A grain-laden Dutchman clearing out of harbour.
C2.
grain-bag n. lit., a bag for holding corn; humorously, a corn-dealer.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trader > traders or dealers in specific articles > [noun] > in grain
oatmonger1300
corn-monger?1518
corn-merchant1556
corn-master1579
swaler1597
hop-merchant1639
cornfactor1699
corn-dealer1707
corn-jobber1795
grain-merchant1838
grain-dealer1840
grain-bag1890
1890 R. Kipling in Fortnightly Rev. 47 171 A son of some grain-bag sat with me at meat.
1899 Academy 11 Feb. 184/1 Blankets, grain-bags, and all-wool coats were woven everywhere.
grain-block n. an over-accumulation of grain from the lack of transport.
ΚΠ
1891 Pall Mall Gaz. 11 Nov. 6/3 It will be impossible to avoid a grain block this year.
grain-colour n. (a) scarlet dye; (b) a fast colour; also a cloth dyed with this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > colouring > colouring matter > [noun] > dye > fast dye
grain1377
grain-colour1632
steam-colour1844
1632 R. Sherwood Dict. in R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues (new ed.) (at cited word) Graine-colour, or in graine, teinct en grain.
1646 S. Clarke Mirrour for Saints & Sinners 125 True grace is not like a sleight staine, but a durable die, and graine-colour which can never be washed out.
1709 London Gaz. No. 4540/6 The best broad Italian colour'd Mantua's at 6s. 9d. per Yard, and grain Colours in proportion.
1751 S. Whatley England's Gazetteer (at cited word) Stroud, Famous for dying scarlet broad-cloth, and for all other grain colours.
grain-conveyor n. (see conveyor n. 4b).
ΚΠ
1910 Encycl. Brit. VII. 54/2 The guide rollers, for ordinary grain conveyors, are fitted to the upper or working side of the band at intervals or about 6 ft.
grain-cradle n. = cradle n. 7 (E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. 1875).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > harvesting equipment > [noun] > reaping tools > scythe > cradle
cradle1573
rifle1573
scythe-cradle1695
grain-cradle1824
crete1887
1824 18th Congress 1 Sess. H.R. Doc. No. 25. 7 Improvement in grain cradle [patented March 24, 1823, by] Isaac Babcock.
1845 Cultivator New Ser. III. 17 My method is to..cut with a grain cradle previous to the first frost.
1897 Sears, Roebuck Catal. No. 104. 50/3 Morgan Grain Cradle, 4 fingers, grape vine pattern, wood brace, ring fastening, silver steel scythe.
1923 J. H. Cook Fifty Years on Old Frontier 3 Sturdy sons of the forest, they could swing the scythe or the grain-cradle from sunup to sundown.
grain-cut adj. Shipbuilding (of timber) cut athwart the grain (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1830 P. Hedderwick Treat. Marine Archit. 113 Grain-cut, is when a timber is formed from a straight piece of wood, so that the direction of the fibre does not follow the curve of the timber.
grain-elevator n. (see elevator n. 3a, 3b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > harvesting equipment > [noun] > grain-elevator
grain-elevator1852
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > storage or preservation of crops > [noun] > granary
corn-housec1000
meal-houseOE
garnerc1175
grangec1384
girnel1452
graner1531
garnery1552
granary1570
grainel1608
corn-crib1716
golah1762
grain-elevator1852
1852 L. B. MacKinnon Atlantic & Transatlantic Sketches I. 57 To accelerate the introduction of the cargo, a grain-elevator was employed. This novel machine pumped the grain from barges,..in a continuous stream into the ship's hold... It was..accurately measured in the operation.
1873 ‘M. Twain’ & C. D. Warner Gilded Age xxii. 203 Pictures of wharves, crowded with steam boats, and of huge grain elevators on the bank.
1905 Macmillan's Mag. Nov. 47 The wheat..is warehoused ready for shipment in grain-elevators, which are large rectangular buildings of great height, consisting of vertical bins, some of which are a hundred feet in depth.
1926 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 3 Jan. 1/2 Chief of the commercial buildings contemplated is the proposed new grain elevator of the Panama-Pacific Grain Terminals Company.
1967 Canadian Ann. Rev. 1966 283 Among the buildings deferred were a large grain elevator in Prince Rupert and several proposed government buildings in Ottawa.
grain-founder n. = grain-sick n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of cattle > [noun] > dietary disorders
dew-bolne?1523
hunger-rot?1523
grass-sick1607
grain-sick1834
hoove1840
grass staggers1858
bloat1878
wobbles1886
grain-founder1890
blowing1891
veld sickness1896
corn-stalk disease1900
cattle-sickness1903
Molteno disease1911
grass tetany1931
1890 J. S. Billings National Med. Dict. I Grain-founder or Grain-sick.
grain-gold n. †(a) gold dust; (b) gold formed into grains by heat after ‘parting’.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > precious metal > [noun] > gold > gold dust or grain
pippin1604
grain-gold1695
1695 J. Woodward Ess. Nat. Hist. Earth 222 'Tis by this means [sc. Rain] chiefly that the Grain-Gold, upon all the Golden Coast..in Guinea, is displayed.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 766 It [the parted gold after being made red-hot] is then called Grain Gold.
1850 W. Colton Deck & Port xiv. 397 Each has a bag of grain-gold in his hand, which he must double or lose.
grain growth n. an increase in the average grain size of a metal.
ΚΠ
1928 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. 117 920 Grain growth started at the surfaces of the samples by small grains of iron absorbing the diffusing metal, and extended by migration of grain boundaries in the direction of the diffusing force.
grain-intoxication n. that arising from the use of musty grain.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders caused by poisons > [noun] > by infected food
beestings1607
raphania1773
food poisoning1856
botulism1858
ergotism1864
sausage-poisoning1876
Gaertner1897
grain-intoxication1897
grain-poisoning1897
tyrotoxism1900
salmonellosis1913
ichthyosarcotoxism1953
Salmonella1962
1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. II. 792 Rare..are the grain intoxications in our own country.
grain-leather n. leather dressed with the ‘grain-side’ outwards.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > leather > [noun] > leather finished in specific way
red leather1418
black work1587
frieze-leather1594
shagreen1677
chagrin1678
wax-leather1711
patent leather1797
satin leather1802
japanned leather1851
Peau d'Espagne1855
grain-leather1858
suede1878
pebble leather1880
suede leather1882
ooze leather1888
blacking leather1895
grain1895
patent1902
ooze1916
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Grain-leather, a name for dressed horse~hides.
1885 A. Watt Art of Leather Manuf. xxvii. 341 Leather which has to be blackened on the flesh side is differently treated to grain leather.
grain-man n. a dealer in grain.
ΚΠ
1849 Sun (Baltimore) 15 Dec. (advt.) The Grain Men, Salt Operators, and Potato Dealers—On this (Saturday) Morning..at my Auction Rooms, 260 bushel Sacks suitable for the above.
1867 Cultivator 17 Oct. 253/2 A grain man told me that in the fall of 1865, he went into the country ten miles, paid $1,200 for 1,000 bushels of wheat,..and realized 25c per bushel profit thereon.
1921 Co-operative Manager & Farmer Nov. 31/1 If your grain man buys some grain from you and does not want to hold it and take the risk he sells it in advance.
2004 Manitoba Business Mar. 20/1 In the opinion of grain man George Richardson the creation of the first futures contract in 1904 literally put Winnipeg on the map.
grain-moth n. a moth (esp. Tinea granella) whose larvae devour grain in storehouses.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Tineidae > tinea granella (grain-moth)
wolf1682
corn-moth1766
fly-weevil1789
grain-moth1842
wolf-moth1863
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Gelechiidae > member of
grain-moth1842
1842 T. W. Harris Treat. Insects New Eng. 363 The European grain-moth (Tinea granella), in its perfected state, is a winged insect.
1855 J. C. Morton Cycl. Agric. II. 989 Tinea granella (the little Grain or Corn Moth).
1932 C. L. Metcalf & W. P. Flint Fund. Insect Life viii. 273 Among the most destructive and best-known species [of Gelechiidæ] are the pink bollworm.., the Angoumois grain moth.
1967 S. O. Nelson in Kilgore & Doutt Pest Control iii. 107 The Angoumois grain moth and the lesser grain borer were more resistant to control by infrared treatment.
grain-oriented adj. (of steel) having had the grains oriented predominantly in one direction in order to modify the magnetic properties.
ΚΠ
1951 Trans. Amer. Inst. Electr. Engineers 70 840/1 The successful application of grain oriented strip steel to turbine generators, marks an important new step in the field of power generation.
1960 Times 11 Feb. 17/3 A modern plant for the integrated and continuous processing of ultra-low-loss grain-oriented electrical quality sheet and strip.
grain-poisoning n. see grain-intoxication n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders caused by poisons > [noun] > by infected food
beestings1607
raphania1773
food poisoning1856
botulism1858
ergotism1864
sausage-poisoning1876
Gaertner1897
grain-intoxication1897
grain-poisoning1897
tyrotoxism1900
salmonellosis1913
ichthyosarcotoxism1953
Salmonella1962
1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. II. 792 There are three well-known modes of grain poisoning.
grain-process n. a process in photographic engraving in which a granular texture is given to the plate.
ΚΠ
1890 W. J. Gordon Foundry xi. 216 There are other grain processes besides this one.
grain roll n. an iron roller made by casting the metal in sand.
ΚΠ
1904 F. W. Harbord & J. W. Hall Metall. Steel xvi. 291 Such rolls cost from 50 to 100 per cent. more than those cast in sand, and known as ‘grain rolls’.
1932 E. Gregory Metall. i. 18 Small amounts of chromium also bring about considerable grain refinement, which is desirable in ordinary ‘grain’ rolls used for roughing purposes.
grain-sick n. a disease in cattle, consisting of an excessive distension of the rumen with food.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of cattle > [noun] > dietary disorders
dew-bolne?1523
hunger-rot?1523
grass-sick1607
grain-sick1834
hoove1840
grass staggers1858
bloat1878
wobbles1886
grain-founder1890
blowing1891
veld sickness1896
corn-stalk disease1900
cattle-sickness1903
Molteno disease1911
grass tetany1931
1834 W. Youatt Cattle 436 The disease is recognised in town-dairies by the name of grain-sick; in some parts of the country it is termed maw-bound.
1848 Rural Cycl. II. 486 In mild cases of grainsick.
grain-side n. the side of a skin on which the hair grew, opposed to flesh-side.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > skin > layer of skin > [noun] > specific layers
epiderma1582
outskin1583
cutis1605
cuticle1615
scarf-skin1615
cuticula1621
epidermis1626
flesh side1630
derma1706
scarfy skin1744
rete mucosum1754
hypoderma1826
chorion1828
dermis1830
corium1835
derm1835
epiderm1835
flesh1839
rete1842
grain1851
hypoderm1855
stratum corneum1857
grain-side1858
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products 178/1 Goat, seal, and other skins, blacked on the grain side for women's shoes, &c.
grain-soap n. (see quot. 1884).
ΚΠ
1884 A. Watt Art of Soap-making 11 If the plastic soap be now removed and cooled while the solution is pressed out, it will have become so solid as scarcely to receive an impression from the finger. In this condition it is called grain soap.
grain split n. the grain-side section of a split skin.
ΚΠ
1897 C. T. Davis Manuf. Leather (ed. 2) 188 Good ‘grain splits’.
grain-stone n. (see quot. 1756).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > stone > a stone > [noun] > other stones
loys1295
anthracites1535
rockstone?1545
stone-glass1585
milkstone1598
fieldstone1649
pebble1669
ballstone1726
grain-stone1756
knablick1757
found stone1800
sitfast1809
graptolite1838
bumble1839
hardhead1849
chock1894
chockstone1894
1756 P. Browne Civil & Nat. Hist. Jamaica ii. i. 50 Grain-stone... The stones of this kind are easily known by their hardness and granulated appearance.
grain tin n. (see tin n.).
grain-tree n. Heraldry an imaginary plant bearing kermes grains (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > representations of vegetation > [noun] > other vegetation
pease ricea1325
garbc1460
gourd1513
sengreenc1550
orme1688
sag-spear1688
sedge1688
grain-tree1780
pea-rice1780
scrog1780
1780 J. Edmondson Compl. Body Heraldry II. (Gloss.) Grain-Tree,..three sprigs of this tree vert, fructed gu. is the crest of the Dyers' Company.
grain-weevil n. a small weevil which injures stored grain.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Curculionoidea or Rhyncophora > family Curculionidae or genus Curculio > corn-weevil
corn-weevil1840
grain-weevil1848
1848 Rural Cycl. II. 487 Grain-weevil. See Calandra.
grain-whisky n. (see quot. 1887).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > whisky > [noun] > other whiskies
peat-reek1792
Monongahela1805
rye?1808
corn1820
small-still (whisky)1822
bald-face1840
corn-whiskey1843
raw1844
Bourbon1846
sod corn1857
valley tan1860
straight1862
forty-rod whisky1863
rock and rye1878
sour-mash1885
grain-whisky1887
forty rod lightning1889
Suntory1942
Wild Turkey1949
mash1961
pot still1994
1887 Daily News 27 Sept. 5/3 Grain whisky, i.e. made of barley in the grain stage, and not of malt.
grain-worm n. the larva of a grain-moth.
ΚΠ
1838 H. Colman 1st Rep. Agric. Mass. (Mass. Agric. Surv.) 28 A third cause of the failure of the wheat crop in several places in the county, is the grain worm.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

grainn.2

Brit. /ɡreɪn/, U.S. /ɡreɪn/
Forms: Middle English greyn(e, Middle English–1500s grane, Middle English–1600s grayn(e, 1500s–1600s graine, 1600s grein, 1600s– grain. Also 1800s (plural, sense 5b) grainse.
Origin: A borrowing from early Scandinavian. Etymon: Norse grein.
Etymology: < Old Norse grein division, distinction, branch (Danish green, Swedish gren branch).
†1. plural. The fork of the body, the lower limbs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > trunk > groin or crotch > [noun]
shareeOE
liskc1175
forchure13..
cleftc1325
fouchc1330
grainsa1400
swange?a1400
groin14..
thigh-holec1425
twist1572
crotcha1592
fork1608
cleaving1632
inguen1679
crutch-
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > limb > leg > [noun]
shanka900
legc1300
grainsa1400
limbc1400
foot?a1425
stumpa1500
pin?1515
pestlea1529
boughc1550
stamp1567
understander1583
pile1584
supporters1601
walker?1611
trestle1612
fetlock1645
pedestal1695
drumstick1770
gam1785
timber1807
tram1808–18
fork1812
prop1817
nethers1822
forkals1828
understanding1828
stick1830
nether person1835
locomotive1836
nether man1846
underpinning1848
bender1849
Scotch peg1857
Scotch1859
under-pinner1859
stem1860
Coryate's compasses1864
peg1891
wheel1927
shaft1935
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 7449 O bodi gret, o granis lang.
1506 tr. Kalender of Shepherdes sig. Kviv Libra [gouerneth] the nauyll, the graynes, the partyes vnder the haunches.
1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion i. 12 Then Corin vp doth take The Giant twixt the grayns.
2. A bough or branch. Also, the fork between two boughs. Obsolete exc. dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > part of tree or woody plant > [noun] > bough or branch
boughc1000
limbOE
brancha1300
trainc1390
grain1513
palm1559
arm1579
stem1584
lug-pole1773
hag wood1804
hag1808
tree branch1851
rame1858
the world > plants > part of plant > part of tree or woody plant > [noun] > fork
grain1513
crotch1573
ala1707
clof1789
axil1791
tree-fork1922
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid iv. viii. 73 The souchand bir quisland amang the granis.
?1553 (c1501) G. Douglas Palice of Honour (London) i. l. 152 in Shorter Poems (1967) 18 Not throu the soyl, bot muskan treis sproutyt..Moch, all wast, widdrit with granis moutyt.
1597 Bp. J. Hall Defiance to Enuy in Virgidemiarum: 1st 3 Bks. sig. A3 Ye prouder Pines, Whose swelling graines are like to be gald alone.
1633 Bp. J. Hall Plaine Explic. Hard Texts i. 113 His head was caught fast within the graines of a spreading oke.
1652 J. Gaule Πυς-μαντια 315 The Faulconer climing up to fetch down his Hawke, a grayne of a branch got hold of his neck, and there he hung.
a1700 Ballad in W. McDowall Hist. Dumfries (1873) v. 63 Five [men] he hang'd upon a grain.
1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel I. 75 While, underneath their mingling grains, The river silver'd down the plains.
1863 J. C. Atkinson Danby Gloss. Grain,..the branch of a tree.
figurative.1513 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid x. Prol. 65 Thocht thir personis [of the Trinity] be seuerall in thre granis.1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1895) II. 418 Afor he cuttit of had, and snedit al the branches and graines of his superstitione.
3.
†a. An arm (of the sea); a branch or ‘fork’ (of a stream). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > tributary > [noun] > fork
graina1400
creek1622
fork1692
tine1875
the world > the earth > land > land mass > shore or bank > bend in coast > [noun] > inlet in river or sea
fleetc893
creekc1300
graina1400
updraught14..
armleta1552
land-featherc1582
indraught1596
inlet1596
vent1604
cut1630
re-entrant1893
a1400–50 Alexander 2451 A grayne of þe grete see þaim aboute glidis.
1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1822) v. 420 Divide it first with small granis and burnis.
b. A valley branching out of another. dialect. (Cf. hope n.2)
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > valley > [noun] > other types
brem valayc1400
glack1535
grain1542
by-slade1635
by-vale1686
water gap1756
hanging valley1900
through valley1901
palm bottom1902
wadi1902
pocket valley1904
1542 in J. T. Fowler Chartularium Abbathiæ de Novo Monasterio (1878) Introd. p. xviii Such as inhabyte in one of those hoopes, valyes, or graynes.
1813 J. Hogg Queen's Wake ii. xi. 154 Astonished, 'mid his open grain, [the hind] sees round him pour the sudden rain.
1897 M. Bryce Mem. J. Veitch II. 51 Resisting the appeal of ‘grain’ and ‘hope’ to sit in the narrow room.
†4. ? The blade of a weapon. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > sharp weapon > [noun] > blade or edge
grain13..
sharpc1390
13.. K. Alis. 6537 Theo horn [of a rhinoceros] is scharp as a sweord, Bothe by the greyn and at ord.
c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 211 A spetos sparþe..Þe hede of an elnȝerde þe large lenkþe hade, Þe grayn al of grene stele & of golde hewen, þe bit burnyst bryȝt.
5.
a. One of the prongs of a fork. Obsolete exc. dialect.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > digging or lifting tools > [noun] > fork > prong of fork
grain1486
forket1583
graininga1642
fork1677
prong1697
spear1742
spean1777
1486 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1885) III. 242 A hoke with iij. greynes to drawe vp stones out of the water.
1606 P. Holland tr. Suetonius Hist. Twelve Caesars 147 With three graines like an ele speare.
a1629 W. Hinde Faithfull Remonstr. (1641) xlvi. 147 The two greins of the pikell ran on both sides of his leg, and hurt him not.
1681 J. Chetham Angler's Vade Mecum i. 2 A stick of Hasle, which hath 2 grains and follow the line therewith until you come to the Hook.
1861 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 22 ii. 305 A fork with three grains or prongs.
1864 J. C. Atkinson Stanton Grange 220 I cut a stick wiv tweea grains. Two grains? What are they? What you quality wad call a fork.
in combination.1691 J. Ray S. & E. Country Words in Coll. Eng. Words (ed. 2) 101 Grain-staff, a Quarter-staff with a pair of short Tines at the end, which they call Grains.
b. Also grane. Frequently as plural (commonly construed as singular; formerly also spelt grainse): A fish-spear or harpoon with two or more ‘grains’ or prongs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > spear > [noun]
pricka1350
garfanglec1440
wawsper1472
spear1551
waster1580
fizgig1589
visgee1593
fish-spear1611
glaive1640
fish-giga1642
gaff1656
gig1705
lance1728
sticker1772
graina1818
picaroon1837
pickpole1837
fishing-spear1840
lily-iron1852
gambeering iron1883
mackerel gaff1883
a1818 M. G. Lewis Jrnl. W. India Proprietor (1834) 43 The five-pronged grainse, which arms his hands, Your scales is doomed to gore.
1851 Chambers's Papers for People No. 52. 7 The sailmaker..personated Neptune..and..flourished a three-pronged grainse.
1865 J. C. Wilcocks Sea-fisherman 137 The instrument known as the grains consists of five harpoons in one..attached to a stiff light ashen staff with a ball of lead at the top.
1882 Worcs. Exhib. Catal. iii. 55 Harpoons and shifting grains for whale fishing.
1883 Great Internat. Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 195 Eel spears, porpoise and dolphin grains.
1899 F. T. Bullen Idylls of Sea xvii. 136 A few good lines and hooks, and a set of granes.
1951 R. Campbell Light on Dark Horse xx. 285 I went on fishing, with my spare grane (fish-spear).
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

grainv.1

Brit. /ɡreɪn/, U.S. /ɡreɪn/
Forms: Also Middle English, 1500s greine, greyne, 1500s graine, grayne.
Etymology: < grain n.1
1.
a. intransitive. To produce grain; to yield fruit. Of corn: to form its grains.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > cereal, corn, or grain > [verb (intransitive)] > grow or produce parts (of plants)
grain1390
ear1442
spindle1577
to run to straw1660
tassel out1757
spean1829
spane1843
silk1878
the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > land raising crops > [verb (intransitive)] > yield grain
grain1390
to bleed wella1642
kernel1707
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 155 The lond began to greine, Which whilom hadde be bareine.
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Ingranellare, to growe to cornes or little graines, to graine.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies vii. ix. 519 Much Mays (which is their corne) already grained, and in the eare.
1924 Glasgow Herald 12 Nov. 16 Arable ground would grain even faster than it does if the dole-fed masses of the great cities, such as Buenos Aires and Sydney, were to be induced to lend a hand at the plough.
figurative.1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 389 It floureth but it shall not greine Unto the fruit of rightwisnesse.
†b. passive. To spring (from a seed). Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer ii. f. cccxxxviiiv Al mortal folke of one sede arne greyned.
2.
a. transitive. To cause (sea-water) to deposit grains (of salt).
ΚΠ
1706 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 25 2265 The Sea-Water being in hot Countries grained in Pans called Salt-Marshes.
b. To form (sugar, tin, etc.) into grains.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > granular texture > form into grains or granules [verb (transitive)]
corn1562
granulate1666
granate1750
grain1791
1791 Ann. Reg. 94 The sugar of this tree was capable of being grained.
1791 W. Hamilton tr. C.-L. Berthollet Elements Art of Dyeing I. i. iii. i. 236 The tin should be grained by melting it, and pouring it into agitated water.
c. intransitive for reflexive. Of salt, syrup, etc.: to form into grains.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > granular texture > become granular or form grains [verb (intransitive)]
corn1562
kern1657
granulate1667
grain1749
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > sugar manufacture > [verb (intransitive)] > granulate
kern1657
grain1749
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > salt manufacture > [verb (intransitive)] > granulate
kern1657
grain1749
1749 Philos. Trans. 1748 (Royal Soc.) 45 363 To make the Salt grain better, or more quickly form into Chrystals.
1865 Trans. Illinois State Agric. Soc. 1861–4 5 566 The yield of stalk was enormous but the sirup made from it was quite dark, and refused to grain.
1893 R. Wells Toffy & Sweets 7 When lump or crystallised sugars are boiled to the heat..of 250 degrees, the sugar is liable to grain, and to turn out a solid mass on the slab.
1906 Daily Chron. 31 Oct. 8/5 When the syrup has boiled for fifteen minutes add the chestnuts and stir the mixture until it ‘grains’ and turns white.
3. Brewing. transitive. To free from grain; separate the grain from.
ΚΠ
1882 tr. Thausing's Beer iv. 198 The graining of wort from wheat is difficult on account of the tenacious layer of grains.
4. To dye in grain (see grain n.1 10c).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > colouring > dyeing > dye [verb (transitive)] > fast dye
engrain1377
dyec1386
to dye in (the) wool, in grainc1386
mastera1398
grain1530
begrain1855
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 574/1 A man may grayne a clothe what colour so ever it be dyed in.
1538 T. Elyot Dict. Coccum, grayne wherwith cloth and silke is grayned.
1862 C. O'Neill Dict. Calico Printing at Kermes Colours dyed with them [Kermes] were said to be grained, or engrained.
figurative.a1682 Sir T. Browne Christian Morals (1716) i. 9 Persons lightly dipt, not grain'd in generous Honesty, are but pale in Goodness, and faint hued in Integrity.1897 Sunday Sch. World June 199/1 These vices were not merely grained into the life of the common people.
5. To give a granular surface to. Cf. grain n.1 12, and grainer n.1 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > unevenness > make uneven [verb (transitive)] > make rough
engrail1576
roughen1582
unplain1611
unsmooth1626
asperate1656
granulate1692
to rough upa1722
rough1728
ruffle1731
jar18..
crizzle1821
bristle1872
grain1888
1888 Daily News 1 June 6/5 For drawing in what is termed the chalk manner the stone is first ‘grained’ by being rubbed against a similar stone, with a little fine white sand between the two.
1891 Labour Commission Gloss. Grainers, men in the printing industry who grain stone with sand for artists doing what is called ‘chalk work’.
6. Leather-dressing.
a. To remove the hair from (skins).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with skins > work with skins [verb (transitive)] > clean hide > remove hair
pull1550
hair1802
grain1841
unhair1845
slate1885
fine-hair1891
1841 G. Catlin Lett. N. Amer. Indians II. xlii. 64 The women are drying meat, and ‘graining’ buffalo robes.
a1848 G. F. Ruxton Life in Far West (1849) i. 15 Than whom no more..expert trapper ever..grained a beaver skin.
b. To soften or raise the grain of (leather, etc.). Cf. grain n.1 13.
ΚΠ
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 574/1 I grayne ledder, I make it by tannyng crafte to have a grayne, je besanne.
1896 Daily News 6 Nov. 2/3 A Leather Finisher graining and setting a skin.
7. To paint in imitation of the ‘grain’ of valuable woods or of marble. Also absol.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > decorating and painting > decorate [verb (transitive)] > paint > grain
grain1798
comb1867
1798 [implied in: Taylor Builder's Price Bk. in Archit. Publ. Soc. Dict. Mahogany grained. (at grained adj.1 4)].
1827 N. Whittock Decorative Painters' & Glaziers' Guide ii. 25 Spread the megilp over one panel at a time, and grain that completely before proceeding to another.
1876 T. Hardy Hand of Ethelberta I. xvi. 166 I can..grain in every kind of wood.
1877 Paperhanger, Painter, Grainer, etc. 112 Care should be taken in graining maple, not to put too much colour on.
8. transitive. To feed with grain. U.S.
ΚΠ
1852 H. Melville Pierre 40 No one grained his steeds, but himself.
1874 2nd Rep. Vermont State Board Agric. 1873–4 406 Older sheep should be grained the first of the season, after which they may do without till the first of March.
1949 Sat. Evening Post (Philadelphia) 9 Apr. 132/4 We throwed our drive into a pole-fence pasture, grained Blaze and Blackie's grullo, then went up to the main house.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

† grainv.2

Etymology: < grain n.2
1. reflexive. To branch; to divide. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > two > division into two > divide in two [verb (intransitive)] > bifurcate
twisel931
fork1605
grain1664
bifurcate1828
bisect1870
1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. i. 56 The hairs do grain and fork themselves (when grown too long).
2. transitive. To spear (fish) with a grains.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > type or method of fishing > [verb (transitive)] > catch fish with spear
poach1602
dart1624
peg1735
spear1755
harpoon1774
gig1816
spritsail-yard1833
gaff1844
grain1892
spear-fish1962
1892 R. L. Stevenson & L. Osbourne Wrecker xii. 196 Something struck me right through the forearm and stuck there. I put my other hand up, and, by George, it was the grain; the beasts had speared me like a porpoise. ‘Cap'n!’ I cried... ‘They've grained me.’
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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n.1c1290n.213..v.11390v.21664
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英语词典包含1132095条英英释义在线翻译词条，基本涵盖了全部常用单词的英英翻译及用法，是英语学习的有利工具。

　

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更新时间：2025/11/4 17:26:33