grind
Pronunciation: (grīnd), [key] — v., n. ground grind grind•ing
—v.t. - to wear, smooth, or sharpen by abrasion or friction; whet: to grind a lens.
- to reduce to fine particles, as by pounding or crushing; bray, triturate, or pulverize.
- to oppress, torment, or crush: to grind the poor.
- to rub harshly or gratingly; grate together; grit: to grind one's teeth.
- to operate by turning a crank: to grind a hand organ.
- to produce by crushing or abrasion: to grind flour.
- to annoy; irritate; irk: It really grinds me when he's late.
—v.i. - to perform the operation of reducing to fine particles.
- to rub harshly; grate.
- to be or become ground.
- to be polished or sharpened by friction.
- to work or study laboriously (often fol. by away): He was grinding away at his algebra.
- (in a dance) to rotate the hips in a suggestive manner. Cf. bump (def. 11).
- to grind out magazine stories.
- to produce in a routine or mechanical way:to grind out magazine stories.
- to extinguish by rubbing the lighted end against a hard surface:to grind out a cigarette.
—n. - the act of grinding.
- a grinding sound.
- a grade of particle fineness into which a substance is ground: The coffee is available in various grinds for different coffee makers.
- laborious, usually uninteresting work: Copying all the footnotes was a grind.
- an excessively diligent student.
- a dance movement in which the hips are rotated in a suggestive or erotic manner. Cf. bump (def. 22).
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.