• | See Groan. |
• | A single small hard seed; a kernel, especially of those plants, like wheat, whose seeds are used for food. |
• | The fruit of certain grasses which furnish the chief food of man, as corn, wheat, rye, oats, etc., or the plants themselves; -- used collectively. |
• | Any small, hard particle, as of sand, sugar, salt, etc.; hence, any minute portion or particle; as, a grain of gunpowder, of pollen, of starch, of sense, of wit, etc. |
• | The unit of the English system of weights; -- so called because considered equal to the average of grains taken from the middle of the ears of wheat. 7,000 grains constitute the pound avoirdupois, and 5,760 grains the pound troy. A grain is equal to .0648 gram. See Gram. |
• | A reddish dye made from the coccus insect, or kermes; hence, a red color of any tint or hue, as crimson, scarlet, etc.; sometimes used by the poets as equivalent to Tyrian purple. |
• | The composite particles of any substance; that arrangement of the particles of any body which determines its comparative roughness or hardness; texture; as, marble, sugar, sandstone, etc., of fine grain. |
• | The direction, arrangement, or appearance of the fibers in wood, or of the strata in stone, slate, etc. |
• | The fiber which forms the substance of wood or of any fibrous material. |
• | The hair side of a piece of leather, or the marking on that side. |
• | The remains of grain, etc., after brewing or distillation; hence, any residuum. Also called draff. |
• | A rounded prominence on the back of a sepal, as in the common dock. See Grained, a., 4. |
• | Temper; natural disposition; inclination. |
• | A sort of spice, the grain of paradise. |
• | To paint in imitation of the grain of wood, marble, etc. |
• | To form (powder, sugar, etc.) into grains. |
• | To take the hair off (skins); to soften and raise the grain of (leather, etc.). |
• | To yield fruit. |
• | To form grains, or to assume a granular ferm, as the result of crystallization; to granulate. |
• | A branch of a tree; a stalk or stem of a plant. |
• | A tine, prong, or fork. |
• | One the branches of a valley or of a river. |
• | An iron first speak or harpoon, having four or more barbed points. |
• | A blade of a sword, knife, etc. |
• | A thin piece of metal, used in a mold to steady a core. |