American Heritage Dictionary Entry: grind HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key. Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window. guide to the dictionary THE USAGE PANEL The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions. The Panelists NEED HELP SOLVING A CROSSWORD PUZZLE? Go to our Crossword Puzzle Solver and type in the letters that you know, and the Solver will produce a list of possible solutions. -- AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android. THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more. OPEN DICTIONARY PROJECT Share your ideas for new words and new meanings of old words! Start Sharing Now! -- See word lists from the best-selling 100 Words Series! Find out more! INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES? Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com grind (grīnd) Share: Tweet v. ground(ground), grind·ing, grinds v. tr. 1. a. To reduce to small bits or crush to a fine powder: grind wheat into flour; grind coffee beans. b. To shape, sharpen, or refine with friction: grind scissors to a fine edge; grind lenses for eyeglasses. 2. To rub (two surfaces) together harshly; gnash: grind one's teeth. 3. To bear down on harshly; crush: The team's spirit was ground down by harsh losses. 4. To oppress or weaken gradually or persistently: “Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law” (Oliver Goldsmith). 5. To operate by turning a crank: ground a hurdy-gurdy. 6. To instill or teach by persistent repetition: ground the truth into their heads. v. intr. 1. To perform the operation of grinding something. 2. To become crushed, pulverized, or powdered by friction: Those coffee beans ground easily. 3. a. To move with noisy friction; grate: a train grinding along rusty rails. b. past tense and past participle grind·ed(grīndĭd) To ride a skateboard, a snowboard, or skis over a grind rail or narrow surface, often with the board or skis at right angles to the direction of movement. 4. Informal To devote oneself to study or work: grinding for a test; grinding away at housework. 5. past tense and past participle grind·ed(grīndĭd) Slang To rotate the pelvis erotically, as while dancing or performing a striptease. n. 1. The act of grinding. 2. A crunching or grinding noise. 3. a. A specific grade or degree of pulverization, as of coffee beans: drip grind. b. Bits of ground coffee; grounds. 4. Informal A laborious task, routine, or study: the daily grind. 5. Informal A student who works or studies excessively. 6. Slang An erotic rotation of the pelvis. Phrasal Verb: grind out To produce mechanically or without inspiration: a hack writer who grinds out one potboiler after another. Idiom: grind it out To make a persistent effort in doing something that is difficult; work at something persistently. [Middle English grinden, from Old English grindan; see ghrendh- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] grinding·ly adv. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved. Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices: Indo-European Roots Semitic Roots The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots. 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