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REFERENCE

grain

n. · v.
US //ˈɡɹeɪn// UK //ɡɹˈeɪn// grain
  1. 1 food seeds (n.)
    B1 Intermediate

    the small, hard seeds of food plants like wheat, rice, or corn.

    the harvested seeds of various cereal grasses or food crops, such as wheat, maize, or barley, considered collectively.

    Example

    The farmers stored the grain in large buildings to keep it dry for winter.

    Example

    Global markets fluctuated wildly as reports emerged of a significant decrease in the annual grain harvest due to the prolonged drought.
  2. 2 a tiny particle (n.)
    B1 Intermediate

    a single, very small piece of a substance like sand, salt, or sugar.

    a single small, hard particle of a substance; the smallest unit of a bulk material.

    Example

    I think I have a grain of sand in my eye from the beach.

    Example

    The forensic team examined every grain of dust found at the scene, hoping to find a link to the suspect's warehouse.
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  1. 3 wood/leather texture (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    the natural lines and patterns you see in wood or leather.

    the longitudinal arrangement or pattern of fibres in wood, or the texture of the hair side of leather.

    Example

    He sanded the table carefully, always moving the paper with the grain of the wood.

    Example

    The carpenter explained that cutting against the grain would likely cause the timber to splinter and ruin the finish.

    Usage

    Often used in the phrase 'against the grain' to describe something that feels unnatural.
  2. 4 photography texture (n.)
    C1 Advanced Technical Photography

    the tiny dots or 'noise' that make a photo look slightly fuzzy or textured.

    the granular appearance of a processed photographic image resulting from the presence of small particles of metallic silver.

    Example

    The old black-and-white photo had a lot of grain, which made it look very artistic.

    Example

    High-speed films typically exhibit more prominent grain, a characteristic often sought by photographers for its gritty, atmospheric quality.
  3. 5 unit of weight (n.)
    C2 Proficiency Archaic Technical

    a very small unit of weight used for things like medicine or gold.

    a minute unit of mass in the troy system, originally based on the weight of a single grain of barley.

    Example

    The old recipe called for a few grains of a rare spice.

    Example

    In the apothecaries' system, the grain served as the foundational unit of weight for measuring potent medicinal powders.

  4. 6 to texture a surface (v.)
    C1 Advanced Technical

    to paint or treat a surface so it looks like it has a wood pattern.

    to paint or finish a surface in imitation of the natural grain of wood or another material.

    Example

    The decorator used a special tool to grain the metal door so it looked like oak.

    Example

    The restoration expert spent weeks graining the new panels to ensure they matched the original nineteenth-century woodwork.
Etymology 1

From Middle English greyn, grayn, grein, from Old French grain, grein, from Latin grānum (“seed”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm (“grain”). Doublet of corn, gram, granum, and grao.

Etymology 2

From Middle English grayn, from Old Norse grein (“bough, branch”), from Proto-Germanic *grainiz (“branch, twig, ramification”), of unknown origin. Related to English grove (“thicket”).

Word family
Idioms3 entries

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