a factory for certain kinds of manufacture, as paper, steel, or textiles.
a building equipped with machinery for grinding grain into flour and other cereal products.
a machine for grinding, crushing, or pulverizing any solid substance.
a coffee mill.
any of various machines that modify the shape or size of a workpiece by rotating tools or the work.
rolling mill.
any of various other apparatuses for shaping materials or performing other mechanical operations.
a business or institution that dispenses products or services in an impersonal or mechanical manner, as if produced in a factory.
a divorce mill; a diploma mill.
Machinery. a cutter on a milling machine.
a steel roller for receiving and transferring an impressed design, as to a calico-printing cylinder or a banknote-printing plate.
Mining. a place or set of machinery for crushing or concentrating ore.
Slang. a boxing match or fistfight.
James, 1773–1836, English philosopher, historian, and economist, born in Scotland.
his son John Stuart, 1806–73, English philosopher and economist.
a building in which grain is crushed and ground to make flour
a factory, esp one which processes raw materials
a steel mill
any of various processing or manufacturing machines, esp one that grinds, presses, or rolls
any of various small hand mills used for grinding pepper, salt, or coffee for domestic purposes See also coffee mill pepper mill
a hard roller for impressing a design, esp in a textile-printing machine or in a machine for printing banknotes
a system, institution, etc, that influences people or things in the manner of a factory
going through the educational mill
an unpleasant experience; ordeal (esp in the phrases go or be put through the mill )
a fist fight
ordinary or routine
(tr) to grind, press, or pulverize in or as if in a mill
(tr) to process or produce in or with a mill
to cut or roll (metal) with or as if with a milling machine
(tr) to groove or flute the edge of (a coin)
(intr; often foll by about or around) to move about in a confused manner
rare (usually tr) to beat (chocolate, etc)
archaic to fight, esp with the fists
James. 1773–1836, Scottish philosopher, historian, and economist. He expounded Bentham's utilitarian philosophy in Elements of Political Economy (1821) and Analysis of the Phenomena of the Human Mind (1829) and also wrote a History of British India (1817–18)
his son, John Stuart. 1806–73, English philosopher and economist. He modified Bentham's utilitarian philosophy in Utilitarianism (1861) and in his treatise On Liberty (1859) he defended the rights and freedom of the individual. Other works include A System of Logic (1843) and Principles of Political Economy (1848)
First recorded before 950; Middle English noun miln(e), mille(n) “building for grinding grain,” Old English myl(e)n “(water) mill,” from Late Latin molīna, noun use of feminine of molīnus “of a mill,” equivalent to Latin mol(a) “mill” + -īnus -ine 1
An Americanism dating back to 1780–90; short for Latin millēsimus “thousandth”; see also mil 1
A mill is a factory or plant, especially one that's equipped for grinding grain into flour. The facility is a mill, and the machine that does the actual grinding is also called a mill. When a mill crushes and grinds grain like wheat or corn, you can say it mills flour. Other kinds of mills might mill powder or coffee — and still other mills don't actually grind anything; instead, they manufacture things like steel or paper. If someone "mills around," they wander or move about in a confused way: "The crowd mills around during the concert's intermission." This sense of mill was originally used to describe cattle.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
His ancestors on both sides were mill workers.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Instead, the mill supports the state, with 50% of its profits going to the public coffers.
From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026
The system was designed to identify subtle textual "fingerprints" that repeatedly appear in known paper mill products.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 16, 2026
There’s also a mill — a 40,000-square foot workshop space — a cafe, plenty of parking and quick access to area freeways.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
With heavy hearts the four left the mill.
From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda
Rather than send wheat to Minneapolis to be processed, incurring high transportation costs, farmers and the state banded together to form the North Dakota Mill, the only state-owned mill in the United States.
From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026
You send your wife home and face your treatment alone while Chris has her ex-husband Andy Mill by her side.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
The two-seat Cessna plane came down off Mill Lane in High Ongar, Essex, at about 12:30 BST on Tuesday.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
In addition to Wollstonecraft and Mill, there are references to the artist Barbara Bodichon and the poet Bessie Rayner Parkes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
The subject Mill had in mind was the nature of women.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
"My boy is only 28, he's in the cold mill. And it is a worry about where they'll get jobs going forward."
From BBC ● Jan. 23, 2024
“Everybody’s run that thing through the mill. I’ll let other people talk about those issues. I want to talk about issues that matter to taxpayers and voters.”
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 18, 2021
“Thank you, steel mill. And thank you, chemical processing industry that gave us time to read books.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 9, 2017
“A big flour mill. It was a working-class neighborhood associated with that flour mill.”
From Washington Times ● Jan. 24, 2015
“I really hope it’s an abandoned hosiery mill. Oh! Or maybe a raccoon-infested bus station!”
From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss
"Production and supply have deteriorated to the point where it is going to be difficult for the mills to stay open," he said, speaking anonymously because he feared retaliation.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
Paper mills sell authorship positions and, in some cases, complete ready made scientific papers.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 16, 2026
Its area, which covers 13 states from the Midwest to the mid-Atlantic region, is also home to the country’s largest concentration of steel mills with electric furnaces.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
More than a million French-Canadians moved from Canada to the New England region of the US in the 19th and 20th Century, mostly to seek jobs in mills or on farms.
From BBC ● May 1, 2026
You had no choice but to have the sugar mill right there, and sugar mills require a wide range of occupations.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
Hundreds of families milled around on Beirut's Ramlet al-Baida beach, left with nowhere to go.
From Barron's ● Mar. 6, 2026
Volunteers urged attendees to take their seats, but they milled around, greeting old friends, hugging, shouting names across rows of white folding chairs.
From Slate ● Jan. 3, 2026
A small gathering of people milled around as auction items were read through by a woman speaking at a volume not much louder than a semiprivate conversation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025
He remembers waking up in intensive care and wondering what the doctors and nurses would tell him about his injuries as they milled around.
From BBC ● Dec. 10, 2025
Summer-term students milled around in small clumps, chatting excitedly.
From "Shadowshaper" by Daniel José Older
Shortly after opening time on a recent morning, the Kettering store already had a number of middle-aged customers milling about the space leafing through magazines—yes, it has those—or asking for advice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
It was built by the community after the King "charged too much for milling" at Marford Mill, "he had a monopoly on grinding corn," said Brendan.
From BBC ● Jan. 24, 2026
Reto and Sandy Meroni, who have lived just outside the Swiss ski resort for years, stopped to take pictures while walking their dog among hundreds of World Economic Forum attendees milling outside.
From Barron's ● Jan. 20, 2026
County public defender’s office was seen milling around outside the courtroom.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 7, 2026
There had to be hundreds of people milling about, everyone ignoring me, slipping past me like I wasn’t even there.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
