a small, hard seed, especially the seed of a food plant such as wheat, corn, rye, oats, rice, or millet.
the gathered seed of food plants, especially of cereal plants.
such plants collectively.
any small, hard particle, as of sand, gold, pepper, or gunpowder.
the smallest unit of weight in most systems, originally determined by the weight of a plump grain of wheat. In the U.S. and British systems, as in avoirdupois, troy, and apothecaries' weights, the grain is identical. In an avoirdupois ounce there are 437.5 grains; in the troy and apothecaries' ounces there are 480 grains (one grain equals 0.0648 gram).
the smallest possible amount of anything: a grain of truth.
the arrangement or direction of fibers in wood, or the pattern resulting from this.
the direction in which the fibers of a piece of dressed wood, as a board, rise to the surface: You should work with or across the grain, but never against.
the side of leather from which the hair has been removed.
a stamped pattern that imitates the natural grain of leather: used either on leather to simulate a different type of natural leather, or on coated cloth.
Textiles.
the fibers or yarn in a piece of fabric as differentiated from the fabric itself.
the direction of threads in a woven fabric in relation to the selvage.
the lamination or cleavage of stone, coal, etc.
Metallurgy. any of the individual crystalline particles forming a metal.
Jewelry. a unit of weight equal to 50 milligrams or ¼ carat, used for pearls and sometimes for diamonds.
the size of constituent particles of any substance; texture: sugar of fine grain.
a granular texture or appearance: a stone of coarse grain.
a state of crystallization: boiled to the grain.
temper or natural character: two brothers of similar grain.
Rocketry. a unit of solid propellant.
Obsolete. color or hue.
verb (used with object)
to form into grains; granulate.
to give a granular appearance to.
to paint in imitation of the grain of wood, stone, etc.: metal doors grained to resemble oak.
to feed grain to (an animal).
Tanning.
to remove the hair from (skins).
to soften and raise the grain of (leather).
Idioms
against the/one's grain, in opposition to one's temper, inclination, or character: Haggling always went against her grain.
British Dictionary definitions for against the grain
grain
noun
the small hard seedlike fruit of a grass, esp a cereal plant
a mass of such fruits, esp when gathered for food
the plants, collectively, from which such fruits are harvested
a small hard particlea grain of sand
the general direction or arrangement of the fibrous elements in paper or woodto saw across the grain
the pattern or texture of wood resulting from such an arrangementthe attractive grain of the table
the relative size of the particles of a substancesugar of fine grain
the granular texture of a rock, mineral, etc
the appearance of a rock, mineral, etc, determined by the size and arrangement of its constituents
the outer (hair-side) layer of a hide or skin from which the hair or wool has been removed
the pattern on the outer surface of such a hide or skin
a surface artificially imitating the grain of wood, leather, stone, etc; graining
the smallest unit of weight in the avoirdupois, Troy, and apothecaries' systems, based on the average weight of a grain of wheat: in the avoirdupois system it equals 1/7000 of a pound, and in the Troy and apothecaries' systems it equals 1/5760 of a pound. 1 grain is equal to 0.0648 gramAbbreviation: gr
Also called: metric graina metric unit of weight used for pearls or diamonds, equal to 50 milligrams or one quarter of a carat
the threads or direction of threads in a woven fabric
photogany of a large number of particles in a photographic emulsion, the size of which limit the extent to which an image can be enlarged without serious loss of definition
televisiona granular effect in a television picture caused by electrical noise
cleavage lines in crystalline material, parallel to growth planes
chemany of a large number of small crystals forming a polycrystalline solid, each having a regular array of atoms that differs in orientation from that of the surrounding crystallites
a state of crystallizationto boil syrup to the grain
a very small amounta grain of truth
natural disposition, inclination, or character (esp in the phrase go against the grain)
astronauticsa homogenous mass of solid propellant in a form designed to give the required combustion characteristics for a particular rocket
(not in technical usage)kermes or a red dye made from this insect
early 13c., "scarlet dye made from insects" (late 12c. in surnames), from Old French grain (12c.) "seed, grain, particle, berry, scarlet dye" (see kermes for last sense), from Latin granum "seed, a grain, small kernel" (see corn (n.1)).
As a collective singular meaning "seed of wheat and allied grasses used as food," it is attested from early 14c. Extended from c.1300 to other objects (e.g. salt, sand). As a unit of weight, from 1540s. Used of wood (1560s), from the arrangement of fibers, which resemble seeds. Hence, against the grain (1650), a metaphor from carpentry: cutting across the fibers of the wood is more difficult than cutting along them.
Opposed to one's inclination or preference, as in We followed the new supervisor's advice, though it went against the grain. This metaphor refers to the natural direction of the fibers in a piece of wood, called its grain; when sawed obliquely, or “against the grain,” the wood will tend to splinter. [c. 1600] For a synonym, see rub the wrong way.
