grind

American  

[grahynd] / graɪnd /

verb (used with object)

• grinds,
  present (3rd person singular)
• ground,
  past participle,  past
• grinded,
  past
• grinding
  present participle

1. to wear, smooth, or sharpen by abrasion or friction; whet.

   to grind a lens.

2. to reduce to fine particles, as by pounding or crushing; bray, triturate, or pulverize.

   Synonyms:

   pound, comminute, powder, crush

3. to oppress, torment, or crush.

   to grind minimum-wage employees.

   Synonyms:

   maltreat, persecute, afflict, plague

4. to rub harshly or gratingly; grate together; grit.

   to grind one's teeth.

   Synonyms:

   abrade

5. to operate by turning a crank.

   to grind a hand organ.

6. to produce by crushing or abrasion.

   to grind flour.

7. Slang. to annoy; irritate; irk.

   It really grinds me when he's late.

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verb (used without object)

• grinds,
  present (3rd person singular)
• ground,
  past participle,  past
• grinded,
  past
• grinding
  present participle

1. to perform the operation of reducing to fine particles.

2. to rub harshly; grate.

3. to be or become ground.

4. to be polished or sharpened by friction.

5. Informal. to work or study laboriously (often followed byaway ).

   He was grinding away at his algebra.

6. Digital Technology. (in a video game) to perform a monotonous task repeatedly in order to advance a character to a higher level or rank.

   You have to grind for hours before you can embark on the main story mission.

7. Slang. (in a dance) to rotate the hips in a suggestive manner.

noun

• grinds
  plural

1. the act of grinding.

2. a grinding sound.

3. a grade of particle fineness into which a substance is ground.

   The coffee is available in various grinds for different coffee makers.

4. laborious, usually uninteresting work.

   Copying all the footnotes was a grind.

5. Informal. an excessively diligent student.

6. Slang. a dance movement in which the hips are rotated in a suggestive or erotic manner.

verb phrase

1. grind out

   1. to produce in a routine or mechanical way.

      to grind out magazine stories.

   2. to extinguish by rubbing the lighted end against a hard surface.

      to grind out a cigarette.

grind British  

/ ɡraɪnd /

verb

1. to reduce or be reduced to small particles by pounding or abrading

   to grind corn

   to grind flour

2. (tr) to smooth, sharpen, or polish by friction or abrasion

   to grind a knife

3. to scrape or grate together (two things, esp the teeth) with a harsh rasping sound or (of such objects) to be scraped together

4. to speak or say (something) in a rough voice

5. to hold down; oppress; tyrannize

6. (tr) to operate (a machine) by turning a handle

7. to produce in a routine or uninspired manner

   he ground out his weekly article for the paper

8. to continue to play in a dull or insipid manner

   the band only ground out old tunes all evening

9. to instil (facts, information, etc) by persistent effort

   they ground into the recruits the need for vigilance

10. informal (intr) to study or work laboriously

11. (intr) to dance erotically by rotating the pelvis (esp in the phrase bump and grind )

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noun

1. informal laborious or routine work or study

2. slang a person, esp a student, who works excessively hard

3. a specific grade of pulverization, as of coffee beans

   coarse grind

4. slang the act of sexual intercourse

5. a dance movement involving an erotic rotation of the pelvis

6. the act or sound of grinding

grind Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing grind

• ax to grind
• mills of the gods grind slowly

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• grindability
  noun
• regrind
  verb
• grindable
  adjective
• ungrindable
  adjective
• grindingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• grinds
  plural

Participles

• grinding
  present
• ground
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• grind
  simple
• grinds
  simple
• have ground
  perfect
• has ground
  perfect
• am grinding
  progressive
• are grinding
  progressive
• is grinding
  progressive
• have been grinding
  perfect progressive
• has been grinding
  perfect progressive

Past

• grinded
  simple
• ground
  simple
• had ground
  perfect
• was grinding
  progressive
• were grinding
  progressive
• had been grinding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will grind
  simple
• will have ground
  perfect
• will be grinding
  progressive
• will have been grinding
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of grind

First recorded before 950; Middle English grinden, Old English grindan; akin to Gothic grinda-, Latin frendere “to gnash the teeth; complain”

Explanation

If you like to grind your own coffee beans, it means you prefer to buy whole beans, put them in an electric grinder, and pulverize them into tiny bits before you brew your coffee. When you grind something, you mill or crush it into smaller pieces, the way you grind pepper or grind a grain into flour. Two things that rub up against each other also grind together, which is what your teeth do if you grind them in your sleep. Informally, grind also means boring, tedious work, often in the sense of "grind away" or "the daily grind." This sense of grind was invented in the 1800s as college slang.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

grind grinds grinded ground grinding

But a big reason you left broadcast was because of the grind of a 20-plus episode season.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

‘They grind and keep pushing. … Many of these first-generation founders are bad at hobbies.’

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026

The grind continued, and it started to feel like another day on the trail.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

But all that AI doomsday talk can make it hard to stay motivated for the daily grind.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026

What he was saying possessed an intrinsic logic which he had no means of halting; it had to grind to its own conclusion.

From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick

They may even be detained for months or years while their case grinds through immigration court.

From Slate ● Jun. 23, 2026

When he’s done speaking, Paul looks back down at the table, grinds his palms together.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026

Countries and companies are working through alternatives to Hormuz as the conflict grinds on.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 1, 2026

Unless the artificial-intelligence data center boom grinds to a halt, memory and storage chips will continue to see unprecedented shortages.

From Barron's ● Mar. 25, 2026

My father grinds their flour And replaces it with chalk.

From "Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village" by Laura Amy Schlitz

Hiring had almost grinded to a halt by the end of summer, alarming the Fed enough to push the central bank to start cutting interest rates again.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 1, 2025

Indeed, in the ninth, the Dodgers sewed up the victory after Betts grinded out a 10-pitch at-bat that ended with an insurance-run-scoring sacrifice fly to center.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2025

At Roland Garros he described his level as "vintage Norrie" and the way in which he grinded past Jarry was another example as he went one better here.

From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2025

The back-and-forth between McGovern and Republican House members grinded proceedings to a halt for about an hour.

From Salon ● May 23, 2024

The propeller grinded into reverse, trying to slow the ship, but we kept sliding toward the center of the vortex.

From "The Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan

Coissac said IOM teams were on the ground alongside Djiboutian authorities to provide emergency aid.

From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026

A rock Pete picks up from the ground is, too.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

During a mile run, each foot will strike the ground on average about a thousand times.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

The footage shows officers arriving Thursday in Marble Hill to find Oscar Belgal, 28, wounded, handcuffed and seated on the ground.

From Salon ● Oct. 10, 2026

The angel was stretched across the ground at the river’s edge, holding on to something that thrashed in the raging current.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

At the same time, it evolved enormous molars suited to grinding and crushing tough, hard foods, functioning much like a mortar and pestle.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026

"But I'm still there, still grinding, still making the youngsters work for their money. I'm just glad to push it through."

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

Parton rose from grinding poverty to become a rhinestone-studded legend with hits like "Jolene" and "I Will Always Love You."

From Barron's ● Sep. 25, 2026

Now, if I’m grinding heavy weight on Tuesday and Wednesday, Thursday may just be all body weight, mobility stuff.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

There were only the sounds of the café—people talking in other corners, beans grinding, coffee pouring.

From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows

Related Words

• grate
• pulverize
• reduce
• scrape