grout
Americannoun
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a thin, coarse mortar poured into various narrow cavities, as masonry joints or rock fissures, to fill them and consolidate the adjoining objects into a solid mass.
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a coat of plaster for finishing a ceiling or interior wall.
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Usually grouts. lees; grounds.
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Archaic.
-
coarse meal or porridge.
-
grouts, groats.
-
verb (used with object)
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grouts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
grouted,
past participle, past
-
grouting
present participle
-
to fill or consolidate with grout.
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to use as grout.
noun
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a thin mortar for filling joints between tiles, masonry, etc
-
a fine plaster used as a finishing coat
-
coarse meal or porridge
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
groutsimple
-
groutssimple
-
have groutedperfect
-
has groutedperfect
-
am groutingprogressive
-
are groutingprogressive
-
is groutingprogressive
-
have been groutingperfect progressive
-
has been groutingperfect progressive
Past
-
groutedsimple
-
had groutedperfect
-
was groutingprogressive
-
were groutingprogressive
-
had been groutingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of grout
before 1150; Middle English; Old English grūt; see grits, groats, grit
Explanation
Grout is a paste or putty that you use to fill in the spaces between tiles or along the edge of a tub. When grout dries, it keeps tiles in place, and once it's sealed, it protects against moisture. An old-fashioned meaning of grout is "porridge or gruel," from the Old English gruta, "coarse meal," and a root meaning "to grind." These days you don't eat grout, but instead use it in home improvement projects, especially between floor or wall tiles. As a verb, to grout means "to apply grout."
Vocabulary lists containing grout
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But you don’t have to compute the coefficient to know that matte tiles are better than shiny ones, and small tiles are better than the big ones because the grout lines provide friction.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
From the acidic brine of pickle juice to the grout between your bathroom tiles, mold can thrive in even the most inhospitable environments.
From National Geographic ● Nov. 10, 2023
Founded in 1951 for those who grout tile and hang cabinets, the periodical was no match for Prince Harry’s memoir or a Stephen King novel.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2023
“They’re easier to install and remove, and tend to be much thicker, which conceals the imperfections of the wall or grout lines between existing tiles,” he adds.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 9, 2023
I could not deny it; and yet endeavored to, when she demanded, “And the fine Dr. Trefusis don’t have a grout to his name, does he?”
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
For cement-based or latex-modified grouts, it’s safest to work on only about three square feet at a time.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 5, 2021
Both sanded and unsanded grouts are cement-based or latex-modified products.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 5, 2021
Sanded and unsanded grouts are mixed with water and installation and cleanup are simple.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 4, 2021
The size of Longo's voyeuristic images reflects the scale of his essential subject: the American consciousness industry, and the way it grouts every cranny in public life.
From Time Magazine Archive
Oatmeal or porridge is always called "grouts"; and the Cotswold native does not talk of hoisting a ladder, but "highsting" is the term he uses.
From A Cotswold Village by J. Arthur Gibbs
The reality, he said, is that the 54 million gallons of sludge will most likely never be removed; he believes it will be grouted and left in place for future generations to deal with.
From New York Times ● May 31, 2023
The GAO says costs could be cut by tens of billions of dollars if some of the low-activity waste were grouted, or immobilized in concrete, and shipped out of Washington for disposal.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 12, 2022
The floor was grouted over a period of a few days in the late spring 2020.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 12, 2022
More than 240 miles of drains have been cleared of debris and 1,500 leaks grouted.
From New York Times ● Jul. 23, 2018
The voids outside the iron lining of the sump and the pump chamber were filled as completely as possible with concrete, and then thoroughly grouted.
From Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. LXVIII, Sept. 1910 The New York Tunnel Extension of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The East River Tunnels. Paper No. 1159 by James H. Brace
Originally envisioned as a means to an end, the express trains, steam trains and mail trains quickly became the focus of my journey, the cities and towns like grouting smoothed around the tracks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 29, 2025
Crews need to test the road’s base, which includes drilling and grouting of smaller holes and voids in the surrounding area.
From Slate ● Oct. 17, 2025
One of the greatest concerns for environmental advocates is a cheaper option that’s been floated by some federal agencies, called grouting, which involves solidifying the waste in specialized concrete.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 25, 2024
Once he was inside, Chris noticed problems: "I have a photo where there were actual mushrooms growing out of the grouting in the bathroom," he says.
From BBC ● Dec. 4, 2023
Seems its marble walls have been “bleeding” onto the brass fixtures, and can I scrub the grouting extra hard?
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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