mill1
- 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.
- to grind, work, treat, or shape in or with a mill.
- Coining.
- to make a raised edge on (a coin or the like).
- to make narrow, radial grooves on the raised edge of (a coin or the like).
- to beat or stir, as to a froth: to mill chocolate.
- Slang. to beat or strike; fight; overcome.
- to move around aimlessly, slowly, or confusedly, as a herd of cattle (often followed by about or around).
- Slang. to fight or box.
- through the mill, Informal. undergoing or having undergone severe difficulties, trials, etc., especially with an effect on one's health, personality, or character: He's really been through the mill since his wife's death.
Origin of mill1
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.commill2
- a unit of monetary value equal to 0.001 of a U.S. dollar; one tenth of a cent: used at various times and places in the U.S. as a money of account, especially in certain tax rates.
Origin of mill2
Mill
- James,1773–1836, English philosopher, historian, and economist, born in Scotland.
- his sonJohn Stuart,1806–73, English philosopher and economist.
mill.
Related Words
shopplantfoundryworkssweatshopmanufactorypulverizepoundcrushgratepowdergranulatepresscomminuteExamples from the Web for mill
Contemporary Examples
Did you know that you can purchase and mill 80 percent receivers without a license?
The Mill Valley Market has grown and offers a deluxe delicatessen.
This was the one-room studio in Mill Valley, California near The Depot.
The result meant was that “run of the mill Paul Ryan Republicans” were just as furious with Cantor as Tea Partiers were.
“This is not a run of the mill criminal investigation,” he said.
Historical Examples
While the mill was at rest he pried into its internal machinery.
Biographical StoriesNathaniel Hawthorne
It was at the home of the Lemballeuse, the family who lived in the ruins of the mill.
The DreamEmile Zola
She went with him to haul the grain to mill and was fascinated by the big scales.
DustMr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius
What he gits for fixin' the mill ain't nothin' to me—I don't git a cent on it.
The UnderdogF. Hopkinson Smith
When the morning came and Jim had not returned I started for the mill.
The UnderdogF. Hopkinson Smith
mill1
- a building in which grain is crushed and ground to make flour
- a factory, esp one which processes raw materialsa 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 purposesSee 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 factorygoing through the educational mill
- an unpleasant experience; ordeal (esp in the phrases go or be put through the mill)
- a fist fight
- run of the mill 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
- (usually tr) rare to beat (chocolate, etc)
- archaic, slang to fight, esp with the fists
Word Origin
mill2
- a US and Canadian monetary unit used in calculations, esp for property taxes, equal to one thousandth of a dollar
Word Origin
Mill
- 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)
Word Origin and History for mill
n.1
"building fitted to grind grain," Old English mylen "a mill" (10c.), an early Germanic borrowing from Late Latin molina, molinum "mill" (source of French moulin, Spanish molino), originally fem. and neuter of molinus "pertaining to a mill," from Latin mola "mill, millstone," related to molere "to grind," from PIE *mele-, *mel- "to crush, grind," with derivatives referring to ground material and tools for grinding (cf. Greek myle "mill;" see mallet).
Also from Late Latin molina, directly or indirectly, are German Mühle, Old Saxon mulin, Old Norse mylna, Danish mølle, Old Church Slavonic mulinu. Broader sense of "grinding machine" is attested from 1550s. Other types of manufacturing machines driven by wind or water, whether for grinding or not, began to be called mills by early 15c. Sense of "building fitted with industrial machinery" is from c.1500.
n.2
"one-tenth cent," 1786, an original U.S. currency unit but now used only for tax calculation purposes, shortening of Latin millesimum "one-thousandth," from mille "a thousand" (see million). Formed on the analogy of cent, which is short for Latin centesimus "one hundredth" (of a dollar).
v.2
"to keep moving round and round in a mass," 1874 (implied in milling), originally of cattle, from mill (n.1) on resemblance to the action of a mill wheel. Related: Milled.
v.1
"to grind," 1550s, from mill (n.1). Related: milled; milling.
Idioms and Phrases with mill
mill
see grist for the mill; mills of the gods grind slowly; run of the mill; through the mill; tilt at windmills.