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• mill
  mill

  noun

  a factory for certain kinds of manufacture, as paper, steel, or textiles.
• Mill
  Mill

  noun

  James, 1773–1836, English philosopher, historian, and economist, born in Scotland.
• mill.
  mill.

  abbreviation

  million.

mill

¹ American  

[mil] / mɪl /

noun

1. a factory for certain kinds of manufacture, as paper, steel, or textiles.

2. a building equipped with machinery for grinding grain into flour and other cereal products.

3. a machine for grinding, crushing, or pulverizing any solid substance.

   a coffee mill.

4. any of various machines that modify the shape or size of a workpiece by rotating tools or the work.

   rolling mill.

5. any of various other apparatuses for shaping materials or performing other mechanical operations.

6. 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.

7. Machinery. a cutter on a milling machine.

8. a steel roller for receiving and transferring an impressed design, as to a calico-printing cylinder or a banknote-printing plate.

9. Mining. a place or set of machinery for crushing or concentrating ore.

10. Slang. a boxing match or fistfight.

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verb (used with object)

• mills,
  present (3rd person singular)
• milled,
  past participle,  past
• milling
  present participle

1. to grind, work, treat, or shape in or with a mill.

2. Coining.

   1. to make a raised edge on (a coin or the like).

   2. to make narrow, radial grooves on the raised edge of (a coin or the like).

3. to beat or stir, as to a froth.

   to mill chocolate.

4. Slang. to beat or strike; fight; overcome.

verb (used without object)

• mills,
  present (3rd person singular)
• milled,
  past participle,  past
• milling
  present participle

1. to move around aimlessly, slowly, or confusedly, as a herd of cattle (often followed by about oraround ).

   Synonyms:

   wander, roam, throng, swarm, crowd

2. Slang. to fight or box.

idioms

1. through the mill, 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.

mill ² American  

[mil] / mɪl /

noun

1. 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.

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Mill ³ American  

[mil] / mɪl /

noun

1. James, 1773–1836, English philosopher, historian, and economist, born in Scotland.

2. his son John Stuart, 1806–73, English philosopher and economist.

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mill. ⁴ American  

abbreviation

1. million.

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mill ¹ British  

/ mɪl /

noun

1. a building in which grain is crushed and ground to make flour

2. a factory, esp one which processes raw materials

   a steel mill

3. any of various processing or manufacturing machines, esp one that grinds, presses, or rolls

4. any of various small hand mills used for grinding pepper, salt, or coffee for domestic purposes See also coffee mill pepper mill

5. a hard roller for impressing a design, esp in a textile-printing machine or in a machine for printing banknotes

6. a system, institution, etc, that influences people or things in the manner of a factory

   going through the educational mill

7. an unpleasant experience; ordeal (esp in the phrases go or be put through the mill )

8. a fist fight

9. ordinary or routine

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verb

1. (tr) to grind, press, or pulverize in or as if in a mill

2. (tr) to process or produce in or with a mill

3. to cut or roll (metal) with or as if with a milling machine

4. (tr) to groove or flute the edge of (a coin)

5. (intr; often foll by about or around) to move about in a confused manner

6. rare (usually tr) to beat (chocolate, etc)

7. archaic to fight, esp with the fists

Mill ² British  

/ mɪl /

noun

1. 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)

2. 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)

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mill ³ British  

/ mɪl /

noun

1. a US and Canadian monetary unit used in calculations, esp for property taxes, equal to one thousandth of a dollar

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mill More Idioms  

1. see grist for the mill; mills of the gods grind slowly; run of the mill; through the mill; tilt at windmills.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• millable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• milling
  present
• milled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• mill
  simple
• mills
  simple
• have milled
  perfect
• has milled
  perfect
• am milling
  progressive
• are milling
  progressive
• is milling
  progressive
• have been milling
  perfect progressive
• has been milling
  perfect progressive

Past

• milled
  simple
• had milled
  perfect
• was milling
  progressive
• were milling
  progressive
• had been milling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will mill
  simple
• will have milled
  perfect
• will be milling
  progressive
• will have been milling
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of mill¹

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

Origin of mill²

An Americanism dating back to 1780–90; short for Latin millēsimus “thousandth”; see also mil ¹

Explanation

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mill Mill mill. mills milled milling

Along the way, he met his wife, an accountant at a state-owned textile mill, state media said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

Jack, who is further along in the program and seems to bring Cody out of his shell, also helps him land a job at a lumber mill where he works.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

The risk if it doesn’t is that the rumor mill may take over, creating uncertainty and volatility, which is “the last thing you want,” Elson said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

He is gathering the opinions of visitors to the mill this summer to make a case to the council.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

People mill in a little crowd on the other side, waiting, but there will be no buying or selling today.

From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron

Paramedics responded to a 911 call regarding a reported cardiac arrest at an apartment complex, Judson Mill Lofts west of downtown Greenville, at approximately 1:51 p.m.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

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

Thirteen birds were discovered around Mill Road in Peel coated in an unknown orange substance and "smelling like fish oil", while "many more" had been spotted, Manx Wild Bird Aid said.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

I did not know that so many people worked at the Ballard Paper Mill.

From "Okay for Now" by Gary D. Schmidt

"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

“Where that bank sits now used to be an auto and truck repair and the saw mill. There was a great, big garage. That was a town hang out,” Munsell said.

From Washington Times ● May 10, 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

“My father said that my great-grandfather had a small mill there, a flour mill. He thought the stone you’re sitting on was part of it, it’s worn so smooth.”

From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien

She said the windmill should be repainted in whitewash as it is a historical building, and traditionally "that's how the mills were".

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

When the rumor mills incorrectly assumed Page was playing Achilles, heads exploded.

From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2026

"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

The Durham industrialists were quick to silence any opposition to their policies, whether it came from inside or outside of the mills.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

If you take a loaf of bread as an example, first the grain is grown, harvested, milled and stored until it is ready to be taken to a factory.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

People milled around Havana's city center, checking their phones after the tremor which according to Cuban authorities was felt "throughout the entire west of the country."

From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 2026

PHOENIX—As officials and contractors working in border security milled around a convention-center hall this week, artificial intelligence analyzed their threat potential in real time, displaying the results on computer screens.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026

At Linate Airport, the closest of Milan’s three airports to the city center, two camouflage-clad Italian soldiers with long guns milled outside the arrival gates Monday evening.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 4, 2026

They milled around in there like a pack of hound dogs kept in a corn crib, all crowded together and noisy.

From "Worth" by A. LaFaye

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

The cavities were created using focused ion beam milling in thick, mechanically exfoliated Bi2Te3 flakes.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 24, 2026

There wasn't exactly an air of shock among members milling around the tea and coffee tables in Paisley.

From BBC ● Feb. 27, 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

“Your father was pretty mad,” he said over the shriek of a milling machine.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam

Related Words

• foundry
• plant
• shop