pug mill

American  

noun

1. a mill for grinding and mixing materials, as clay or the ingredients of cement, to a desired condition.

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Etymology

Origin of pug mill

First recorded in 1815–25

Example Sentences

This is called "pugging," and the whole thing—trough, shaft, and knives—is a "pug mill."

From Diggers in the Earth by Tappan, Eva March

A pug mill is a machine consisting of a large cylinder with a central shaft passing through it from top to bottom.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 601, July 9, 1887 by Various

The first machine used to do all this work goes by the humble name of pug mill.

From Inventions in the Century by Doolittle, William Henry

In what is called the "soft-mud" process, the clay is pushed on by the pug mill to the end of the trough.

From Diggers in the Earth by Tappan, Eva March

To prevent loss of air in open material, the joints between the boards were plastered with clay especially prepared for the purpose in a pug mill.

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 Brace, James H.