sand

[ sand ]

/ sænd /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sand ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the more or less fine debris of rocks, consisting of small, loose grains, often of quartz.

Usually sands. a tract or region composed principally of sand.

the sand or a grain of sand in an hourglass.

sands, moments of time or of one's life: At this stage of his career the sands are running out.

a light reddish- or brownish-yellow color.

Informal. courage; pluck.

sleeper(def 10).

verb (used with object)

to smooth or polish with sand, sandpaper, or some other abrasive: to sand the ends of a board.

to sprinkle with or as if with sand: to sand an icy road.

to fill up with sand, as a harbor.

to add sand to: The mischievous child sanded the sugar.

Nearby words

Idioms

draw a line in the sand, to set a limit; allow to go up to a point but no further.

Origin of sand

before 900; Middle English (noun), Old English; cognate with German Sand, Old Norse sandr

Related forms

sand·a·ble, adjectivesand·less, adjectivesand·like, adjectiveun·sand·ed, adjective

well-sand·ed, adjective

Can be confusedsand sediment silt

Definition for sand (2 of 3)

Sand

[ sand; French sahnd ]

/ sænd; French sɑ̃d /

noun

George

[jawrj; French zhawrzh] /dʒɔrdʒ; French ʒɔrʒ/Lucile Aurore Dupin Dudevant, 1804–76, French novelist.

Definition for sand (3 of 3)

sand.

sandwich.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for sand

And there, the sand castle builder and tag player who loved her aunt more than science would be buried.
11 Children Shot in Milwaukee, One in Her Grandpa's Lap|Michael Daly|November 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
To see how a global ocean could affect libration, take two bottles, fill one with sand and the other with water, then spin them.
Saturn’s Death Star Look-Alike|Matthew R. Francis|October 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The book is the line in the sand, proof that she is not, as she is so often conflated, the Hannah Horvath she has created.
Speed Read: Lena Dunham’s Most Shocking Confessions From ‘Not That Kind of Girl’|Kevin Fallon|September 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I kneel with the journalist in the sand, my face stoic and yet terrified, crying, knowing that I can do nothing but wait.
Thank Goodness We’ve Got A Plan! Let the War Begin!|Michael Carson|September 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Volcanoes spewed lava and ash, ocean floors were thrust upward, sand and rock and shale settled into slurry.
Napa’s Earthquake Is Not The Only Thing Shaking The Vineyards|Clive Irving|August 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The surface is porous; the cells are distant and arranged irregularly, and seem as if composed of sand cemented with mud.
The Sea-beach at Ebb-tide|Augusta Foote Arnold
Here, on a narrow strip of sand, he undressed and leaped into the waves.
Deep Down, a Tale of the Cornish Mines|R.M. Ballantyne
How he had planned, dug, planted it; pruned his fruit trees; placed his anemones in leaf-mould, his bulbs on sand.
Christmas Roses and Other Stories|Anne Douglas Sedgwick
It cannot be accounted for entirely by the friction, as the removal of the paper allows the sand to drop in a mass.
Pressure, Resistance, and Stability of Earth|J. C. Meem
The increase in length of runs and quantity of sand removed under low temperature conditions is very marked.
Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. LXXII, June, 1911|E. D. Hardy

British Dictionary definitions for sand (1 of 2)

sand

/ (sænd) /

noun

loose material consisting of rock or mineral grains, esp rounded grains of quartz, between 0.05 and 2 mm in diameter

(often plural) a sandy area, esp on the seashore or in a desert

a greyish-yellow colour
(as adjective)sand upholstery

the grains of sandlike material in an hourglass

US informal courage; grit

draw a line in the sand to put a stop to or a limit on

the sands are running out there is not much time left before death or the end

verb

(tr) to smooth or polish the surface of with sandpaper or sandto sand a floor

(tr) to sprinkle or cover with or as if with sand; add sand to

to fill or cause to fill with sandthe channel sanded up

Derived Formssandlike, adjective

Word Origin for sand

Old English; related to Old Norse sandr, Old High German sant, Greek hamathos

British Dictionary definitions for sand (2 of 2)

Sand

/ (French sɑ̃d) /

noun

George (ʒɔrʒ), pen name of Amandine Aurore Lucie Dupin. 1804–76, French novelist, best known for such pastoral novels as La Mare au diable (1846) and François le Champi (1847–48) and for her works for women's rights to independence

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for sand (1 of 2)

sand

Old English sand, from Proto-Germanic *sandam (cf. Old Norse sandr, Old Frisian sond, Middle Dutch sant, Dutch zand, German Sand), from PIE *bhs-amadho- (cf. Greek psammos "sand;" Latin sabulum "coarse sand," source of Italian sabbia, French sable), suffixed form of root *bhes- "to rub."

Historically, the line between sand and gravel cannot be distinctly drawn. Used figuratively in Old English in reference to innumerability and instability. General Germanic, but not attested in Gothic, which used in this sense malma, related to Old High German melm "dust," the first element of the Swedish city name Malmö (the second element meaning "island"), and to Latin molere "to grind." Metaphoric for "innumerability" since Old English. Sand dollar, type of flat sea-urchin, so called from 1884, so called for its shape; sand dune attested from 1830.

Word Origin and History for sand (1 of 2)

sand

late 14c., "to sprinkle with sand," from sand (n.); from 1620s as "to bury or fill in with sand." Meaning "to grind or polish with sand" is from 1858. Related: Sanded; sanding.

Medicine definitions for sand

sand

[ sănd ]

n.

Small, loose grains of worn or disintegrated rock.

Science definitions for sand

sand

[ sănd ]

A sedimentary material consisting of small, often rounded grains or particles of disintegrated rock, smaller than granules and larger than silt. The diameter of the particles ranges from 0.0625 to 2 mm. Although sand often consists of quartz, it can consist of any other mineral or rock fragment as well. Coral sand, for example, consists of limestone fragments.

Idioms and Phrases with sand

sand

see build on sand; hide one's head in the sand.

sand

noun

verb (used with object)

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Nearby words

Idioms

Origin of sand

Definition for sand (2 of 3)

Sand

noun

Definition for sand (3 of 3)

sand.

Examples from the Web for sand

British Dictionary definitions for sand (1 of 2)

sand

noun

verb

Word Origin for sand

British Dictionary definitions for sand (2 of 2)

Sand

noun

Word Origin and History for sand (1 of 2)

sand

Word Origin and History for sand (1 of 2)

sand

Medicine definitions for sand

sand

n.

Science definitions for sand

sand

Idioms and Phrases with sand

sand