sand

¹

[sand]

noun

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

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

3. the sand or a grain of sand in an hourglass.

4. sands, moments of time or of one's life.

   At this stage of his career the sands are running out.

5. a light reddish- or brownish-yellow color.

6. Informal.,  courage; pluck.

7. sleeper.

verb (used with object)

1. to smooth or polish with sand, sandpaper, or some other abrasive.

   to sand the ends of a board.

2. to sprinkle with or as if with sand.

   to sand an icy road.

3. to fill up with sand, as a harbor.

4. to add sand to.

   The mischievous child sanded the sugar.

Sand

²

[sand, sahnd]

noun

1. George Lucile Aurore Dupin Dudevant, 1804–76, French novelist.

sand.

³

abbreviation

1. sandwich.

sand

¹

/ sænd /

noun

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

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

3. 1. a greyish-yellow colour

   2. ( as adjective )

      sand upholstery

4. the grains of sandlike material in an hourglass

5. informal,  courage; grit

6. to put a stop to or a limit on

7. there is not much time left before death or the end

verb

1. (tr) to smooth or polish the surface of with sandpaper or sand

   to sand a floor

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

3. to fill or cause to fill with sand

   the channel sanded up

Sand

²

/ sɑ̃d /

noun

1. 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

sand

1. 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.

Other Word Forms

• sandlike adjective
• sandable adjective
• sandless adjective
• unsanded adjective
• well-sanded adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sand¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of sand¹

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

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

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

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

Example Sentences

Training on his hometown’s sand dunes and in the Pacific Northwest’s windswept rains, Prefontaine broke national records at Marshfield High School and then at the University of Oregon.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

With this surprisingly mature work, Mr. Kushins writes, “Leonard drew his own line in the sand.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“You come back, full of sand, and you can’t put his shoes back on so you have to carry him all the way back to the car.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Or as close to saintly as anything involving tar sands can get.

Read more on MarketWatch

Over the summer, he invited his teammates to the sand dunes in Manhattan Beach.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• boldness 
• courage 
• derring-do 
• determination 
• fearlessness www.thesaurus.com
• firmness www.thesaurus.com
• fortitude 
• gallantry 
• grit 
• heroism 
• prowess 
• tenacity