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

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

Examples from the Web for sanding

The shoaler areas are usually indicated by sanding the outer limit or the entire area within the depth curve.
Nautical Charts|G. R. Putnam
For this reason the method of sanding the paper was at once universally adopted.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 821, Sep. 26, 1891|Various
Sanding: The continuance of the metaphor in "higher waves" are "whelming."
The Vision of Sir Launfal|James Russell Lowell
When sanding is not practicable, the vines may be mown off when they become too luxuriant.
The Practical Garden-Book|C. E. Hunn

This wing was afterwards given a sanding test under a weight of 0.7 pound per square foot.
Langley Memoir on Mechanical Flight, Parts I and II|S. P. (Samuel Pierpont) Langley and Charles M. (Charles Matthews) Manly

British Dictionary definitions for sanding

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

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 sanding

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.

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 sanding

sand

[ sănd ]

n.

Small, loose grains of worn or disintegrated rock.

Science definitions for sanding

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 sanding

sand

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

sand

noun

verb (used with object)

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