Definition of grain

• v. & n. - See Groan.
• n. - A single small hard seed; a kernel, especially of those plants, like wheat, whose seeds are used for food.
• n. - The fruit of certain grasses which furnish the chief food of man, as corn, wheat, rye, oats, etc., or the plants themselves; -- used collectively.
• n. - Any small, hard particle, as of sand, sugar, salt, etc.; hence, any minute portion or particle; as, a grain of gunpowder, of pollen, of starch, of sense, of wit, etc.
• n. - The unit of the English system of weights; -- so called because considered equal to the average of grains taken from the middle of the ears of wheat. 7,000 grains constitute the pound avoirdupois, and 5,760 grains the pound troy. A grain is equal to .0648 gram. See Gram.
• n. - A reddish dye made from the coccus insect, or kermes; hence, a red color of any tint or hue, as crimson, scarlet, etc.; sometimes used by the poets as equivalent to Tyrian purple.
• n. - The composite particles of any substance; that arrangement of the particles of any body which determines its comparative roughness or hardness; texture; as, marble, sugar, sandstone, etc., of fine grain.
• n. - The direction, arrangement, or appearance of the fibers in wood, or of the strata in stone, slate, etc.
• n. - The fiber which forms the substance of wood or of any fibrous material.
• n. - The hair side of a piece of leather, or the marking on that side.
• n. - The remains of grain, etc., after brewing or distillation; hence, any residuum. Also called draff.
• n. - A rounded prominence on the back of a sepal, as in the common dock. See Grained, a., 4.
• a. - Temper; natural disposition; inclination.
• a. - A sort of spice, the grain of paradise.
• v. t. - To paint in imitation of the grain of wood, marble, etc.
• v. t. - To form (powder, sugar, etc.) into grains.
• v. t. - To take the hair off (skins); to soften and raise the grain of (leather, etc.).
• n. - To yield fruit.
• n. - To form grains, or to assume a granular ferm, as the result of crystallization; to granulate.
• n. - A branch of a tree; a stalk or stem of a plant.
• n. - A tine, prong, or fork.
• n. - One the branches of a valley or of a river.
• n. - An iron first speak or harpoon, having four or more barbed points.
• n. - A blade of a sword, knife, etc.
• n. - A thin piece of metal, used in a mold to steady a core.