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• mill
  mill

  noun

  a factory for certain kinds of manufacture, as paper, steel, or textiles.
• Mill
  Mill

  noun

  James, 1773–1836, English philosopher, historian, and economist, born in Scotland.
• mill.
  mill.

  abbreviation

  million.

mill

¹ American  

[mil] / mɪl /

noun

1. a factory for certain kinds of manufacture, as paper, steel, or textiles.

2. a building equipped with machinery for grinding grain into flour and other cereal products.

3. a machine for grinding, crushing, or pulverizing any solid substance.

   a coffee mill.

4. any of various machines that modify the shape or size of a workpiece by rotating tools or the work.

   rolling mill.

5. any of various other apparatuses for shaping materials or performing other mechanical operations.

6. a business or institution that dispenses products or services in an impersonal or mechanical manner, as if produced in a factory.

   a divorce mill; a diploma mill.

7. Machinery. a cutter on a milling machine.

8. a steel roller for receiving and transferring an impressed design, as to a calico-printing cylinder or a banknote-printing plate.

9. Mining. a place or set of machinery for crushing or concentrating ore.

10. Slang. a boxing match or fistfight.

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verb (used with object)

• mills,
  present (3rd person singular)
• milled,
  past participle,  past
• milling
  present participle

1. to grind, work, treat, or shape in or with a mill.

2. Coining.

   1. to make a raised edge on (a coin or the like).

   2. to make narrow, radial grooves on the raised edge of (a coin or the like).

3. to beat or stir, as to a froth.

   to mill chocolate.

4. Slang. to beat or strike; fight; overcome.

verb (used without object)

• mills,
  present (3rd person singular)
• milled,
  past participle,  past
• milling
  present participle

1. to move around aimlessly, slowly, or confusedly, as a herd of cattle (often followed by about oraround ).

   Synonyms:

   wander, roam, throng, swarm, crowd

2. Slang. to fight or box.

idioms

1. through the mill, undergoing or having undergone severe difficulties, trials, etc., especially with an effect on one's health, personality, or character.

   He's really been through the mill since his wife's death.

mill ² American  

[mil] / mɪl /

noun

1. a unit of monetary value equal to 0.001 of a U.S. dollar; one tenth of a cent: used at various times and places in the U.S. as a money of account, especially in certain tax rates.

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Mill ³ American  

[mil] / mɪl /

noun

1. James, 1773–1836, English philosopher, historian, and economist, born in Scotland.

2. his son John Stuart, 1806–73, English philosopher and economist.

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mill. ⁴ American  

abbreviation

1. million.

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mill ¹ British  

/ mɪl /

noun

1. a building in which grain is crushed and ground to make flour

2. a factory, esp one which processes raw materials

   a steel mill

3. any of various processing or manufacturing machines, esp one that grinds, presses, or rolls

4. any of various small hand mills used for grinding pepper, salt, or coffee for domestic purposes See also coffee mill pepper mill

5. a hard roller for impressing a design, esp in a textile-printing machine or in a machine for printing banknotes

6. a system, institution, etc, that influences people or things in the manner of a factory

   going through the educational mill

7. an unpleasant experience; ordeal (esp in the phrases go or be put through the mill )

8. a fist fight

9. ordinary or routine

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verb

1. (tr) to grind, press, or pulverize in or as if in a mill

2. (tr) to process or produce in or with a mill

3. to cut or roll (metal) with or as if with a milling machine

4. (tr) to groove or flute the edge of (a coin)

5. (intr; often foll by about or around) to move about in a confused manner

6. rare (usually tr) to beat (chocolate, etc)

7. archaic to fight, esp with the fists

Mill ² British  

/ mɪl /

noun

1. James. 1773–1836, Scottish philosopher, historian, and economist. He expounded Bentham's utilitarian philosophy in Elements of Political Economy (1821) and Analysis of the Phenomena of the Human Mind (1829) and also wrote a History of British India (1817–18)

2. his son, John Stuart. 1806–73, English philosopher and economist. He modified Bentham's utilitarian philosophy in Utilitarianism (1861) and in his treatise On Liberty (1859) he defended the rights and freedom of the individual. Other works include A System of Logic (1843) and Principles of Political Economy (1848)

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mill ³ British  

/ mɪl /

noun

1. a US and Canadian monetary unit used in calculations, esp for property taxes, equal to one thousandth of a dollar

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mill More Idioms  

1. see grist for the mill; mills of the gods grind slowly; run of the mill; through the mill; tilt at windmills.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• millable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• milling
  present
• milled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• mill
  simple
• mills
  simple
• have milled
  perfect
• has milled
  perfect
• am milling
  progressive
• are milling
  progressive
• is milling
  progressive
• have been milling
  perfect progressive
• has been milling
  perfect progressive

Past

• milled
  simple
• had milled
  perfect
• was milling
  progressive
• were milling
  progressive
• had been milling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will mill
  simple
• will have milled
  perfect
• will be milling
  progressive
• will have been milling
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of mill¹

First recorded before 950; Middle English noun miln(e), mille(n) “building for grinding grain,” Old English myl(e)n “(water) mill,” from Late Latin molīna, noun use of feminine of molīnus “of a mill,” equivalent to Latin mol(a) “mill” + -īnus -ine ¹

Origin of mill²

An Americanism dating back to 1780–90; short for Latin millēsimus “thousandth”; see also mil ¹

Explanation

A mill is a factory or plant, especially one that's equipped for grinding grain into flour. The facility is a mill, and the machine that does the actual grinding is also called a mill. When a mill crushes and grinds grain like wheat or corn, you can say it mills flour. Other kinds of mills might mill powder or coffee — and still other mills don't actually grind anything; instead, they manufacture things like steel or paper. If someone "mills around," they wander or move about in a confused way: "The crowd mills around during the concert's intermission." This sense of mill was originally used to describe cattle.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mill Mill mill. mills milled milling

As family members mill about, Carter pulls them into the eye of his orbit.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

Finland has been a “vital hub” for Google, since the company bought a paper mill in Hamina, Finland, in 2009 and converted it to a data center.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

The site is a former paper mill that it bought in 2009 and converted.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

The first phase of that focused on clearing the dried-out channel from Old Melton Mill to Ufford Hole to allow water to flow back to the mill.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

At night, Erwin pedaled his bicycle through the mill village enforcing a 10 P.M. “lights-out” rule.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

Wright, an American architect known for his innovative designs such as Fallingwater in Mill Run, PA, and the Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan, designed homes that fit into their surroundings.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026

In Boones Mill, patrons still treat Taylor, who carries a small pistol in his back pocket, as a celebrity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026

The corn ground at the Old Mill is Tennessee-grown, never genetically modified, and no harsh chemicals or additives are added to the cornmeal and grits.

From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026

Paramedics responded to a 911 call regarding a reported cardiac arrest at an apartment complex, Judson Mill Lofts west of downtown Greenville, at approximately 1:51 p.m.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

Mill claimed that women have been coaxed, cajoled, shoved and squashed into a series of feminine contortions for so many centuries, that it is now quite impossible to define their natural abilities or aspirations.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

"My boy is only 28, he's in the cold mill. And it is a worry about where they'll get jobs going forward."

From BBC ● Jan. 23, 2024

“Everybody’s run that thing through the mill. I’ll let other people talk about those issues. I want to talk about issues that matter to taxpayers and voters.”

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 18, 2021

“Where that bank sits now used to be an auto and truck repair and the saw mill. There was a great, big garage. That was a town hang out,” Munsell said.

From Washington Times ● May 10, 2021

“Thank you, steel mill. And thank you, chemical processing industry that gave us time to read books.”

From New York Times ● Feb. 9, 2017

“My father said that my great-grandfather had a small mill there, a flour mill. He thought the stone you’re sitting on was part of it, it’s worn so smooth.”

From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien

Near-term demand is expected to improve as steel mills restock ahead of the holiday, says Baocheng Futures analysts in a note.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

Food Tank's Nierenberg argues that traditional mills should be getting some of the money poured by the US government into agro-industry subsidies.

From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026

The Blackshear, Ga., logging firm buys standing timber from landowners, deploys logging crews and hauls the wood to mills.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

Guests stroll into blacksmith shops and corn mills, dine on cinnamon bread and other local delicacies, and seek quiet time in an authentic Appalachian chapel.

From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026

On the other side of town were the church steeples and the smokestacks from the mills.

From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers

Next door at the JW Marriott hotel, ballrooms are converted into press workspaces where celebrities and their teams milled about throughout the ceremony, reuniting cast-mates who haven't seen each other since they wrapped filming.

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

She also sells freshly milled ancient grain flour and other traditionally produced Italian foods through her company, Healthy Journey Through Food.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026

If you take a loaf of bread as an example, first the grain is grown, harvested, milled and stored until it is ready to be taken to a factory.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

What distinguished Didion is her style, so carefully milled as to be not noticed at first.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026

In the corral the penned animals milled nervously.

From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya

That approach can restrict the complexity of possible designs and carries a risk of micro-cracking during milling or sintering.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026

Investigators also seized about 20,000 rounds of ammunition, including armor-piercing rounds, multiple firearm suppressors and about 15 firearm milling fixtures used to illegally manufacture and modify AR-15-style lower receivers, according to the statement.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

In a damp back alley, Jingjing joined job-seekers milling about leisurely, haggling for higher wages while garment bosses perched on scooters brandished hiring signs, desperate for day labourers.

From Barron's ● May 6, 2026

Her machinery allowed households to produce meal more reliably and in greater quantities and supported the shift from subsistence hand-pounding to mechanized milling.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026

They saw no helicopters, but there were rescue workers milling in the parking lot.

From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers

Related Words

• foundry
• plant
• shop