grain

American  

[greyn] / greɪn /

noun

1. a small, hard seed, especially the seed of a food plant such as wheat, corn, rye, oats, rice, or millet.

2. the gathered seed of food plants, especially of cereal plants.

3. such plants collectively.

4. any small, hard particle, as of sand, gold, pepper, or gunpowder.

5. the smallest unit of weight in most systems, originally determined by the weight of a plump grain of wheat. In the U.S. and British systems, as in avoirdupois, troy, and apothecaries' weights, the grain is identical. In an avoirdupois ounce there are 437.5 grains; in the troy and apothecaries' ounces there are 480 grains (one grain equals 0.0648 gram).

6. the smallest possible amount of anything.

   a grain of truth.

   Synonyms:

   tittle, whit, iota, jot, trace, speck, bit

7. the arrangement or direction of fibers in wood, or the pattern resulting from this.

8. the direction in which the fibers of a piece of dressed wood, as a board, rise to the surface.

   You should work with or across the grain, but never against.

9. the side of leather from which the hair has been removed.

10. a stamped pattern that imitates the natural grain of leather: used either on leather to simulate a different type of natural leather, or on coated cloth.

11. Textiles.

    1. the fibers or yarn in a piece of fabric as differentiated from the fabric itself.

    2. the direction of threads in a woven fabric in relation to the selvage.

12. the lamination or cleavage of stone, coal, etc.

13. Metallurgy. any of the individual crystalline particles forming a metal.

14. Jewelry. a unit of weight equal to 50 milligrams or ¼ carat, used for pearls and sometimes for diamonds.

15. the size of constituent particles of any substance; texture.

    sugar of fine grain.

16. a granular texture or appearance.

    a stone of coarse grain.

17. a state of crystallization.

    boiled to the grain.

18. temper or natural character.

    two brothers of similar grain.

19. Rocketry. a unit of solid propellant.

20. Obsolete. color or hue.

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verb (used with object)

1. to form into grains; granulate.

2. to give a granular appearance to.

3. to paint in imitation of the grain of wood, stone, etc..

   metal doors grained to resemble oak.

4. to feed grain to (an animal).

5. Tanning.

   1. to remove the hair from (skins).

   2. to soften and raise the grain of (leather).

idioms

1. against the / one's grain, in opposition to one's temper, inclination, or character.

   Haggling always went against her grain.

2. with a grain of salt. salt.

grain British  

/ ɡreɪn /

noun

1. the small hard seedlike fruit of a grass, esp a cereal plant

2. a mass of such fruits, esp when gathered for food

3. the plants, collectively, from which such fruits are harvested

4. a small hard particle

   a grain of sand

5. 1. the general direction or arrangement of the fibrous elements in paper or wood

      to saw across the grain

   2. the pattern or texture of wood resulting from such an arrangement

      the attractive grain of the table

6. the relative size of the particles of a substance

   sugar of fine grain

7. 1. the granular texture of a rock, mineral, etc

   2. the appearance of a rock, mineral, etc, determined by the size and arrangement of its constituents

8. 1. the outer (hair-side) layer of a hide or skin from which the hair or wool has been removed

   2. the pattern on the outer surface of such a hide or skin

9. a surface artificially imitating the grain of wood, leather, stone, etc; graining

10.  gr.  the smallest unit of weight in the avoirdupois, Troy, and apothecaries' systems, based on the average weight of a grain of wheat: in the avoirdupois system it equals 1/ 7000 of a pound, and in the Troy and apothecaries' systems it equals 1/ 5760 of a pound. 1 grain is equal to 0.0648 gram

11. Also called: metric grain.  a metric unit of weight used for pearls or diamonds, equal to 50 milligrams or one quarter of a carat

12. the threads or direction of threads in a woven fabric

13. photog any of a large number of particles in a photographic emulsion, the size of which limit the extent to which an image can be enlarged without serious loss of definition

14. television a granular effect in a television picture caused by electrical noise

15. cleavage lines in crystalline material, parallel to growth planes

16. chem any of a large number of small crystals forming a polycrystalline solid, each having a regular array of atoms that differs in orientation from that of the surrounding crystallites

17. a state of crystallization

    to boil syrup to the grain

18. a very small amount

    a grain of truth

19. natural disposition, inclination, or character (esp in the phrase go against the grain )

20. astronautics a homogenous mass of solid propellant in a form designed to give the required combustion characteristics for a particular rocket

21. (not in technical usage) kermes or a red dye made from this insect

22. dyeing an obsolete word for colour

23. without wholly believing: sceptically

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verb

1. (also intr) to form grains or cause to form into grains; granulate; crystallize

2. to give a granular or roughened appearance or texture to

3. to paint, stain, etc, in imitation of the grain of wood or leather

4. 1. to remove the hair or wool from (a hide or skin) before tanning

   2. to raise the grain pattern on (leather)

grain Scientific  

/ grān /

1. See caryopsis

2. A small particle of something, such as salt, pollen, or sand.

3. A unit of weight in the US Customary System, equal to 2/1000 of an ounce (0.07 gram).

4. See Table at measurement

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grain More Idioms  

1. see against the grain; with a grain of salt.

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Other Word Forms

• grainer noun
• grainless adjective
• multigrain noun
• nongrain noun
• supergrain noun
• undergraining noun

Etymology

Origin of grain

1250–1300; Middle English grain, grein < Old French grain < Latin grānum seed, grain; corn ¹

Explanation

When carpenters sand a piece of wood, they "go with the grain." Grain is the texture on piece of wood, which often forms long patterns that show the direction in which the tree grew. You may have heard someone say "there's a grain of truth to that" when referring to an outrageous story that has a tiny bit of truth to it. A grain can also be a speck or a particle — the tiniest bit of something. Don't confuse this with another definition of grain, the kind you find in your bread — wheat, oats, alfalfa, and so on. Check out all the grains in the ten-grain bread next time you're in the bakery!

Example Sentences

Ships plying the Black Sea face Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian ports, endangering the world’s grain supply.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026

Five ships transited the strait on Wednesday, all of them bulk carriers — or ships that carry unpackaged raw materials such as coal and grain in their holds.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 9, 2026

Increased fertilizer costs and reduced grain supplies increase the price of raising livestock, making meat and animal products more expensive.

From Salon • Apr. 8, 2026

These traits help plants focus their energy on producing grain instead of competing for light and space.

From Science Daily • Apr. 8, 2026

Aunt Shuvai and Aunt Chipo had grown this grain; she and Masvita had ground it.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

Related Words

• cereal
• corn