(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.
Example Sentences:
(1) First, it has diverted grain away from food for fuel, with over a third of US corn now used to produce ethanol and about half of vegetable oils in the EU going towards the production of biodiesel.
(2) It is possible that the formation of a mycetoma grain may limit a patient's exposure to antigens which confer specificity, an explanation which may also account for the variability in antibody responses seen.
(3) Preserving alfalfa as silage and feeding in a TMR to cows in early lactation resulted in greater milk production via increased DMI or improved feed efficiency compared with preserving alfalfa as hay and feeding grain separately.
(4) Results indicate that the rachitogenic factor in rye is not present in the ash portion of the grain, that it can be largely overcome by water extraction and penicillin supplementation, and that an organic solvent extraction has no effect.
(5) Light microscope autoradiography revealed the development of specific silver grains in the medial layer of epineurial and perineurial arteries in sections of sciatic nerve exposed either to [3H]DHA or [3H]QNB.
(6) The 180-acre imperial palace appears to send ripples through the surrounding urban grain like a rock thrown into a pond, forming the successive layers of ring-roads.
(7) The impact of pollen on the respiratory mucosa was modeled by studying the process by which solutes are eluted from pollen grains.
(8) One part fresh pollen grains is uniformly mixed with nine parts of the solution and left at room temperature for at least 5 hr.
(9) With [3H]proline as precursor, the grain densities were greater over surface epithelium than over submucosal gland.
(10) We have recently demonstrated in vitro a potential biological mechanism which could occur in vivo upon inhaling airborne graon dust, thereby constituting a potential inflammatory insult to the respiratory tracts of grain workers.
(11) In addition, livestock-rearing can use up to 200 times more water a kilogram of meat compared to a kilo of grain.
(12) Dietary recommendations for cancer prevention advise reduced intake of fat; increased intake of fruits, vegetables, and grains; and moderate intake of alcohol and salt-cured, salt-pickled, and smoked foods.
(13) Most cases are diagnosed histologically by identification of an actinomycotic grain in the center of the abscess or by cytologic features on Papanicolaou smears.
(14) The labelling intensity (as estimated by the number of silver grains per unit of cytoplasmic area) was maximum in cells having dense-cored vesicles whose mean diameter was between 130 and 170 nm, but decreased for cells with mean diameter of dense cores smaller than 130 nm, or larger than 170 nm.
(15) Comparison of autoradiograms with Nissl-stained sections allowed precise correlation of autoradiographic grain distribution with cytoarchitecture.
(16) "Nonthyroidectomy" cells had few silver grains over RER; most were over secretory granules and Golgi areas.
(17) After 2,6 and 24 hours there is a progressive increase of silver grains on the extracellular space most of them concentrated over thick collagen fibrils.
(18) The grain distribution over luteal cells and arteriolar smooth muscle was reduced (p less than 0.001) after coincubation with excess unlabeled LTC4 but not with excess unlabeled LTA4, LTB4, LTD4, LTE4, prostaglandin (PG)E2, PGF2 alpha or PGI2.
(19) The pollen sterility (up to 30% of grains) is due to the abortive spore development.
(20) The resolution of radioautography with 59Fe was determined with a line source and the distance from the hot line within which half of the grains fell (HD value) was 1650 A.
Millstone
Definition:
(n.) One of two circular stones used for grinding grain or other substance.
Example Sentences:
(1) That price is inevitably going to increase over the years and will be another millstone around the BBC’s neck.
(2) Blair’s business decision might thin the fog of rage – and help Labour | Jonathan Freedland Read more The scaling back of commercial activities may remove a second millstone around his reputation, although critics will say he has already made substantial sums from his businesses, including from some authoritarian regimes.
(3) If a younger generation cannot, or is afraid to, incur a massive millstone of debt, their right of access to education is being severely curtailed, if not extinguished.
(4) Like other grocers, its biggest stores have become millstones as customers increasingly shop on the internet and at local convenience stores.
(5) Channel 4's most successful show of the past decade – both in ratings and commercial terms – Big Brother became a millstone around its neck in the wake of the Shilpa Shetty race row in early 2007 and was broadcast for the final time by the broadcaster last year.
(6) Broomhill is a small, local library, in a smart bit of the city, near the university: it's a toasty old house of millstone grit – Edwardian, I think – which, perhaps, was once owned by some upwardly mobile steel magnate.
(7) Their biggest millstone may not be their ability, but whether their association with a previous Labour government leads the party to look to a new, less experienced generation.
(8) Ever since, harder-nosed Tories have been struggling to discredit what they regard as a costly millstone around their neck.
(9) Indeed, the fact he is every bit as image-conscious as United could help give more substance to his status; the size of the fee is unlikely to be a millstone around the neck of a player who, like Cristiano Ronaldo before him, has always believed he has what it takes to become the greatest and seems reinforced by others’ confirmation.
(10) Introducing a grace period for empty property rates for new development will remove a millstone from around neck of the property industry, and let it get on with what it does best – investing in our towns and cities, regenerating communities and building the offices, factories and shops in which we work.
(11) But, for now, the external sector is acting as more of a millstone on the economy than a long hoped-for source of support," he added.
(12) However, the commitment to a review for change in 2017 is arguably as important for driving growth for businesses in the UK – getting the system to be one that drives entrepreneurship, and investment, rather than a being millstone that constrains business.
(13) As the economic crisis dragged on, it seemed there was little that Hollande could do to bring the required drop in unemployment or a boost to industrial output and growth and the Mr Normal tag began to prove something of a millstone.
(14) But looking back, Mr Osborne's conference-pleasing rabbit in 2007 was better tactics than strategy; it worked primarily because it forced Labour to defer the election, but it was also a policy millstone that the Conservatives have had to bear in the middle of the ensuing economic crisis.
(15) In a fiery sermon on Monday , Francis railed against corruption and quoted the bible's advice that practitioners be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck.
(16) "But recent polling shows the issue is becoming a political embarrassment and millstone for the Republican party, even as they have yet to change their stripes.
(17) "But it has got us off 33 points, which has been a millstone around our neck, and, fingers crossed, now in our last eight games we can push on."
(18) If independence is defeated, the story would be that Scotland bottled it; that kind of charge would hang around the country's neck like a millstone, sapping self belief.
(19) I don’t know who invented the West Ham way phrase, but it’s a millstone around the club’s neck.” Allardyce, who steered West Ham to 12th in May after a promising start to the season ran out of steam after Christmas, added that he was not alone in feeling hamstrung by the supporters’ expectations and the club’s past, which saw them win the FA Cup on three occasions – 1964, 1975 and 1980 – and also lift the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1965.
(20) In The Millstone (1965), Margaret Drabble's central character, Rosamund, gets pregnant accidentally, after a one-night stand with a man called George.