mill Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a plant consisting of one or more buildings with facilities for manufacturing
    factory; manufactory; manufacturing plant.
  2. noun Scottish philosopher who expounded Bentham's utilitarianism; father of John Stuart Mill (1773-1836)
    James Mill.
  3. noun English philosopher and economist remembered for his interpretations of empiricism and utilitarianism (1806-1873)
    John Mill; John Stuart Mill.
  4. noun machinery that processes materials by grinding or crushing
    grinder; milling machinery.
  5. noun the act of grinding to a powder or dust
    pulverization; pulverisation; grind.
  6. verb move about in a confused manner
    mill around; mill about.
  7. verb grind with a mill
    • mill grain
  8. verb produce a ridge around the edge of
    • mill a coin
  9. verb roll out (metal) with a rolling machine

WordNet

Mill noun
Etymology
L. mille a thousand. Cf. Mile.
Definitions
  1. A money of account of the United States, having the value of the tenth of a cent, or the thousandth of a dollar.
Mill noun
Etymology
OE. mille, melle, mulle, milne, AS. myln, mylen; akin to D. molen, G. mühle, OHG. muli, mulin, Icel. mylna; all prob. from L. molina, fr. mola millstone; prop., that which grinds, akin to molere to grind, Goth. malan, G. mahlen, and to E. meal. . See Meal flour, and cf. Moline.
Definitions
  1. A machine for grinding or commuting any substance, as grain, by rubbing and crushing it between two hard, rough, or intented surfaces; as, a gristmill, a coffee mill; a bone mill.
  2. A machine used for expelling the juice, sap, etc., from vegetable tissues by pressure, or by pressure in combination with a grinding, or cutting process; as, a cider mill; a cane mill.
  3. A machine for grinding and polishing; as, a lapidary mill.
  4. A common name for various machines which produce a manufactured product, or change the form of a raw material by the continuous repetition of some simple action; as, a sawmill; a stamping mill, etc.
  5. A building or collection of buildings with machinery by which the processes of manufacturing are carried on; as, a cotton mill; a powder mill; a rolling mill.
  6. (Die Sinking) A hardened steel roller having a design in relief, used for imprinting a reversed copy of the design in a softer metal, as copper.
  7. (Mining) (a) An excavation in rock, transverse to the workings, from which material for filling is obtained. (b) A passage underground through which ore is shot.
  8. A milling cutter. See Illust. under Milling.
  9. A pugilistic. Cant R. D. Blackmore.
Mill transitive verb
Etymology
See Mill, n., and cf. Muller.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Milled ; present participle & verbal noun Milling
Definitions
  1. To reduce to fine particles, or to small pieces, in a mill; to grind; to comminute.
  2. To shape, finish, or transform by passing through a machine; specifically, to shape or dress, as metal, by means of a rotary cutter.
  3. To make a raised border around the edges of, or to cut fine grooves or indentations across the edges of, as of a coin, or a screw head; also, to stamp in a coining press; to coin.
  4. To pass through a fulling mill; to full, as cloth.
  5. To beat with the fists. Cant Thackeray.
  6. To roll into bars, as steel.
Mill intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) To swim under water; -- said of air-breathing creatures.

Webster 1913