grain : Idioms & Phrases


A grain of allowance

  • a slight indulgence or latitude a small allowance.
Webster 1913

Against the grain

  • against or across the direction of the fibers; hence, against one's wishes or tastes; unwillingly; unpleasantly; reluctantly; with difficulty. Swift.Saintsbury.
Webster 1913

angoumois grain moth

  • noun small moth whose larvae feed on kernels of stored grains
    Sitotroga cerealella; angoumois moth.
WordNet

close-grained

  • adjective satellite dense or compact in structure or texture, as a wood composed of small-diameter cells
    close-grained.
    • close-grained birch
    • fine-grained rock
WordNet

coarse-grained

  • adjective satellite composed of or covered with particles resembling meal in texture or consistency
    gritty; grainy; granular; farinaceous; mealy; granulose.
    • granular sugar
    • the photographs were grainy and indistinct
    • it left a mealy residue
  • adjective satellite not having a fine texture
    coarse-grained.
    • coarse-grained wood
    • large-grained sand
WordNet
Coarse"-grained` adjective
Definitions
  1. Having a coarse grain or texture, as wood; hence, wanting in refinement.
Webster 1913

cross-grained

  • adjective satellite difficult to deal with
    contrarious.
  • adjective satellite of timber; having fibers running irregularly rather than in parallel
    cross-grained; curly-grained.
WordNet

curly-grained

  • adjective satellite of timber; having fibers running irregularly rather than in parallel
    cross-grained; curly-grained.
WordNet

feed grain

  • noun grain grown for cattle feed
WordNet

felt grain

Felt grain
Definitions
  1. , the grain of timber which is transverse to the annular rings or plates; the direction of the medullary rays in oak and some other timber. Knight.
Webster 1913

fine-grained

  • adjective satellite consisting of fine particles
    powdery; pulverised; fine-grained; pulverized; powdered.
    • powdered cellulose
    • powdery snow
    • pulverized sugar is prepared from granulated sugar by grinding
  • adjective satellite dense or compact in structure or texture, as a wood composed of small-diameter cells
    close-grained.
    • close-grained birch
    • fine-grained rock
WordNet

food grain

  • noun foodstuff prepared from the starchy grains of cereal grasses
    grain; cereal.
WordNet

grain alcohol

  • noun the intoxicating agent in fermented and distilled liquors; used pure or denatured as a solvent or in medicines and colognes and cleaning solutions and rocket fuel; proposed as a renewable clean-burning additive to gasoline
    ethyl alcohol; fermentation alcohol; ethanol.
WordNet

Grain binder

  • an attachment to a harvester for binding the grain into sheaves.
Webster 1913

Grain colors

  • dyes made from the coccus or kermes in sect.
Webster 1913

grain field

  • noun a field where grain is grown
    grainfield.
WordNet

Grain leather

  • . (a) Dressed horse hides. (b) Goat, seal, and other skins blacked on the grain side for women's shoes, etc.
Webster 1913

grain merchant

  • noun a merchant who deals in food grains
WordNet

Grain moth

  • noun moth whose larvae feed on grain
WordNet
  • (Zoöl.), one of several small moths, of the family Tineidæ (as Tinea granella and Butalis cereAlella), whose larvæ devour grain in storehouses.
Webster 1913

Grain side

  • (Leather), the side of a skin or hide from which the hair has been removed; opposed to flesh side.
Webster 1913

grain sorghum

  • noun any of several sorghums cultivated primarily for grain
WordNet

grain tin

  • crystalline tin ore metallic tin smelted with charcoal.
Webster 1913

Grain weevil

  • (Zoöl.), a small red weevil (Sitophilus granarius), which destroys stored wheat and othar grain, by eating out the interior.
Webster 1913

Grain worm

  • (Zoöl.), the larva of the grain moth. See grain moth, above.
Webster 1913

Grains of paradise

  • noun West African plant bearing pungent peppery seeds
    melagueta pepper; grains of paradise; Guinea pepper; Aframomum melegueta.
WordNet
  • the seeds of a species of amomum.
Webster 1913

Guinea grains

  • noun West African plant bearing pungent peppery seeds
    melagueta pepper; grains of paradise; Guinea pepper; Aframomum melegueta.
WordNet
  • (Bot.), grains of Paradise, or amomum. See Amomum.
Webster 1913

horse grain

  • noun twining herb of Old World tropics cultivated in India for food and fodder; sometimes placed in genus Dolichos
    horse gram; Dolichos biflorus; poor man's pulse; Macrotyloma uniflorum.
WordNet

In grain

  • of a fast color; deeply seated; fixed; innate; genuine. "Anguish in grain." Herbert.
Webster 1913

large-grained

  • adjective satellite not having a fine texture
    coarse-grained.
    • coarse-grained wood
    • large-grained sand
WordNet

metric grain

  • noun a weight unit used for pearls or diamonds: 50 mg or 1/4 carat
    grain.
WordNet

Oily grain

  • (Bot.), the sesame.
Webster 1913

pebble-grained

  • adjective satellite (of leather) having a rough surface as the result of being treated with a patterned roller
WordNet

Pollen grain

  • (Bot.), a particle or call of pollen.
Webster 1913

rice-grain fritillary

  • noun herb of northwestern America having green-and-purple bell-shaped flowers
    Fritillaria affinis; Fritillaria lanceolata; Fritillaria mutica; mission bells.
WordNet

rough-grained

Rough"-grained adjective
Definitions
  1. Having a rough grain or fiber; hence, figuratively, having coarse traits of character; not polished; brisque.
Webster 1913

Seed corn, ∨ Seed grain

  • (Bot.), corn or grain for seed.
Webster 1913

seed grain

  • noun good quality seeds (as kernels of corn) that are reserved for planting
    seed corn.
WordNet

Silver grain

  • (Bot.), the lines or narrow plates of cellular tissue which pass from the pith to the bark of an exogenous stem; the medullary rays. In the wood of the oak they are much larger than in that of the beech, maple, pine, cherry, etc.
Webster 1913

small-grained

  • adjective satellite consisting of fine particles
    powdery; pulverised; fine-grained; pulverized; powdered.
    • powdered cellulose
    • powdery snow
    • pulverized sugar is prepared from granulated sugar by grinding
WordNet

straight-grained

  • adjective satellite of timber; having fibers that run in parallel
WordNet

To dye in grain

  • to dye of a fast color by means of the coccus or kermes grain [see Grain, n., 5]; hence, to dye firmly; also, to dye in the wool, or in the raw material. See under Dye.
    The red roses flush up in her cheeks . . . Likce crimson dyed in grain. Spenser.
Webster 1913

To dye in the grain, To dye in the wool

  • (Fig.), to dye firmly; to imbue thoroughly.
Webster 1913

To go against the grain of

  • (a person), to be repugnant to; to vex, irritate, mortify, or trouble.
Webster 1913

two-grain spelt

  • noun hard red wheat grown especially in Russia and Germany; in United States as stock feed
    starch wheat; emmer; Triticum dicoccum.
WordNet

wavy-grained

  • adjective satellite of timber; having fibers running irregularly rather than in parallel
    cross-grained; curly-grained.
WordNet

wood grain

  • noun texture produced by the fibers in wood
    woodiness; woodgrain.
WordNet