to wear, smooth, or sharpen by abrasion or friction; whet

to grind a lens.

to reduce to fine particles, as by pounding or crushing; bray, triturate, or pulverize.

to oppress, torment, or crush

to grind the poor.

to rub harshly or gratingly; grate together; grit

to grind one's teeth.

to operate by turning a crank

to grind a hand organ.

to produce by crushing or abrasion

to grind flour.

Slang . to annoy; irritate; irk

It really grinds me when he's late.

to perform the operation of reducing to fine particles.

to rub harshly; grate.

to be or become ground.

to be polished or sharpened by friction.

Informal . to work or study laboriously (often fol. by away )

He was grinding away at his algebra.

Slang . (in a dance) to rotate the hips in a suggestive manner. Compare bump ( def. 11 ) .

the act of grinding.

a grinding sound.

a grade of particle fineness into which a substance is ground

The coffee is available in various grinds for different coffee makers.

laborious, usually uninteresting work

Copying all the footnotes was a grind.

Informal . an excessively diligent student.

Slang . a dance movement in which the hips are rotated in a suggestive or erotic manner. Compare bump ( def. 20 ) . ?

grind out,

to produce in a routine or mechanical way

to grind out magazine stories.

to extinguish by rubbing the lighted end against a hard surface

to grind out a cigarette.

verb

free , liberate

noun

chore , drudgery , groove * , grubwork , hard work , labor , moil , pace , rote , routine , rut * , sweat * , task , toil , travail , treadmill , rut , fag , grub , plodder , slave

verb

abrade , atomize , attenuate , beat , bray , chop up , comminute , crumble , crumple , disintegrate , file , granulate , grate , kibble , levigate , mill , pestle , pound , powder , pulverize * , rasp , reduce , roll out * , scrape , shiver , triturate , give an edge to , gnash , grit , polish , rub , sand , smooth , whet , afflict , annoy , harass , hold down , hound , persecute , plague , trouble , tyrannize , vex , pulverize , crunch , drudge , grub , plod , slave , slog , cram* , trample , bruise , chew , chore , compress , crush , groove , labor , learn , masticate , mull , oppress , overeat , overfill , press , review , routine , rut , shape , sharpen , squeeze , study , stuff , weaken