foodstuff prepared from the starchy grains of cereal grasses
"She added a cup of brown rice and some barley to her pot as she began cooking up the grain for dinner."
the side of leather from which the hair has been removed
"The saddlemaker carefully sanded down the rough grain before applying the finishing wax to the new stirrup leathers."
a weight unit used for pearls or diamonds: 50 mg or 1/4 carat
"The jeweler explained that her necklace contained two grains of diamond, which is equivalent to half a carat."
1/60 dram; equals an avoirdupois grain or 64.799 milligrams
"The pharmacist carefully weighed out exactly five grains of the powdered medicine to ensure the dosage matched the old apothecary standard."
1/7000 pound; equals a troy grain or 64.799 milligrams
"The jeweler weighed out exactly two grains of pure gold for the tiny pendant setting."
the smallest possible unit of anything
"there was a grain of truth in what he said"
"he does not have a grain of sense"
the direction, texture, or pattern of fibers found in wood or leather or stone or in a woven fabric
"saw the board across the grain"
The harvested seeds of various grass food crops eg: wheat, corn, barley.
"The old oak had split, leaving a single grain standing like a jagged tooth in the broken trunk."
A branch of a tree; a stalk or stem of a plant.
In plain English: Grain is the tiny seed that grows inside plants like wheat, rice, and corn.
"The baker mixed two cups of wheat grain into the dough before baking the bread."
Usage: Use the word grain to refer to the tiny, hard seeds that make up cereal crops like wheat or rice, not to tree branches or plant stems. These edible seeds are processed into flour for bread and other staple foods.
paint (a surface) to make it look like stone or wood
"The contractor decided to grain the kitchen cabinets so they would resemble rich mahogany instead of plain painted wood."
To feed grain to.
"The farmer loaded the truck with hay and oats to grain the horses before winter."
In plain English: To grain something means to make its surface rough by rubbing it with sandpaper or another abrasive material.
"The photographer grained the negative to make the details stand out more clearly."
Usage: Do not use "grain" as a verb to mean feeding animals or people; this action is expressed by the word "feed." The verb "grain" is almost exclusively used in technical contexts to describe making a surface rougher or adding texture through abrasion.
A village on the Isle of Grain, Medway borough, Kent, England (OS grid ref TQ8876).
"The ferry ride from Chatham to Grain took us across the river just as the tide was turning."
The word "grain" entered English via Middle English and Old French from the Latin grānum, which originally meant "seed." It is related to other words like "corn," but its specific sense refers to a small seed or particle of food.