1. A relatively small granular particle of a substance
   "a grain of sand"; "a grain of sugar"
    
2. Dry seed-like fruit produced by the cereal grasses
   "Wheat kernels are examples of grains";
   - caryopsis
    
3. A cereal grass
   "wheat is a grain that is grown in Kansas"
    
4. Foodstuff prepared from the starchy grains of cereal grasses
   "Rice and wheat are common food grains in many cultures";
   - food grain, cereal
    
5. The physical composition of something (especially with respect to the size and shape of the small constituents of a substance)
   "sand of a fine grain"; "a stone of coarse grain";
   - texture
    
6. 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"
    
7. The smallest possible unit of anything
   "there was a grain of truth in what he said"; "he does not have a grain of sense"
    
8. The side of leather from which the hair has been removed
   "The grain side of the leather was polished to a high shine"
    
9. A weight unit used for pearls or diamonds: 50 mg or 1/4 carat
   "The diamond's weight was 10 metric grains";
   - metric grain
    
10. 1/60 dram; equals an avoirdupois grain or 64.799 milligrams
    "The chemist measured the substance to the nearest grain"
     
11. 1/7000 pound; equals a troy grain or 64.799 milligrams
    "The jeweller weighed the diamond to the nearest grain"

1. Form into grains
   "The pharmacist grained the medicine for easier consumption";
   - granulate
    
2. Become granular
   "The sugar grained in the humid air";
   - granulate
    
3. Thoroughly work in
   "His hands were grained with dirt";
   - ingrain, engrain
    
4. Paint (a surface) to make it look like stone or wood
   "The artist grained the door to resemble oak"

Derived forms: grained, graining, grains

Type of: apothecaries' unit, apothecaries' weight, atom, avoirdupois unit, cereal, cereal grass, change form, change shape, composition, constitution, corpuscle, deform, food product, foodstuff, form, leather, littleness, makeup, make-up, metric weight unit, molecule, mote, paint, particle, penetrate, physical composition, pierce, seed, smallness, speck, texture, troy unit, weight unit

Part of: decigram, decigramme [Brit, Cdn], dg, dram, pennyweight, scruple

Encyclopedia: Grain, Peter