Skip to the word

Added 9 October 2026

grind

/ˈɡɹaɪnd/ noun

In Latin: molō Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about grind at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

An insignificant student who is ridiculed as being affected or boringly studious.
The grade of particle fineness to which a substance is ground.
a coarse grind of coffee
Hard monotonous routine work.

verb

Press or grind with a crushing noise.
Make a grating or grinding sound by rubbing together.
grate one's teeth in anger
Work hard.
She was digging away at her math homework

Origin

From Middle English grynden, from Old English grindan (“to grind”), from Proto-West Germanic *grindan, from Proto-Germanic *grindaną (“to crush, grind”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian gríende, griene (“to grind, mill”), West Frisian grintsje (“to crush, punish”), Dutch grinden (“to grind”, rare) and grind (“gravel, shingle”), Albanian grind (“to brawl, fight”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word