n. A small hard, seed; specifically, a seed of one of the cereal plants, wheat, rye, oats, barley, maize, or millet; a corn.n. Collectively, corn in general; the gathered seeds of cereal plants in mass; also, the plants themselves, whether standing or gathered: as, to grind or thresh grain; a field or a stack of grain.n. The smallest unit of weight in most systems, originally determined by the weight of a plump grain of wheat.n. Any small hard particle, as of sand, gunpowder, sugar, salt, etc.; hence, a minute portion of anything; the smallest amount of anything: as, he has not a grain of wit.n. In botany, a grain-like prominence or tubercle, as upon the sepals of dock.n. plural The husks or remains of malt after brewing, or of any grain after distillation.n. The quality of a substance due to the size, character, or arrangement of its grains or particles, as its coarseness or fineness, or superficial roughness or smoothness; granular texture: as, a stone or salt of coarse grain; marble or sugar of fine grain.n. Fibrous texture or constitution, especially of wood; the substance of wood as modified by the quality, arrangement, or direction of its fibers: as, boxwood has a very compact grain; wood of a gnarled grain; to plane wood with, against, or across the grain.n. Hence Intimate structure or character; intrinsic or essential quality.n. A spice: same as grains of paradise (which see, below).n. One of the grain-like insects of the genus Coccus, as C. polonicus or C. ilicis, which yield a scarlet dye; later, especially, cochineal; the product of the Coccus cacti; kermes: so called from the granular appearance of the dried insects. See cut under cochineal. Hence — A red-colored dye; a red color of any kind pervading the texture: sometimes used as equivalent to Tyrian purple, Any fast color. See in grain, below.n. The side of leather from which the hair has been removed, showing the fibrous texture.n. In mining, cleat or cleavage.n. plural A solution of birds' dung used in leather-manu facture to counteract the effects of lime and make the leather soft and flexible.n. With the soarlet dye obtained from insects of the genus Coccus.n. With any fast dye; in fast colors: as, to dye in grain.n. See def. 9.To bring forth grain; yield fruit.To form grains or assume a granular form; crystallize into grains, as sugar.To produce, as from a seed.In brewing, to free from grain; separate the grain from, as wort.To form into grains, as powder, sugar, and the like.To paint, etc., so as to give the appearance of grain or fibers of wood.In tanning, to take the hair off of; soften and raise the grain of: as, to grain skins or leather.To dye in grain.n. A tine, prong, or spike. See grain-staff, 1.n. The fork of a tree or of a stick.n. The groin.n. A piece of sheet-metal used in a mold to hold in position an additional part, as a core. Also called chapelet and gagger.n. plural An iron instrument with four or more barbed points, and a line attached to it, used at sea for striking and taking fish.n. plural A place at which two streams unite; the fork of a river.n. A dialectal (Scotch) form of groan.n. In the tobacco industry, a deposit of calcium oxalate, in scattered globules, often at the base of the hairs, formed upon tobacco-leaves in the process of curing and sweating.n. The English name for the copper coin called grano at Malta.To scrape, as with a slicker, on the grain side.