'Against the grain' definitions:

Definition of 'Against the grain'

From: GCIDE
  • Grain \Grain\ (gr[=a]n), n. [F. grain, L. granum, grain, seed, small kernel, small particle. See Corn, and cf. Garner, n., Garnet, Gram the chick-pea, Granule, Kernel.] [1913 Webster]
  • 1. A single small hard seed; a kernel, especially of those plants, like wheat, whose seeds are used for food. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. The fruit of certain grasses which furnish the chief food of man, as corn, wheat, rye, oats, etc., or the plants themselves; -- used collectively. [1913 Webster]
  • Storehouses crammed with grain. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Any small, hard particle, as of sand, sugar, salt, etc.; hence, any minute portion or particle; as, a grain of gunpowder, of pollen, of starch, of sense, of wit, etc. [1913 Webster]
  • I . . . with a grain of manhood well resolved. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. The unit of the English system of weights; -- so called because considered equal to the average of grains taken from the middle of the ears of wheat. 7,000 grains constitute the pound avoirdupois, and 5,760 grains the pound troy. A grain is equal to .0648 gram. See Gram. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. A reddish dye made from the coccus insect, or kermes; hence, a red color of any tint or hue, as crimson, scarlet, etc.; sometimes used by the poets as equivalent to Tyrian purple. [1913 Webster]
  • All in a robe of darkest grain. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • Doing as the dyers do, who, having first dipped their silks in colors of less value, then give' them the last tincture of crimson in grain. --Quoted by Coleridge, preface to Aids to Reflection. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. The composite particles of any substance; that arrangement of the particles of any body which determines its comparative roughness or hardness; texture; as, marble, sugar, sandstone, etc., of fine grain. [1913 Webster]
  • Hard box, and linden of a softer grain. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. The direction, arrangement, or appearance of the fibers in wood, or of the strata in stone, slate, etc. [1913 Webster]
  • Knots, by the conflux of meeting sap, Infect the sound pine and divert his grain Tortive and errant from his course of growth. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 8. The fiber which forms the substance of wood or of any fibrous material. [1913 Webster]
  • 9. The hair side of a piece of leather, or the marking on that side. --Knight. [1913 Webster]
  • 10. pl. The remains of grain, etc., after brewing or distillation; hence, any residuum. Also called draff. [1913 Webster]
  • 11. (Bot.) A rounded prominence on the back of a sepal, as in the common dock. See Grained, a., 4. [1913 Webster]
  • 12. Temper; natural disposition; inclination. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • Brothers . . . not united in grain. --Hayward. [1913 Webster]
  • 13. A sort of spice, the grain of paradise. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • He cheweth grain and licorice, To smellen sweet. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
  • Against the grain, against or across the direction of the fibers; hence, against one's wishes or tastes; unwillingly; unpleasantly; reluctantly; with difficulty. --Swift. --Saintsbury.
  • A grain of allowance, a slight indulgence or latitude a small allowance.
  • Grain binder, an attachment to a harvester for binding the grain into sheaves.
  • Grain colors, dyes made from the coccus or kermes insect.
  • Grain leather. (a) Dressed horse hides. (b) Goat, seal, and other skins blacked on the grain side for women's shoes, etc.
  • Grain moth (Zool.), one of several small moths, of the family Tineid[ae] (as Tinea granella and {Butalis cerealella}), whose larv[ae] devour grain in storehouses.
  • Grain side (Leather), the side of a skin or hide from which the hair has been removed; -- opposed to flesh side.
  • Grains of paradise, the seeds of a species of amomum.
  • grain tin, crystalline tin ore metallic tin smelted with charcoal.
  • Grain weevil (Zool.), a small red weevil ({Sitophilus granarius}), which destroys stored wheat and other grain, by eating out the interior.
  • Grain worm (Zool.), the larva of the grain moth. See {grain moth}, above.
  • In grain, of a fast color; deeply seated; fixed; innate; genuine. "Anguish in grain." --Herbert.
  • To dye in grain, to dye of a fast color by means of the coccus or kermes grain [see Grain, n., 5]; hence, to dye firmly; also, to dye in the wool, or in the raw material. See under Dye. [1913 Webster]
  • The red roses flush up in her cheeks . . . Likce crimson dyed in grain. --Spenser.
  • To go against the grain of (a person), to be repugnant to; to vex, irritate, mortify, or trouble. [1913 Webster]

Synonyms of 'against the grain'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'Against the grain'