mill

1 of 4

noun (1)

1
: a building provided with machinery for processing and especially for grinding grain into flour
2
a
: a machine or apparatus for grinding grain
b
: a device or machine for reducing something (as by crushing or grinding) to small pieces or particles
a pepper mill
c
: a machine for hulling grain kernels (as of rice, oats, or spelt)
3
: a building or collection of buildings with machinery for manufacturing
a paper mill
steel mills
4
: a machine that manufactures by the continuous repetition of some simple action
5
a
: a machine formerly used for stamping coins
b
: a machine for expelling juice from vegetable tissues by pressure or grinding
a cider mill
6
7
a
: a slow, laborious, or mechanical process or routine
Pacquiao has filed about a dozen bills as congressman but none has passed any of the committees they have been referred to, the first hurdle in the legislative mill.Oliver Teves
b
: one that produces or processes people or things mechanically or in large numbers
a diploma mill
a rumor mill
8
: a difficult and often educational experience
used in the phrase through the mill
9
: the engine of an automobile or boat

mill

2 of 4

verb

milled; milling; mills

transitive verb

1
: to subject to an operation or process in a mill: such as
a
: to grind into flour, meal, or powder
milling wheat
b
: to remove the outer layers of (seed kernels) : to subject to hulling
milling rice to remove the husk and bran layers
c
: to shape or dress by means of a rotary cutter
d
: to mix and condition (something, such as rubber) by passing between rotating rolls
2
: to give a raised rim or a ridged or corrugated edge to (a coin)
3
: to cut grooves in the metal surface of (something, such as a knob)

intransitive verb

1
a
: to move about in a disorderly or aimless fashion
a crowd milling about outside the theater exit
b
of cattle : to move about in a circling mass
2
: to hit out with the fists
3
: to undergo milling
seed too wet to mill properly

mill

3 of 4

noun (2)

variant spelling of mil entry 2

slang
: a million dollars

mill

4 of 4

noun (3)

: a money of account equal to ¹/₁₀ cent

Examples of mill in a Sentence

Noun (1) a steel mill that remains the town's principal employer Verb The crowd was milling outside the exit. a demonstration of how dried kernels of corn were milled in colonial times
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Verb
Election workers milled inside the conference room — home to 13 tabulators set to count ballots. Madison Lammert, Journal Sentinel, 6 Nov. 2024 The Aperol spritzes, however, were still flowing as a handful of collectors milled around the space, staring longingly into the cases. Victoria Gomelsky, Robb Report, 21 Oct. 2024
Noun
And just like that, the chain’s most famous site opened a year later in a former derelict paper mill in Elephant and Castle. Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune Europe, 5 Nov. 2024 The Lenzing Denim team was on site to exhibit, and we were inspired to see all the ways that TENCEL™ is being used by our mill partners. Carved In Blue, Sourcing Journal, 30 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for mill 

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English mille, from Old English mylen, from Late Latin molina, molinum, from feminine and neuter of molinus of a mill, of a millstone, from Latin mola mill, millstone; akin to Latin molere to grind — more at meal

Noun (3)

Latin mille thousand

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1511, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun (3)

1786, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of mill was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near mill

Cite this Entry

“Mill.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mill. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

mill

1 of 3 noun
1
: a building with machinery for grinding grain into flour
2
: a machine used in treating (as by grinding, crushing, stamping, cutting, or finishing) raw material
3

mill

2 of 3 verb
1
: to process in a mill (as by grinding into flour, meal, or powder or by shaping with a cutter)
2
: to give a raised rim or a grooved edge to
mill a coin
3
: to move about in a disorderly mass
people were milling about the entrance to the theater

mill

3 of 3 noun
: one tenth of a cent
Etymology

Noun

Old English mylen "mill" from Latin molina (same meaning), derived from earlier mola "mill, millstone" — related to molar see Word History at molar

Noun

from Latin mille "thousand"; so called because it is one one-thousandth of a dollar

Biographical Definition

Mill 1 of 2

biographical name (1)

James 1773–1836 Scottish philosopher, historian, and economist

Mill

2 of 2

biographical name (2)

John Stuart 1806–1873 son of James Mill English philosopher and economist

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