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n. 1. a. A building equipped with machinery for grinding grain into flour or meal. b. A device or mechanism that grinds grain. 2. a. A building or farm equipped with machinery that presses or grinds fruit to extract the juice: a cider mill. b. A device or machine used to extract juice from fruit. 3. A machine or device that reduces a solid or coarse substance into pulp or minute grains by crushing, grinding, or pressing: a pepper mill. 4. A building or group of buildings equipped with machinery for processing raw materials into finished or industrial products: a textile mill; a steel mill. 5. a. A machine, such as one for stamping coins, that produces something by the repetition of a simple process. b. A steel roller bearing a raised design, used for making a die or a printing plate by pressure. c. Any of various machines for shaping, cutting, polishing, or dressing metal surfaces. 6. a. A process, agency, or institution that operates in a mechanical way or turns out products in the manner of a factory: The college was nothing more than a diploma mill. b. A business that breeds and sells animals, such as purebred puppies, often in substandard conditions. Often used in combination: a puppy mill. 7. A difficult or laborious series of experiences: went through the mill trying to get approval to build an addition onto the house. v. milled, mill·ing, mills v.tr. 1. To grind, pulverize, or break down into smaller particles in a mill: mill grain. 2. To produce or process mechanically in a mill: mill steel. 3. To cut, shape, or finish in a mill or with a milling tool: logs that are milled for lumber. 4. a. To produce a ridge around the edge of (a coin). b. To groove or flute the rim of (a coin or other metal object). 5. Western US To cause (cattle) to move in a circle or tightening spiral in order to stop a stampede. v.intr. 1. To move around in churning confusion: "A crowd of school children milled about on the curb looking scared" (Anne Tyler). 2. Slang To fight with the fists; box. 3. To undergo milling: grain that mills well. [Middle English milne, mille, from Old English mylen, from Late Latin molīna, molīnum, from feminine and neuter of molīnus, of a mill, from Latin mola, millstone, from molere, to grind; see melə- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
n. Abbr. M. or mi. A unit of currency equal to 1/1000 of a US dollar or 1/10 of a cent. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
British philosopher, economist, and a founder of utilitarianism. His works include An Analysis of the Phenomena of the Human Mind (1829). |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
