Use grain for individual cereal seeds and for cereal crops as a food group. In everyday food writing, whole grain means the seed keeps its bran, germ, and inner part.
Use grain for individual cereal seeds and for cereal crops as a food group. In everyday food writing, whole grain means the seed keeps its bran, germ, and inner part.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| Rice is a grain food. | Rice is a grain. |
| I bought many grain for breakfast. | I bought grain for breakfast. |
| This bread has whole grains flour. | This bread has whole-grain flour. |
Use grain for tiny visible particles, especially in phrases like a grain of sand or a grain of salt. The weight-unit sense is specialized and is now mostly seen in ammunition, archery, and older medical measures.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| Take his story with a grain salt. | Take his story with a grain of salt. |
| There is a sand grain in my shoe. | There is a grain of sand in my shoe. |
| The bullet weighs 150 grain. | The bullet weighs 150 grains. |
Use grain when talking about how a material looks, feels, or should be cut. Against the grain can also mean opposite to someone's habits, nature, or usual preference.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| Cut the wood against grain. | Cut the wood against the grain. |
| The table has a beautiful grains. | The table has a beautiful grain. |
| It goes against my grain to lie. | It goes against the grain for me to lie. |
Grain is common in food, farming, cooking, craft, and measurement. Watch the countable and uncountable uses: a grain of rice, but grain is stored.
A grain salt should be a grain of salt. For texture, the idiom is against the grain, with the.
From Middle English grain, from Old French grain, from Latin granum, meaning seed or grain. The senses for small particles, texture, and fine measures developed from the idea of a tiny seedlike piece.
What does grain mean?
Grain can mean a cereal seed or crop, a tiny particle, or the texture and natural direction of a material.
Is rice a grain?
Yes. Rice is a cereal grain, like wheat, corn, oats, and barley.
What does a grain of salt mean?
Literally it means one tiny piece of salt. In take it with a grain of salt, it means do not fully believe it.
What is the grain of wood?
It is the visible pattern and natural direction of the wood fibers.
What does against the grain mean?
Literally it means across the natural fiber direction. Figuratively it means against someone's nature or preference.
Can grain mean a unit of weight?
Yes. A grain is a very small traditional weight unit, still seen in ammunition, archery, and some older measures.
What are synonyms of grain?
Depending on the sense, synonyms include cereal, seed, particle, speck, texture, and fiber.