grind 1 of 2

1
as in scratch
a harsh grating sound the grind of ice in the blender sent the cat running from the room

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2
as in nerd
a person slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits don't be such a grind—go out with your friends and enjoy yourself

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grind

2 of 2

verb

1
as in to rub
to make smooth by friction after they are ground and polished, these stones can be used for jewelry

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2
as in to grit
to press or strike against or together so as to make a scraping sound everyone in the car winced when the driver ground the gears trying to shift into second

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3
as in to sharpen
to make sharp or sharper better grind down that ax before you even think about trying to cut down that tree

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4
as in to polish
to make smooth or glossy usually by repeatedly applying surface pressure used the finest polishing paper he could to grind down the facets of the diamond before dusting it with a soft cloth

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5
as in to scratch
to pass roughly and noisily over or against a surface ground the rock against the stone wall

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Synonym Chooser

How does the noun grind contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of grind are drudgery, labor, toil, travail, and work. While all these words mean "activity involving effort or exertion," grind implies labor exhausting to mind or body.

the grind of the assembly line

When might drudgery be a better fit than grind?

In some situations, the words drudgery and grind are roughly equivalent. However, drudgery suggests dull and irksome labor.

an editorial job with a good deal of drudgery

When would labor be a good substitute for grind?

While the synonyms labor and grind are close in meaning, labor applies to physical or intellectual work involving great and often strenuous exertion.

farmers demanding fair compensation for their labor

When is toil a more appropriate choice than grind?

The words toil and grind are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, toil implies prolonged and fatiguing labor.

his lot would be years of back-breaking toil

When could travail be used to replace grind?

The synonyms travail and grind are sometimes interchangeable, but travail is bookish for labor involving pain or suffering.

years of travail were lost when the house burned

In what contexts can work take the place of grind?

The meanings of work and grind largely overlap; however, work may imply activity of body, of mind, of a machine, or of a natural force.

too tired to do any work

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of grind
Noun
For riders, the focus is less on development politics and more on the daily grind: early mornings in the barn or the thrill of clearing every jump, scoring a perfect round. Kaitlyn Pohly, Miami Herald, 20 July 2025 There is, perhaps, something about the kind of person who is well suited for the late-night grind that is also the type of person who doesn’t ever want to entirely walk away. James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 18 July 2025
Verb
In reality, Russian military tactics are much more likely to be driven by its own unrelenting military objective of seizing as much territory as possible before the grinding conflict in Ukraine, now in its fourth year, ultimately comes to a halt. Matthew Chance, CNN Money, 9 July 2025 That's great for long hours of level grinding between quests. PC Magazine, 9 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for grind
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grind
Noun
  • Rethink And Define Your Network Architecture While a deep tech explanation is probably expected, in reality, the greatest value of this exercise is that the company has to rethink and define the architecture of its network solution from scratch.
    Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 30 July 2025
  • Speaking of Cooper, his plan to build an oil company from scratch seemed to have some success at the end of the season.
    Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 29 July 2025
Noun
  • Catchers need breaks, and regression is every baseball nerd’s favorite word.
    Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 20 July 2025
  • Showrunner Tony Tost was truly an angel, and everyone on board were such freak-ass nerds about TV and cinema, and were so excited to share all these reference points with me, like Colombo.
    Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 10 July 2025
Noun
  • Waiting there for us was Rhubarb the python snake, who's a member of the zoo's animal ambassador program, which means she was selected to help promote the zoo's conservation efforts and represent her species.
    Grace Tucker, The Enquirer, 23 July 2025
  • Additionally, integrating agentic AI requires significant initial effort, including connecting diverse ticketing systems, unifying data silos and training models on historical case data.
    Varun Milind Kulkarni, Forbes.com, 22 July 2025
Noun
  • The traditional 9-to-5 office routine is fading fast.
    Sharon Wu, USA Today, 31 July 2025
  • The Time Warp Trap Andrew Scott, in his book, The longevity imperative, explains how routines speed up time.
    Dr. Shaheena Janjuha-Jivraj, Forbes.com, 31 July 2025
Verb
  • Cats can rub against concrete to mark their territory and feel more secure because the scent lingers on the material longer than on smoother surfaces.
    Kelli Bender, People.com, 23 July 2025
  • Again, once the Field School staff restrained the shark, the team of amateurs got to work quickly and efficiently, with the only mishap being a person who rubbed their fingers the wrong way against the shark skin and got an abrasion that drew a bit of blood.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 22 July 2025
Verb
  • Consider Alex’s final audition — a now-iconic sequence that collapses grit and glam into a single, pulsating montage.
    arkansasonline.com, arkansasonline.com, 10 July 2025
  • Chelsea showed character and grit and were worthy of their victory.
    Mark Carey, New York Times, 4 July 2025
Verb
  • This takes many forms, such as advisory boards and customer summits, and experience has taught me that this input can sharpen your product roadmap and positioning, accelerate deals and improve conversions. 5.
    Meghan Keough, Forbes.com, 24 July 2025
  • This show challenged me, sharpened me, and revealed what l’m made of.
    Emily Longeretta, Variety, 23 July 2025
Verb
  • The airy, high-ceilinged white dining rooms are largely intact, the wooden floors polished, the tables set with good linens, the lighting excellent.
    John Mariani, Forbes.com, 21 July 2025
  • His work to polish his technique over the past year and change will come to the forefront this season.
    David Furones, Sun Sentinel, 14 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Grind.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grind. Accessed 3 Aug. 2025.

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