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PlainSpell

grind

/ˈɡɹaɪnd/verb, noun

grind is spelled G-R-I-N-D: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 8.7 times per million words in written English, the 7,797th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, grind means “To reduce to smaller pieces by crushing with lateral motion” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in grind?

Letters5: G-R-I-N-D
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing8.7 times per million words; the 7,797th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is grind?

Grind appears 8.7 times per million words in written English, the 7,797th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce grind?

  • /ˈɡɹaɪnd/

As a noun (“A traditional communal pilot whale hunt in the Faroe Islands”): /ˈɡɹɪnd/.

Grind has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-grind.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-grind.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with grind?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as grind.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: dring.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of grind

  • grinds present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • grinding participle, present
  • ground participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • grinded participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does grind mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To reduce to smaller pieces by crushing with lateral motion.

  2. 2

    To shape with the force of friction.

    grind a lens; grind an axe

  3. 3

    To remove material by rubbing with an abrasive surface.

  4. 4

    To become ground, pulverized, or polished by friction.

    This corn grinds well.

  5. 5

    To move with much difficulty or friction; to grate.

  6. 6

    To slide the flat portion of a skateboard or snowboard across an obstacle such as a railing.

  7. 7

    To oppress, hold down or weaken.

  8. 8

    slangTo rotate the hips erotically.

noun

  1. 1

    The act of reducing to powder, or of sharpening, by friction.

  2. 2

    Something that has been reduced to powder, something that has been ground.

  3. 3

    A specific degree of pulverization of coffee beans.

    This bag contains espresso grind.

  4. 4

    A tedious and laborious task.

    This homework is a grind.

  5. 5

    A grinding trick on a skateboard or snowboard.

  6. 6

    archaicslangOne who studies hard.

  7. 7

    Clipping of grindcore (“subgenre of heavy metal”).

  8. 8

    slangHustle; hard work.

    I've been on the grind all week, trying to make ends meet.

  9. 9

    A traditional communal pilot whale hunt in the Faroe Islands.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Grind in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchmoudre, piler (to reduce to smaller pieces), meuler (to remove material by rubbing with an abrasive…)
Germanmahlen, zermahlen (to reduce to smaller pieces), feilen (to remove material by rubbing with an abrasive…), schleifen (to shape with the force of friction), grinden (to slide a skateboard or snowboard across an…), Mahlung (a specific degree of pulverization of coffee…)
Portuguesemoer, triturar (to reduce to smaller pieces), amolar (to remove material by rubbing with an abrasive…), polir, brunir (to shape with the force of friction), ranger (to move with much difficulty or friction)
Spanishmoler, triturar (to reduce to smaller pieces), pulir (to remove material by rubbing with an abrasive…), bruñir (to shape with the force of friction), rechinar, chirriar (to move with much difficulty or friction)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does grind come from?

From Middle English grynden, from Old English grindan (“to grind”), from Proto-West Germanic *grindan, from Proto-Germanic *grindaną (“to crush, grind”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after grind