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
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
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
milled; milling; mills
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)
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
: a money of account equal to ¹/₁₀ cent
Synonyms
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
Curbed Staff, Curbed, 6 Nov. 2024
Streets had been closed off, cops milled around, and sanitation workers stood by, ready to start the arduous cleanup process whenever the event was over.
—Caroline Tien, SELF, 24 Oct. 2024
Sarah Khan, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Nov. 2024
This mill—which is the larger of two available in 1973—made 240 hp fresh from the factory.
—Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 20 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for mill 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Verb
Outside, a contrarian in a MAGA hat leaned against the glass, and the crowd, a mix of writers and artists, milled about, smoking.
—Curbed Staff, Curbed, 6 Nov. 2024
Streets had been closed off, cops milled around, and sanitation workers stood by, ready to start the arduous cleanup process whenever the event was over.
—Caroline Tien, SELF, 24 Oct. 2024
Noun
An homage to the island’s artisanal olive oil industry, events like gourmet workshops (think local chefs and mixologists playing with regional flavors) and olive oil tastings are reanimating the island’s ancient underground mills.
—Sarah Khan, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Nov. 2024
This mill—which is the larger of two available in 1973—made 240 hp fresh from the factory.
—Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 20 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for mill
Dictionary Entries Near mill
Cite this Entry
“Mill.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mill. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
mill
2 of 3 verb1
: 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
Biographical Definition
Mill 1 of 2
biographical name (1)
James 1773–1836 Scottish philosopher, historian, and economist
Mill
2 of 2biographical name (2)
John Stuart 1806–1873 son of James Mill English philosopher and economist
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