mill

A grinding apparatus for substances such as grains, seeds, etc. (Some are small and simple, and some are large and complex.)

Pepper has a stronger flavor when it is ground straight from a mill.

The building housing such a grinding apparatus; also, any similar building that houses a similarly material activity (such as weaving, fulling, dying, etc.); the place of business comprising such a building and its outbuildings and grounds.

My great-grandfather worked in a mill. He filled the flour sacks and then carried and loaded them.

A machine used for expelling the juice, sap, etc., from vegetable tissues by pressure, or by pressure in combination with a grinding, or cutting process; any similar apparatus that otherwise processes.

a cider mill; a cane mill

A machine for grinding and polishing.

a lapidary mill

A milling machine for machining of solid metal, wood, or plastic.

Several machinists were busy operating the lathes, mills, and drill presses on the shop floor.

A milling cutter used on such a machine.

After the drilling and tapping operations, we come in with a mill and do some contouring.

A manufacturing plant for paper, steel, textiles, flooring, and some other kinds of materials.

Once the billet gets through the 56-inch mill, it is ready for reheating.

The building complex housing such a plant; the place of business comprising such buildings and their grounds.

My grandfather worked in a mill. He operated machinery, did maintenance, and drove forklifts.

(derogatory, figuratively, usually)(figurative, usually derogatory) An establishment that handles a certain type of situation or procedure routinely, or produces large quantities of an item without much regard to quality. (The notion of churning out massive amounts indiscriminately underlies the figurative metaphor.)

Those shysters selling the purebreds are running quite a mill over there, eh?

(derogatory, figuratively)(figurative, derogatory) An institution or pseudo-institutional business awarding credentials (such as diplomas, degrees, certificates, or certifications) of either dubious value or fraudulent nature; one selling essays or other documents for the buyers (usually students) to fraudulently pass off as their own.

Those shysters cranking out the "IT training certificates" are running quite a mill over there, eh?

(informal)An engine.

Under the hood is a mill that you and I can't afford — a nitrous-blown hemi with custom heads.

(archaic, informal)A boxing match or fistfight.

They were betting big on a great mill, but they didn't realize that the fix was in.

(transitive)To grind or otherwise process in a mill or other machine.

to mill flour

(transitive)To shape, polish, dress or finish using a machine.

(transitive)To engrave one or more grooves or a pattern around the edge of (a cylindrical object such as a coin).

(intransitive, usually)(intransitive, followed by around, about, etc.) To move about in an aimless fashion.

I didn't have much to do, so I just milled around the town looking at the shops.

(transitive)To cause to mill, or circle around.

to mill cattle

(zoology, of air-breathing creatures) To swim underwater.

(zoology, of a whale) To swim suddenly in a new direction.

(slang, transitive)To beat; to pound.

To pass through a fulling mill; to full, as cloth.

(transitive)To roll (steel, etc.) into bars.

(transitive)To make (drinking chocolate) frothy, as by churning.

(intransitive)To undergo hulling.

This maize mills well.