What does "mill" mean?
A grinding apparatus for substances such as grains, seeds, etc. (Some are small and simple, and some are large and complex.)
Mill
/mɪl/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A grinding apparatus for substances such as grains, seeds, etc. (Some are small and simple, and some are large and complex.)
- Grammar: mill is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: grind, abrade, amble, armory.
- Useful contrasts: cent, settle, stay.
- Usage evidence: There was a water mill below the dam.
How to use "mill"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "mill" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "mill" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "mill" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "mill" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "mill" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "grind" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "mill", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 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."
- 2 One thousandth part.; One thousandth of a US dollar, or one tenth of a cent.
"Holonyms: cent < dollar"
- 3 Alternative form of mil (“million”). alt-of, alternative, informal
- 4 A line of three matching pieces in nine men's morris and related games.
- 5 Discarding a card from one's deck. countable, uncountable
"he’s had some fairly infamous mills in other events. Back in 2017’s Spring Championships, he burned the crucial Archmage Antonidas"
Show 26 more definitions
- 6 the act of grinding to a powder or dust wordnet
- 7 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."
- 8 One thousandth part.; One thousandth part in millage rates of property tax.
"They predict that the rate will probably go up by several mills next year."
- 9 A strategy centered on depleting the opponent's deck. countable, uncountable
"Kingsane ^([sic – meaning Kingsbane]) Rogue will forever have a negative connotation attached to it because it began as a mill deck, and mill is one of the most tilt-inducing strategies in fantasy card games."
- 10 a plant consisting of one or more buildings with facilities for manufacturing wordnet
- 11 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"
- 12 One thousandth part.; Alternative form of mil (“one thousandth of an inch”). alt-of, alternative
"For this task, I prefer the plastic sheeting that is 10 mills thick."
- 13 machinery that processes materials by grinding or crushing wordnet
- 14 A machine for grinding and polishing.
"a lapidary mill"
- 15 One thousandth part.; Clipping of millimeter. abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, informal
"For this task, I prefer the plastic bars that are 10 mills in diameter."
- 16 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."
- 17 A milling cutter used on such a machine.
"After the drilling and tapping operations, we come in with a mill and do some contouring."
- 18 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."
- 19 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."
- 20 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.) derogatory, figuratively, usually
"Those shysters selling the purebreds are running quite a mill over there, eh?"
- 21 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. derogatory, figuratively
"Those shysters cranking out the "IT training certificates" are running quite a mill over there, eh?"
- 22 An engine. informal
"Under the hood is a mill that you and I can't afford — a nitrous-blown hemi with custom heads."
- 23 A boxing match or fistfight. archaic, informal
"They were betting big on a great mill, but they didn't realize that the fix was in."
- 24 A hardened steel roller with a design in relief, used for imprinting a reversed copy of the design in a softer metal, such as copper.
- 25 An excavation in rock, transverse to the workings, from which material for filling is obtained.
"They pulled me off the main crew and had me digging in the mill."
- 26 A passage underground through which ore is shot.
"Near-synonym: country"
- 27 The raised or ridged edge or surface made in milling anything, such as a coin or screw.
- 28 A prison treadmill. historical
"They kept us in line by threatening to put us on the mill twice as long if we complained."
- 29 A military prison, either guardhouse or post prison. US, World-War-I, slang
"He spent some time in the mill after that escapade."
- 30 A delousing station: a cootie mill. World-War-I, slang
- 31 A typewriter used to transcribe messages received.
"In other words, get a mill in your operating position by hook or crook and use it regularly. At the N.C.R. Radio Schools touch typing is taught at the same time code proficiency is advanced."
Verb
- 1 To grind or otherwise process in a mill or other machine. transitive
"to mill flour"
- 2 To move (a card) from a deck to the discard pile. transitive
- 3 grind with a mill wordnet
- 4 To shape, polish, dress or finish using a machine. transitive
- 5 To destroy (a card) due to having a full hand. transitive
"what happens when a Quest Rogue uses Vanish and Malygos gets milled?"
Show 16 more definitions
- 6 roll out (metal) with a rolling machine wordnet
- 7 To engrave one or more grooves or a pattern around the edge of (a cylindrical object such as a coin). transitive
- 8 produce a ridge around the edge of wordnet
- 9 To move about in an aimless fashion. intransitive, usually
"I didn't have much to do, so I just milled around the town looking at the shops."
- 10 move about in a confused manner wordnet
- 11 To cause to mill, or circle around. transitive
"to mill cattle"
- 12 To swim underwater.
- 13 To swim suddenly in a new direction.
- 14 To beat; to pound. slang, transitive
"Ortheris said nothing for a while. Then he unslung his belt, heavy with the badges of half a dozen regiments that his own had lain with, and handed it over to Mulvaney. "I'm too little for to mill you, Mulvaney," said he, "an' you've strook me before; but you can take an' cut me in two with this 'ere if you like.""
- 15 To pass through a fulling mill; to full, as cloth.
- 16 To roll (steel, etc.) into bars. transitive
- 17 To make (drinking chocolate) frothy, as by churning. transitive
- 18 To undergo hulling. intransitive
"This maize mills well."
- 19 To take part in a fistfight; to box. intransitive, slang
- 20 To fill (a winze or interior incline) with broken ore, to be drawn out at the bottom. transitive
- 21 To commit burglary. UK, obsolete
"Ben mort, shall you and I heave a bough, mill a ken, or nip a bung, and then we'll couch a hogshead under the ruffmans, and there you shall wap with me, and I'll niggle with you."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
- 2 John Stuart Mill, English libertarian and utilitarian philosopher.
"I have endeavoured to acquire a knowledge of the Hare system, and I have read Mill upon the subject, and it seems to me that the present proposal is opposed to that system."
- 3 A village in North Brabant, Netherlands.
- 4 An unincorporated community in Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri, United States.
Example
"There was a water mill below the dam."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "mill"?
Common synonyms include: grind, abrade, amble, armory, arrastra, arsenal.
How do you use "mill" in a sentence?
There was a water mill below the dam.
How do you pronounce "mill"?
Pronounced /mɪl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English mylne, mille, from Old English mylen, from Proto-West Germanic *mulīnu (“mill”), from Late Latin molīna, molīnum, molīnus (“mill”), from Latin molō (“grind, mill”, verb), closely allied to Proto-Germanic *muljaną (“to crush, grind”) (see English millstone). Perhaps cognate with Milne (a surname). Doublet of moline, moulin, and blin.
Etymology 2
Ultimately from Latin millesimum. The clipping comes by way of the clipped word, millimetre.
Etymology 3
Clipping of million.
Etymology 4
Back-formation from millstone, name of a Magic: The Gathering card with this effect (first printed 1994).