grinding

/ˈɡɹaɪnd.ɪŋ/

grinding is the present participle and gerund of grind.

Noun

grinding (countable and uncountable, plural grindings)

The action of grinding together or crushing into small particles; the sound of this action.
- Ominous creakings and grindings came from the innards of the machine.
(repair) The action of grinding a workpiece to change its size, shape, and surface finish.
- Grinding sometimes involves tight tolerances on the order of a few microns.
A form of dance in which two people rub their bodies together.
- No grinding is allowed on the dance floor at the junior prom: it isn't age-appropriate.
(roleplaying games) Repeatedly performing the same quest or similar in-game activity in order to amass points or wealth.
- I really hate the grinding to get that 1% chance item.
(informal) The act of doing the daily grind.
- A: Hey Bob, how's it goin? B: Meh, I'm tired of grinding, man.

grinding (not comparable)

Of or pertaining to the act or gratingly sound of grinding.
- The meeting came to a grinding halt when the two sides could not agree.
Relentlessly taxing; burdensome; exacting to the point of exhaustion.
- A week of filled with grinding toil.
- I saw none of the grinding poverty to which I had become inured, no beggars, no one passed out in the streets or homeless people forced to camp out in parks and doorways.1983 April 16, John Kyper, “Cuba: A Little Sex, No Drugs, and Lotsa Rock 'n Roll”, in Gay Community News, page 8
(obsolete) Crushing; oppressive; overwhelming.

grind (third-person singular simple present grinds, present participle grinding, simple past and past participle ground or grinded)

(transitive) To reduce to smaller pieces by crushing with lateral motion.
(transitive) To shape with the force of friction.
- grind a lens; grind an axe
To remove material by rubbing with an abrasive surface.
(intransitive) To become ground, pulverized, or polished by friction.
- This corn grinds well.
To move with much difficulty or friction; to grate.
(intransitive) To slide the flat portion of a skateboard or snowboard across an obstacle such as a railing.

plural	grindings

Inherited from Middle English gryndynge. By surface analysis, grind + -ing.

What does grinding mean?: Grinding means the action of grinding together or crushing into small particles; the sound of this action.
What is grinding the present participle and gerund of?: Grinding is the present participle and gerund of grind.
What part of speech is grinding?: Grinding can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce grinding?: Grinding is pronounced /ˈɡɹaɪnd.ɪŋ/.
What is the plural of grinding?: The plural of grinding is grindings.

Adapted from Wiktionary: grinding (page history and authors); grind (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-grinding.wav.

Cite this entry: “grinding.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/grinding. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.