see groan.-a single small hard seed; a kernel, especially of  those plants, like wheat, whose seeds are used for food.-the fruit of certain grasses which furnish the chief food of man, as corn, wheat, rye, oats, etc., or the plants themselves; -- used collectively.-any small, hard particle, as of sand, sugar, salt, etc.; hence, any minute portion or particle; as, a grain of gunpowder, of pollen, of starch, of sense, of wit, etc.-the unit of the english system of weights; -- so called because considered equal to the average of grains taken from the middle of the ears of wheat. 7,000 grains constitute the pound avoirdupois, and 5,760 grains the pound troy.  a grain is equal to .0648 gram. see gram. -a reddish dye made from the coccus insect, or kermes; hence, a red color of any tint or hue, as crimson, scarlet, etc.; sometimes used by the poets as equivalent to tyrian purple.-the composite particles of any substance; that arrangement of the particles of any body which determines its comparative roughness or hardness; texture; as, marble, sugar, sandstone, etc., of fine grain.-the direction, arrangement, or appearance of the fibers in wood, or of the strata in stone, slate, etc.-the fiber which forms the substance of wood or of any fibrous material.-the hair side of a piece of leather, or the marking on that side.-the remains of grain, etc., after brewing or distillation; hence, any residuum. also called draff.-a rounded prominence on the back of a sepal, as in the common dock. see grained, a., 4.-temper; natural disposition; inclination.-a sort of spice, the grain of paradise.-to paint in imitation of the grain of wood, marble, etc.-to form (powder, sugar, etc.) into grains.-to take the hair off (skins); to soften and raise the grain of (leather, etc.).-to yield fruit.-to form grains, or to assume a granular ferm, as the result of crystallization; to granulate.-a branch of a tree; a stalk or stem of a plant.-a tine, prong, or fork.-one the branches of a valley or of a river.-an iron first speak or harpoon, having four or more barbed points.-a blade of a sword, knife, etc.-a thin piece of metal, used in a mold to steady a core.