🏭 A factory ⚙️ A grinder 🌀 Grinding process 🚶 To move aimlessly ⚙️ To grind 🔩 To shape metal 🪙 To add grooves

to mill

4 2.5

To grind grain into flour

verb
/mɪl/

: moler

Traditionally, 65 percent of a durum kernel is milled into semolina, a granular material that is mixed with water and extruded into pasta.
mill corn
mill durum wheat
mill sugarcane

Examples

Next up, Scars Pizza, they mill their own flour in their basement.
We should have all the grain milled into flour just in time for your arrival.

Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver (2024)
I got to get this stuff milled and started today.

Brubaker (1980)
The solution was dried and milled to form a protein powder.

Academic text (2018)
Another 10 to 12 percent of the kernel is milled into flour for noodles or, if the quality is low, into livestock feed.

Academic text (1999)
What that does when you're breaking this apart is it helps to release all the wheat berries, which is what we want in order to grind it, to mill it for flour.
Brewing begins with malted barley that is milled and mixed with hot water to form a mash.

Blog text (10)
To turn a plant into something resembling milk, it must be either soaked, drained, rinsed and milled into a thick paste, or dried and milled into flour.
The farmer decided to mill the wheat into flour for his bakery.
To make fresh bread, we will mill the grain ourselves this weekend.

Synonyms

to grind

vsto mill

61 2.4

To crush something into powder by rubbing or pressing

focuses on using a stationary machine to process grain into a fine product

to powder

vsto mill

39 3.0

To crush or grind something until it becomes a fine dry material

specifies using a machine to grind grain rather than any crushing method

to pulverize

vsto mill

8 7.4

To crush something into a fine powder

is less forceful and usually means processing grain with a machine

to crunch

vsto mill

4 3.0

To crush something into small pieces

aims to produce a fine, dry product from grain using a machine

to flour

vsto mill

1 6.3

To grind grain into a fine powder for baking or cooking

specifies doing the grinding using a stationary machine for grain

Idioms

grist for the mill

Informal

1 8.4

A fact or event that people use to make stories

to go through the mill

Informal

7.2

To experience many hard tests or problems

trouble at mill

9.9

Problems and conflict happening in a workplace or team

water to the mill

Informal

9.8

Something that helps someone and gives them an advantage

Phrasal Verbs

to mill around

Informal

9 3.7

Move around slowly in a place without any clear purpose, often in a group

to mill about

7 5.3

To move around a place without a clear reason, often in a group

Compounds

run-of-the-mill

Informal

24 3.3

Ordinary and not special

steel mill

18 3.3

A factory that makes steel from raw materials

rumor mill

Informal

7 4.5

A group or network that spreads gossip and stories not checked for truth

textile mill

4 3.3

A factory that makes cloth and other fabrics on a large scale

paper mill

4 2.8

A factory that makes paper from wood or recycled material

pill mill

NSFW

3 8.9

A clinic that illegally prescribes many pain pills for profit

diploma mill

Offensive

2 6.6

An organization that sells degrees with little or no real study

cotton mill

2 3.4

A factory where workers make cloth from cotton

flour mill

1 2.2

A building or machine that grinds grain into flour

gin mill

Archaic

1 8.8

A cheap bar where people drink and are often rowdy

cider mill

1 3.9

A place where people press apples to make apple cider

coffee mill

1 2.9

A small machine that grinds roasted coffee beans into small pieces to make coffee

abortion mill

Offensive

1 9.3

A clinic that ends pregnancies and is criticized for doing many of them

essay mill

1 7.8

A business that sells essays for students to hand in as their own work

rolling mill

Specialized

1 7.4

A machine that presses hot metal between heavy rollers to make sheets or bars

water mill

1 3.6

A building where flowing water turns a wheel and machines grind grain or cut wood

degree mill

Offensive

1 9.5

An organization that gives degrees for little or no study and is not officially recognised

mill wheel

1 4.6

A large round device turned by flowing water to run machines that grind grain

paper mill

Neologism

1 5.8

A company that sells fake or copied academic articles to researchers

pepper mill

1 2.1

A tool that grinds whole peppercorns into small grains for food

author mill

Literature

8.6

A company that publishes many low quality books to make money

mill agent

Archaic

7.4

A person who manages a mill for an owner who is not there

mill-girl

Archaic

7.5

A girl or young woman who works in a factory making cloth

mill-hand

6.9

A person who works in a mill or factory operating machines

gastric mill

Specialized

9.6

A strong, thick part of some animals' stomachs that grinds food

gig mill

Archaic

9.9

A machine in a cloth factory that uses wire cylinders to make fabric soft and fuzzy

gig-mill

Archaic

9.9

A factory machine that uses wire rollers to lift fibers and make fabric soft and fuzzy

glacier mill

Specialized

9.9

A deep vertical hole in a glacier where melt water falls through the ice

quartz mill

Specialized

9.6

A machine that crushes quartz rock to get gold or other metals

rum mill

Archaic

9.0

A place or group where people spread gossip quickly

ordination mill

Offensive

9.9

A website or group that sells fake religious certificates quickly for money

slabbing mill

Specialized

9.5

A machine that rolls large steel blocks into thick flat pieces

stamp mill

Archaic

9.3

A machine that crushes rock to get metal from it

stamping mill

Archaic

9.1

A machine that crushes rock that has metal in it to get metals like gold

turning and boring mill

Specialized

9.6

A large machine that spins big metal parts so a tool can cut and drill them

How Fine

to pulverize

8 7.4

to mill

4 2.5

to crush

401 1.6

Surface Forms

mill infinitive

milled past

milled past participle

milling present participle

mills third person singular

Etymology

Mill as a verb originally means 'to grind' from molere 'to grind', so when you say someone 'milled' grain you mean they ground it into flour using a mill.