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

to mill

3 7.6

To shape metal by passing it through a machine that presses it flat

verb
/mɪl/

Specialized

: laminar

After cutting the wood, the carpenter milled it to ensure a smooth finish for the furniture.
milled steel
milled stainless steel
milled aluminum

Examples

Now, dimensional lumber could be milled in fixed lengths and widths, which expedited the installation of floors and gave them a far more finished appearance.

Blog text (22)
Tree service provided wood, which we milled on site.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette (2019)
The current bottleneck in the system is the time required to mill a last.

Academic text (1991)
Hub cut the tree down himself, milled it, planed it, and finished it.

Fiction book (2002)
A machine at Michigan Tech mills parts as small as 20 m thick (top left).

Academic text (2003)
This data is then passed to the milling process, and the foot is milled from wax or plaster.

Academic text (1991)
Enya also said that he milled the engine head 0.5 mm to increase the compression ratio.

Academic text (2010)
The factory milled the steel sheets to create strong and precise components for the machinery.
To improve the part's performance, the engineer milled the aluminum block to exact specifications.

Synonyms

to machine

vsto mill

Specialized

4 6.3

To cut and shape metal or other material using a powered tool

focuses specifically on shaping metal by passing it through rollers

to lathe

vsto mill

Specialized

7.8

To shape wood or metal by turning it while a tool cuts it

uses pressure to pass metal between rollers rather than rotation

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 Finished

polish

81 2.7

to buff

17 4.4

to mill

Specialized

3 7.6

roll

302 1.8

to form

156 1.6

Surface Forms

mill infinitive

milled past

milled past participle

milling present participle

mills third person singular

Etymology

Mill also came to mean shaping metal in a factory by passing it through machines, keeping the idea of a machine that changes raw material, so to 'mill' metal is to smooth or shape it in a machine.