1
: a building provided with machinery for processing and especially for grinding grain into flour
2
a
: a machine or apparatus for grinding grain
b
: a device or machine for reducing something (as by crushing or grinding) to small pieces or particles
a pepper mill
c
: a machine for hulling grain kernels (as of rice, oats, or spelt)
3
: a building or collection of buildings with machinery for manufacturing
a paper mill
steel mills
4
: a machine that manufactures by the continuous repetition of some simple action
5
a
: a machine formerly used for stamping coins
b
: a machine for expelling juice from vegetable tissues by pressure or grinding
a cider mill
7
a
: a slow, laborious, or mechanical process or routine
Pacquiao has filed about a dozen bills as congressman but none has passed any of the committees they have been referred to, the first hurdle in the legislative mill.—
Oliver Teves
Oliver Teves
b
: one that produces or processes people or things mechanically or in large numbers
a diploma mill
a rumor mill
8
: a difficult and often educational experience
—used in the phrase through the mill
9
: the engine of an automobile or boat
milled; milling; mills
1
: to subject to an operation or process in a mill: such as
a
: to grind into flour, meal, or powder
milling wheat
b
: to remove the outer layers of (seed kernels) : to subject to hulling
milling rice to remove the husk and bran layers
c
: to shape or dress by means of a rotary cutter
d
: to mix and condition (something, such as rubber) by passing between rotating rolls
2
: to give a raised rim or a ridged or corrugated edge to (a coin)
3
: to cut grooves in the metal surface of (something, such as a knob)
1
a
: to move about in a disorderly or aimless fashion
a crowd milling about outside the theater exit
b
of cattle
: to move about in a circling mass
2
: to hit out with the fists
3
: to undergo milling
seed too wet to mill properly
: a money of account equal to ¹/₁₀ cent
Synonyms
Examples of mill in a Sentence
Noun (1)
a steel mill that remains the town's principal employer
Verb
The crowd was milling outside the exit.
a demonstration of how dried kernels of corn were milled in colonial times
Recent Examples on the WebJ. George Gorant, Robb Report, 9 May 2024
Sections of the interstate were also milled and paved in both directions.
—Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY, 5 May 2024
Those staying in the encampment milled about, chatting and enjoying the sun after a rainy Thursday night.
—Laura Schulte, Journal Sentinel, 3 May 2024
Dozens of students and community members were milling about the tents and sitting on the steps outside the building.
—Hannah Wiley, Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2024
Upstairs from the banquet hall, student competitors nervously milled around carpeted corridors.
—Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy Gabra Zackman Emma Kehlbeck Lance Neal, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2024
Government representatives milled around the safe, warm outside of the chamber, muttering observations, until Case crawled out, hypothermic, shaking too hard to complete the manual dexterity test but ready for his rectal temperature measurement.
—Rachel Lance, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Apr. 2024
All the while, Buell patrons mill about, too, making their noisy way to seats.
—Lisa Kennedy, The Denver Post, 12 Apr. 2024
A couple of thousand people milled around downtown Jasper and Bradley Park on Monday as the moon began crossing the path of the sun.
—Bill Bowden, arkansasonline.com, 8 Apr. 2024
Nick Coltrain, The Denver Post, 15 May 2024
Their solar cell plants and steel and aluminum mills have enough capacity to meet much of the world’s demand, with Chinese officials arguing that their production keeps prices low and would aid a transition to the green economy.
—Josh Boak, Fortune, 14 May 2024
Hall reaches down by a mill and cups the first ingredient of beer in his hand: barley.
—Jenna Thompson, Kansas City Star, 13 May 2024
The movement to abolish child labor had been overwhelmingly led by white reformers since the 1870s, when the growing problem of poor white children working in Southern textile mills launched the issue onto the national stage.
—TIME, 13 May 2024
Plans for the studio call for six soundstages totaling 125,000 square-feet, along with a mill and flex space.
—Todd Longwell, Variety, 9 May 2024
During the height of Wisconsin’s lumber industry, piers would be a business and community center, often housing their own general store and lumber mill.
—Caitlin Looby, Journal Sentinel, 2 May 2024
The group in February shut its sugar mill in Santa Rosa, Texas, after 51 years of operation due to the lack of water from Mexico.
—Leah Douglas, The Christian Science Monitor, 18 Apr. 2024
Wawa was founded in 1803 and incorporated in 1865 as the Millville Manufacturing Company, a textile company with mills in several states and sales offices across the country, according to the company.
—Gabe Hauari, USA TODAY, 16 Apr. 2024
Verb
Behind her, a few dozen people mill about, leaning on a rail, drinking coffee, staring at their phones.
—J. George Gorant, Robb Report, 9 May 2024
Sections of the interstate were also milled and paved in both directions.
—Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY, 5 May 2024
Those staying in the encampment milled about, chatting and enjoying the sun after a rainy Thursday night.
—Laura Schulte, Journal Sentinel, 3 May 2024
Dozens of students and community members were milling about the tents and sitting on the steps outside the building.
—Hannah Wiley, Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2024
Upstairs from the banquet hall, student competitors nervously milled around carpeted corridors.
—Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy Gabra Zackman Emma Kehlbeck Lance Neal, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2024
Government representatives milled around the safe, warm outside of the chamber, muttering observations, until Case crawled out, hypothermic, shaking too hard to complete the manual dexterity test but ready for his rectal temperature measurement.
—Rachel Lance, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Apr. 2024
All the while, Buell patrons mill about, too, making their noisy way to seats.
—Lisa Kennedy, The Denver Post, 12 Apr. 2024
A couple of thousand people milled around downtown Jasper and Bradley Park on Monday as the moon began crossing the path of the sun.
—Bill Bowden, arkansasonline.com, 8 Apr. 2024
Noun
Overall, state officials have estimated that law will save the typical owner of a $700,000 home roughly $400 a year compared to current law, though the exact amount depends on local mill levies.
—Nick Coltrain, The Denver Post, 15 May 2024
Their solar cell plants and steel and aluminum mills have enough capacity to meet much of the world’s demand, with Chinese officials arguing that their production keeps prices low and would aid a transition to the green economy.
—Josh Boak, Fortune, 14 May 2024
Hall reaches down by a mill and cups the first ingredient of beer in his hand: barley.
—Jenna Thompson, Kansas City Star, 13 May 2024
The movement to abolish child labor had been overwhelmingly led by white reformers since the 1870s, when the growing problem of poor white children working in Southern textile mills launched the issue onto the national stage.
—TIME, 13 May 2024
Plans for the studio call for six soundstages totaling 125,000 square-feet, along with a mill and flex space.
—Todd Longwell, Variety, 9 May 2024
During the height of Wisconsin’s lumber industry, piers would be a business and community center, often housing their own general store and lumber mill.
—Caitlin Looby, Journal Sentinel, 2 May 2024
The group in February shut its sugar mill in Santa Rosa, Texas, after 51 years of operation due to the lack of water from Mexico.
—Leah Douglas, The Christian Science Monitor, 18 Apr. 2024
Wawa was founded in 1803 and incorporated in 1865 as the Millville Manufacturing Company, a textile company with mills in several states and sales offices across the country, according to the company.
—Gabe Hauari, USA TODAY, 16 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mill.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near mill
Cite this Entry
“Mill.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mill. Accessed 19 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
mill
2 of 3 verb1
: to process in a mill (as by grinding into flour, meal, or powder or by shaping with a cutter)
2
: to give a raised rim or a grooved edge to
mill a coin
3
: to move about in a disorderly mass
people were milling about the entrance to the theater
mill
3 of 3 noun
: one tenth of a cent
Biographical Definition
Mill 1 of 2
biographical name (1)
James 1773–1836 Scottish philosopher, historian, and economist
Mill
2 of 2biographical name (2)
John Stuart 1806–1873 son of James Mill English philosopher and economist
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share