Definition of "mill"

mill¹

/mɪl/

noun
plural mills
1. A grinding apparatus for substances such as grains, seeds, etc.
2. The building housing such a grinding apparatus.
  Quotations
  […] for the Townsfolk will go to thy mill, and grind their corn […] at their own good pleasure; nor can I hinder them, since they are free men.
  1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, chapter XV, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, book II (The Ancient Monk), page 112
  On Sept. 9 a boiler exploded in Hanke's flouring mill, […]
  1880 January 1, The Locomotive, volume 1, number 1, Hartford, Conn.: The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection And Insurance Company, page 9
3. A machine used for expelling the juice, sap, etc., from vegetable tissues by pressure, or by pressure in combination with a grinding, or cutting process.
4. A machine for grinding and polishing.
5. A milling machine for machining of solid metal, wood, or plastic.
6. The raised or ridged edge or surface made in milling anything, such as a coin or screw.
7. A manufacturing plant for paper, steel, textiles, etc.
8. A building housing such a plant.
9. (figurative) An establishment that handles a certain type of situation or procedure routinely, or produces large quantities of an item without much regard to quality.
10. (figurative, derogatory) An institution awarding educational certificates not officially recognised
11. (informal) An engine.
12. (informal) A boxing match, fistfight.
  Quotations
  […] he is relieved from present responsibility to the Chicken, by the absence of that game head of poultry in the country, training (at Toots's cost) for his great mill with the Larkey Boy.
  1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848
  The mill lasted four rounds, when giddy little Ettie was declared the victress.
  1902 October 1, The Sydney Sportsman, page 5, column 6
  The name of the "white hope" against whom Billy was to go was sufficient to draw a fair house, and there were some there who had seen Billy in other fights and looked for a good mill.
  1914, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Mucker‎, All-Story Cavalier Weekly
13. (die sinking) A hardened steel roller with a design in relief, used for imprinting a reversed copy of the design in a softer metal, such as copper.
14. (mining) An excavation in rock, transverse to the workings, from which material for filling is obtained.
15. (mining) A passage underground through which ore is shot.
16. A milling cutter.
17. (historical) A prison treadmill.
  Quotations
  Next morning they put me on the treadmill along with the others: At first, not knowing how to dance it, I cut all my shin with the steps; they did not flog me then — […] They keep on putting her on the mill for a week, and flog her every time […]
  1837, James Williams, A Narrative of Events Since the First of August, 1834, page 9
18. (CB radio slang) A typewriter used to transcribe messages received.
  Quotations
  In other words, get a mill in your operating position by hook or crook and use it regularly. At the N.C.R. Radio Schools touch typing is taught at the same time code proficiency is advanced.
  1941, QST, volume 25, numbers 2-6, page 90
  You can read it all right, but the pencil seems to be getting a little sluggish — better make a grab for a "mill."
  1986, Ham Radio Magazine, volume 19, page 66
verb
third-person singular simple present mills, present participle milling, simple past and past participle milled
1. (transitive) To grind or otherwise process in a mill or other machine.
2. (transitive) To shape, polish, dress or finish using a machine.
3. (transitive) To engrave one or more grooves or a pattern around the edge of (a cylindrical object such as a coin).
4. (intransitive, followed by around, about, etc.) To move about in an aimless fashion.
  Quotations
  The deer and the pig and the nilghai were milling round and round in a circle of eight or ten miles radius, while the Eaters of Flesh skirmished round its edge.
  1895 November, Rudyard Kipling, The Second Jungle Book, London, New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co.
  As guests milled around them, he [Zuckerberg] described his goal of turning every person in the country with an internet connection into a Facebook user.
  2021 July 8, Sheera Frenkel, Cecilia Kang, “Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg’s Partnership Did Not Survive Trump”, in The New York Times‎
5. (transitive) To cause to mill, or circle around.
6. (zoology, of air-breathing creatures) To swim underwater.
7. (zoology, of a whale) To swim suddenly in a new direction.
8. (transitive, slang) To beat; to pound.
  Quotations
  Ortheris said nothing for a while. Then he unslung his belt, heavy with the badges of half a dozen regiments that his own had lain with, and handed it over to Mulvaney."I'm too little for to mill you, Mulvaney," said he, "an' you've strook me before; but you can take an' cut me in two with this 'ere if you like."
  1888, Rudyard Kipling, The Madness of Private Ortheris
  […] he had “milled” a policeman
  1861 January – 1862 August, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, The Adventures of Philip on His Way through the World; […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1862
9. To pass through a fulling mill; to full, as cloth.
10. (transitive) To roll (steel, etc.) into bars.
11. (transitive) To make (drinking chocolate) frothy, as by churning.
12. (intransitive) To undergo hulling.
13. (intransitive, slang) To take part in a fistfight; to box.
14. (transitive, mining) To fill (a winze or interior incline) with broken ore, to be drawn out at the bottom.
15. (obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) To commit burglary.
  Quotations
  Ben mort, shall you and I heave a bough, mill a ken, or nip a bung, and then we'll couch a hogshead under the ruffmans, and there you shall wap with me, and I'll niggle with you.
  1611, Thomas Middleton, “The Roaring Girl”, in Arthur Henry Bullen, editor, The Works of Thomas Middleton‎, volume 4, published 1885, act 5, scene 1, pages 128–129
  And why not?—You would think little of peaching and hanging him for this Scotch affair.—Rat me, one might have milled the Bank of England, and less noise about it.
  1818, Walter Scott, chapter 6, in The Heart of Midlothian

mill²

/mɪl/

noun
plural mills
1. An obsolete coin worth one thousandth of a US dollar, or one tenth of a cent.
2. One thousandth part, particularly in millage rates of property tax.

mill³

/mɪl/

noun
plural mill
1. (informal) Alternative form of mil (“million”)

mill⁴

/mɪl/

noun
plural mills
1. A line of three matching pieces in nine men's morris and related games.

mill⁵

/mɪl/

verb
third-person singular simple present mills, present participle milling, simple past and past participle milled
1. (transitive, collectible card games) To move (a card) from a deck to the discard pile.
2. (transitive, Hearthstone) To destroy (a card) due to having a full hand.
  Quotations
  what happens when a Quest Rogue uses Vanish and Malygos gets milled?
  2018 October 9, Ozzie Mejia, “Hearthstone: 4 decks to watch during the 2018 HCT Fall Championship”, in Shacknews‎
noun
countable and uncountable, plural mills
1. (collectible card games) Discarding a card from one's deck.
  Quotations
  he’s had some fairly infamous mills in other events. Back in 2017’s Spring Championships, he burned the crucial Archmage Antonidas
  2018 October 14, Jay Castello, “Pro Hearthstone player burns key card with perfect comedic timing”, in Rock Paper Shotgun‎
2. (collectible card games) A strategy centered on depleting the opponent's deck.
  Quotations
  Kingsane [sic – meaning Kingsbane] Rogue will forever have a negative connotation attached to it because it began as a mill deck, and mill is one of the most tilt-inducing strategies in fantasy card games.
  2018 June 16, Wavelength, “Efficient Off-Meta Decks Spotlight”, in Fade2Karma‎, archived from the original on 28 November 2021
  Great for mill, control, or even Voltron decks, Mnemonic Betrayal is a fantastic addition regardless of your strategy.
  2018 September 24, Collin MacGregor, “Top 10 Guilds of Ravnica Commander Cards in Magic The Gathering”, in heavy.‎

Definition of "mill"

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