milling

UK: /ˈmɪlɪŋ/ US: (mil′ing)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

mill•ing  (mil′ing), n. 

1. an act or instance of subjecting something to the operation of a mill.
2. an act or process of producing plane or shaped surfaces with a milling machine.
3. [Coining.]
   • an act or process of making a raised edge on a coin or the like.
   • an act or process of making narrow, radial grooves on such a raised edge.
   • a number of grooves so made.
4. Slang Terms a beating or thrashing.

• late Middle English. See mill¹, -ing¹ 1425–75

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

milling / ˈmɪlɪŋ/ noun

1. the act or process of grinding, cutting, pressing, or crushing in a mill
2. the vertical grooves or fluting on the edge of a coin, etc

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

mill¹ /mɪl/   n. 

[countable]
1. a factory for certain kinds of manufacture, as steel or textiles:
   the cotton mills of the Old South.
2. a building with machinery for grinding grain into flour.
3. a machine for grinding or crushing any solid substance:
   a coffee mill.
4. a business that gives out products in an impersonal or mechanical manner:
   The school was a diploma mill.

v. 

5. to grind, work, or shape in or with a mill:
   [~ + object] The men milled the wheat into flour.
6. to move slowly around without aim or purpose, or in confusion:
   [no object] After the accident the crowd milled around.

Idioms

7. Idioms through the mill, through a set of difficult or painful experiences:
   really been through the mill with three divorces.

mill² /mɪl/   n. [countable]

1. Currency a unit of money used in accounting, equal to.001 of a U.S. dollar.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

mill¹  (mil), n. 

1. a factory for certain kinds of manufacture, as paper, steel, or textiles.
2. a building equipped with machinery for grinding grain into flour and other cereal products.
3. a machine for grinding, crushing, or pulverizing any solid substance:
   a coffee mill.
4. Mechanical Engineering any of various machines that modify the shape or size of a workpiece by rotating tools or the work:
   rolling mill.
5. Mechanical Engineering any of various other apparatuses for shaping materials or performing other mechanical operations.
6. a business or institution that dispenses products or services in an impersonal or mechanical manner, as if produced in a factory:
   a divorce mill; a diploma mill.
7. Mechanical Engineering [Mach.] a cutter on a milling machine.
8. Printing, Mechanical Engineering a steel roller for receiving and transferring an impressed design, as to a calico-printing cylinder or a banknote-printing plate.
9. Mining a place or set of machinery for crushing or concentrating ore.
10. Slang Terms a boxing match or fistfight.
11. Idioms, Informal Terms through the mill, [Informal.] undergoing or having undergone severe difficulties, trials, etc., esp. with an effect on one's health, personality, or character:
    He's really been through the mill since his wife's death.

v.t. 

12. to grind, work, treat, or shape in or with a mill.
13. [Coining.]
    • to make a raised edge on (a coin or the like).
    • to make narrow, radial grooves on the raised edge of (a coin or the like).
14. to beat or stir, as to a froth:
    to mill chocolate.
15. Slang Terms to beat or strike;
    fight;
    overcome.

v.i. 

16. to move around aimlessly, slowly, or confusedly, as a herd of cattle (often fol. by about or around).
17. Slang Terms to fight or box.

• Late Latin molīna, noun, nominal use of feminine of molīnus of a mill, equivalent. to Latin mol(a) mill + -īnus -ine¹
• Middle English milne, mille (noun, nominal), Old English myl(e)n bef. 950

Synonyms

• 16. crowd, wander, roam, teem.

mill²  (mil), n. 

1. Currency a unit of monetary value equal to 0.001 of a U.S. dollar;
   one tenth of a cent: used at various times and places in the U.S. as a money of account, esp. in certain tax rates.

• 1785–95, American; short for Latin millēsimus thousandth; see mil

Mill  (mil), n. 

1. Biographical James, 1773–1836, English philosopher, historian, and economist, born in Scotland.
2. Biographical his son John Stuart, 1806–73, English philosopher and economist.

mill., 

1. million.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

mill / mɪl/ noun

1. a building in which grain is crushed and ground to make flour
2. a factory, esp one which processes raw materials
3. any of various processing or manufacturing machines, esp one that grinds, presses, or rolls
4. any of various small hand mills used for grinding pepper, salt, or coffee for domestic purposes
   See also coffee mill, pepper mill
5. a hard roller for impressing a design, esp in a textile-printing machine or in a machine for printing banknotes
6. a system, institution, etc, that influences people or things in the manner of a factory: going through the educational mill
7. an unpleasant experience; ordeal (esp in the phrases goorbe put through the mill)
8. a fist fight

verb

1. (transitive) to grind, press, or pulverize in or as if in a mill
2. (transitive) to process or produce in or with a mill
3. to cut or roll (metal) with or as if with a milling machine
4. (transitive) to groove or flute the edge of (a coin)
5. (intr; often followed by about or around) to move about in a confused or aimless manner
6. to fight, esp with the fists

Etymology: Old English mylen from Late Latin molīna a mill, from Latin mola mill, millstone, from molere to grind

ˈmillable adjective