as in to grind
to reduce to fine particles eons of incessant pounding by the waves have comminuted the once-rocky shoreline into a bed of fine-grained sand

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of comminute The report of displacement (out of alignment) is not as worrisome as if the fracture was comminuted (pieces). Profootballdoc, sandiegouniontribune.com, 5 Nov. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for comminute
Verb
  • But the approach may also carry a cost, one hard to discern in the middle of a grinding conflict.
    Simon Shuster, Time, 24 Sep. 2025
  • The Smart Grinder Pro doses by time, and selecting a set number of cups correlates with a preset amount of grinding time.
    Noah Kaufman, Bon Appetit Magazine, 23 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Now, MacLachlan, who lives in North Carolina, is pounding the pavement with a grassroots campaign to garner industry attention.
    Clayton Davis, Variety, 25 Sep. 2025
  • The affidavit also stated that Brimmer somehow managed to outrun Suresh and made it to a neighbor's house, where the victim began pounding on the garage until he was let into the home.
    Chris Spargo, PEOPLE, 25 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Process cookies in a food processor until crushed into very fine crumbs, about 45 seconds.
    Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 25 Sep. 2025
  • When Rabbit asks to be the one to adopt Stacey after her graduation, Evelyn abusively rejects the notion and Rabbit is crushed.
    Erin Qualey, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • As both business owner and head baker — her black chef’s coat is usually powdered with flour, her hands stained with icing — Vee won’t have time this June to participate in the Chicago Pride Parade.
    Sophie Levenson, Chicago Tribune, 17 June 2025
  • Pallets of jurema bark, powdered and shredded, in a storage room at one of Akasha Song’s production facilities.
    Andy Greenberg, Wired News, 22 May 2025
Verb
  • Corporate earnings continue to beat expectations, providing enough fuel for the market rally to continue at least until investors parse through third quarter earnings results in the coming months, Teal said.
    John Towfighi, CNN Money, 1 Oct. 2025
  • The rest—including in May 2023, when Nvidia had the biggest positive earnings surprise a company has ever delivered, beating expectations handily and then offering a quarterly revenue forecast that was $4 billion above expectations—is history.
    Jim Cramer, Fortune, 1 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Performers milled around the crowd, dancing, delivering short monologues and posing in specific formations to cast their shadows just so.
    Anika Reed, USA Today, 18 Sep. 2025
  • Rock outfit Thelma and Louise performed a litany of rock songs and ’90s standards while guests milled about eating some of Orange County’s best fare.
    Brock Keeling, Oc Register, 15 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The ground game was pulverizing, as Hardy and Roberts turned defenders into trampolines all game long.
    Quentin Corpuel, Kansas City Star, 21 Sep. 2025
  • In sacrificing its global influence for the chance to spend the past year pulverizing the previously unheard-of city of Pokrovsk in the Donbas, Russia has proved not its resilience but its near irrelevance.
    Jeremy Shapiro, The Atlantic, 10 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • In 2014, the American team disintegrated under Tom Watson’s leadership at Gleneagles in Scotland.
    Don Riddell, CNN Money, 25 Sep. 2025
  • It’s been ripe for restoration since the 1970s and has sat, empty and disintegrating, for most of that time.
    Christopher Bonanos, Curbed, 24 Sep. 2025

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“Comminute.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/comminute. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.

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