against the grain

:  in opposition or hostility to

:  contrary to

:  in competition with

:  in preparation for the time when

:  a single small hard seed

:  a seed or fruit of a cereal grass :  caryopsis

:  the seeds or fruits of various food plants including the cereal grasses and in commercial and statutory usage other plants (such as the soybean)

:  ingrain

:  to form into grains :  granulate

:  to paint in imitation of the grain of wood or stone