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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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
Profootballdoc, sandiegouniontribune.com, 5 Nov. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for comminute
Verb
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With activity in the Strait of Hormuz grinding to a near halt, United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is predicting a sharp slowdown in global trade.—
Glenn Taylor,
Footwear News,
1 Apr. 2026
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What remains is a grinding war with no clear endpoint and no coherent strategy.—
Kazem Kazerounian,
Hartford Courant,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The school had also employed about two dozen teachers and administrative staff, many of whom were young graduates in their 20s now without an income – at a time when their nation’s already struggling economy has been further pounded by war.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
3 Apr. 2026
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Wild video captured the moment a young fisherman plunged into pounding Southern California surf to wrestle a thrashing shark and free it from his fishing line.—
Alexandra Koch,
FOXNews.com,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Taken together, these actions will cripple Iran's military, crush their ability to support terrorist proxies and deny them the ability to build a nuclear bomb.—
James Powel,
USA Today,
2 Apr. 2026
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The thinking is that if oil doesn’t start flowing out of the Middle East soon, prices would have to go high enough to balance the market by crushing demand.—
Matt Egan,
CNN Money,
2 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Each day, an FX makeup team used around 400 prosthetics on the passengers, and made 3,000 gel capsules filled with sodium bicarbonate, citric acid and red powdered Kool-Aid.—
Emily Longeretta,
Variety,
6 Mar. 2026
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My eyes scanned the faces around me, all of them powdered in ash.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The Suns then tied the game at 94-94 after Jordan Goodwin beat the buzzer with a corner triple to end the period.—
Jason Beede,
The Orlando Sentinel,
1 Apr. 2026
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Keller stymies defending champ Coppell Claire Garritson scored the game-winning goal in the second half and Keller hung on to beat defending state champion Coppell 2-1 in the Class 6A Division 1 Region 1 Final on Tuesday night at Keller High School.—
Darren Lauber,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Floorboards were milled from walnut trees felled at a construction site in North Carolina.—
Adriane Quinlan,
Curbed,
2 Apr. 2026
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Now many of those same immigration agents are in more than a dozen airports across the country, milling around and maskless.—
Ruby Cramer,
New Yorker,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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However, while chemically the same, beach sand is made up of tiny crystals of quartz that have been pulverized by geological weathering and the pounding of ocean waves.—
John Ballato,
The Conversation,
24 Mar. 2026
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The biggest reason why is the Gators’ four-man meat grinder of a frontcourt, which pulverizes opponents defensively and on the offensive glass.—
Brendan Marks,
New York Times,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Last year, the Dominican Republic deported more than 100,000 Haitians back to their disintegrating country.—
George Packer,
The Atlantic,
24 Mar. 2026
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The meteor traveled about 58 miles through the upper atmosphere before disintegrating 29 miles above tiny Calflax in unincorporated Fresno County, Cooke said.—
Darrell Smith,
Sacbee.com,
23 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Comminute.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/comminute. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
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