GRINDING Synonyms: 140 Similar and Opposite Words

grinding 1 of 2

adjective

as in scraping

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grinding

2 of 2

verb

present participle of grind

as in rubbing

to make smooth by friction after they are ground and polished, these stones can be used for jewelry

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as in gritting

to press or strike against or together so as to make a scraping sound everyone in the car winced when the driver ground the gears trying to shift into second

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as in sharpening

to make sharp or sharper better grind down that ax before you even think about trying to cut down that tree

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as in polishing

to make smooth or glossy usually by repeatedly applying surface pressure used the finest polishing paper he could to grind down the facets of the diamond before dusting it with a soft cloth

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as in scratching

to pass roughly and noisily over or against a surface ground the rock against the stone wall

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as in crushing

to reduce to fine particles grind whole coffee beans if you want the freshest coffee

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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 grinding

Verb

Early in-person voting opened Friday in Virginia and other states, launching a six-week sprint that will decide control of Congress amid a grinding Iran war and soaring living costs. — Ali Swenson, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2026 The staff was washing meat cutting and grinding equipment and skipping the sanitizer step. — Sacbee.com, 18 Sep. 2026 The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have become grinding contests over which side can exhaust the other’s military capacity, economic resources, and political will. — Nadia Schadlow, Foreign Affairs, 18 Sep. 2026 Russians began voting Friday in the country’s first parliamentary election since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a vote tightly controlled by the Kremlin in a bid to claim popular backing for President Vladimir Putin’s grinding war. — Yuliya Talmazan, NBC news, 18 Sep. 2026 There are vegan options here, but the place is known for grinding their own ground beef on the daily and making their own mayonnaise. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 17 Sep. 2026 When grinding, popping, or cracking comes from this area, it is called patellofemoral crepitus. — Kristen Gasnick, Verywell Health, 17 Sep. 2026 Remove stumps to avoid safety risks, sucker shoots, or lawn damage; grinding or treating stumps prevents regrowth. — Luke Miller, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 Sep. 2026 If real yields keep grinding higher, the math on that trade changes. — Todd Gordon, CNBC, 16 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for grinding

Adjective

If Google can amend its complaint to argue that rights holders directly authorized Google to use its anti-scraping technology to prevent unauthorized access to content, then Google may be able to block a very limited amount of SerpApi’s scraping.

— Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 27 July 2026
Recently, internet infrastructure provider Cloudflare likened the platform to North Korean hackers for bypassing anti-scraping protections on websites.

— PC Magazine, PC Magazine, 7 Aug. 2025

Definition of scraping

Verb

But credit Skubal for gritting it out each time, keeping the Dodgers in those three games against the Chicago Cubs, the Kansas City Royals and Brewers.

— Mirjam Swanson, Los Angeles Times, 17 Aug. 2026
Showed toughness by gritting through ankle and knee injuries in the Final Four and title game.

— ABC News, ABC News, 23 June 2026

Definition of gritting

Verb

The project unfolds amid court orders to add thousands of units on the 388-acre campus, sharpening questions over whether preserving historic buildings outweighs creating far more veteran housing.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2026
Beyond that, sharpening a feel for when the initial danger has diminished should help the quarterback find a little extra time and space to reset and attack.

— Dan Wiederer, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of sharpening

Verb

Running a raw, unedited Q&A shows the reality of the technology without a corporate PR team polishing the rough edges or hiding the structural failures.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 4 Sep. 2026
Some jobs that previously relied on hand craftsmanship but can now be automated made the top 10, including patternmakers and grinding and polishing workers.

— Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 1 Sep. 2026

Definition of polishing

Verb

This characteristic can provide significant resistance to scratching and wear in demanding environments.

— Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 17 Sep. 2026
The waffle-weave construction provides superior cleaning and drying without scratching, complemented by brilliant, beautiful designs.

— ABC News, ABC News, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of scratching

Verb

Oakley and Reid lean so heavily into Elinor and Marianne’s crushing disappointments and the forces holding them back in a period of vast gender inequity, that their sorrows shove the characters’ more captivating qualities to the side.

— David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 21 Sep. 2026
Merz quashed talk within the press and his own party about his possible resignation despite Sunday's losses for his party just two weeks after a crushing defeat in the state of Saxony-Anhalt.

— Esme Nicholson, NPR, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of crushing

Adjective

Before using anything abrasive or a stronger cleaner, check the item’s care instructions.

— Jessica Safavimehr, Southern Living, 17 Sep. 2026
Combine with abrasive soaps or products containing alcohol, benzoyl peroxide, resorcinol, sulfur or tretinoin.

— Hanna Wickes, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 Sep. 2026