grail 
shallow vessel ; the forms show unusual varia- 
tion, being appar. manipulated on account of 
the legendary associations of the word (so OF. 
xniiit great, 'holy dish,' was manipulated into 
sang real, prop, 'royal blood,' but taken for 
'real blood,' ML. sanguis realis), and the origi- 
nal form is not certain ; it was prob. gradalis, 
pointing to a probable corruption (simulating 
gradate, a service-book, a gradual, also an an- 
tiphon, etc. : see graifl-) of ML. cratella, dim. 
of crater, a bowl: see crater.] In medieval le- 
gend, a cup or chalice, called more particularly 
the holy grail or sangreal, supposed to have been 
of emerald, used by Christ at the last supper, 
and in which Joseph of Arimathea caught the 
last drops of Christ's blood as he was taken from 
the cross. By Joseph, according to one account, it was 
carried to Britain. Other accounts alHnn that it was 
brought by angels from heaven and intrusted to a body of 
knights, who guarded it on the top of a mountain ; when 
approached by any one not perfectly pure it vanished from 
sight The grail having been lost, it became the great 
object of search or quest to knights errant of all nations, 
none being qualified to discover it but a knight perfectly 
chaste in thought and act. The stories and poems con- 
cerning Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are 
founded on this legend, and it has been still further de- 
veloped in modern times. See sangreal. 
And, sir, the peple that were ther-at cleped this vessell 
that thei hadden in so grete grace the Graal; and yef ye 
do my counseile, ye shall stablisshe the thirde table in the 
name of the trinite. Merlin (E. E. T. 8.), i. 59. 
All-arm 'd I ride, whate'er betide, 
Until I find the holy (irail. 
Tennyson, Sir Galahad. 
grail 3 ! (gral), . [As used by Spenser (def. 2), 
spelled graile, grayle, and appar. regarded by 
him as a contr. of gravel; but in all senses appar. 
ult. < OP. graile, graille, later gresle, F. grele, 
fine, small (< L. gracilis, slender, thin : see 
gracile), confused with OF. gresle, F. grele, hail 
(cf . F. gresil = Pr. grazil, sleet), < OF. gres, F. 
gres, grit, < OHG. grioz, Or. gries = AS. great, E. 
grit: see grit 2 .] 1. Fine particles: in the quo- 
tation apparently referring to the fine beads or 
air-bubbles of mantling liquor. 
Nor yet the delight, that comes to the sight, 
To see how it [ale] flowers and mantles in grade. 
Ritson't Songs (ed. Park), li. 64. 
2. Fine gravel ; sand. 
And lying downe upon the sandie graile 
Dronke of the streame as cleare as christall glas. 
Spenser, F. Q., I. vii. 6. 
His bones as small as sandy grayle 
He broke, and did his bowels disentrayle. 
Spenser, F. y., V. ix. 19. 
3. One of the smaller feathers of a hawk. 
Blome. 
grail 4 (gral), n. [Cf. #ra3.] A single-cut file 
with one curved and one straight face, used by 
comb-makers. 
grail 4 (gral), v. t. [< grail*, .] In comb-making, 
to treat with a single-cut file or grail. 
They [combs] then pass to the grailing department, 
where, by means of special forms of flies or rasps, known 
as grails and topers, the individual teeth are rounded or 
bevelled, tapered, and smoothed. Encyc. Brit., VI. 178. 
grain 1 (gran), n. [Early mod. E. also graine, 
grayn, grayne, etc. ; < ME. grayn, usually greyn, 
grein, a grain of wheat, etc., of sand, etc., a 
seed, grain (of paradise), a pearl, grain of the 
skin, etc., < OF. grain, grein = Pr. gran, gra = 
Sp. grano = Pg. yrSo = It. grano, a grain, seed, 
= D. graan, grain, corn, = G. Dan. Sw. gran, 
a grain, a particle, < L. granum, a grain, seed, 
small kernel, = AS. and E. corn : see oorn 1 . 
In sense 11, < ME. grayne, greyne, a red dye, 
a texture dyed red, = MHG. gran, a red dye, < 
OF. graine, grainne, greinne, etc., = Pr. Sp. Pg. 
It. grana, t., coccus, a red dye, < ML. grana, f ., 
prop. neut. pi., 'grains,' in reference to the in- 
sects collectively, pi. of L. granum, a grain.] 
1. A small hard seed; specifically, a seed of 
one of the cereal plants, wheat, rye, oats, bar- 
ley, maize, or millet ; a corn. 
Eke Marcial affermeth oute of doute 
That greynei white in hem. [pomegranates] this crafte will 
die. Palladius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 116. 
The graine of it 1 1'anicke] is almost as great as a beane. 
Coryat, Crudities, 1. 103. 
2. Collectively, corn in general ; the gathered 
seeds of cereal plants in mass ; also, the plants 
themselves, whether standing or gathered : as, 
to grind or thresh grain ; a field or a stack of 
grain. 
Loke what is in the fyrst fruites of grayne offered, the 
same is generally in the whole heape. J. Udall, On Col. i. 
And champing golden grain, the horses stood 
Hard by their chariots waiting for the dawn. 
Tennyson, Iliad, vUi. 660. 
3. The smallest unit of weight in most systems, 
originally determined by the weight of a plump 
2592 
grain of wheat. In a pound troy or apothecaries' weight 
there are 5,700 grains, the grain being the '24th part of a 
pennyweight in the former and the 20th part of a scruple 
in the latter. The ounce of each therefore contains 480 
grains, while in avoirdupois weight, in which the grain is 
not used, the ounce is equal to 437} grains and the pound 
to 7,000 grains. Abbreviated gr. 
4. Any small hard particle, as of sand, gunpow- 
der, sugar, salt, etc. ; hence, a minute portion 
of anything ; the smallest amount of anything : 
as, he has not a grain of wit. 
And for no carpyng I couth after ue knelyng to the grounde, 
I myste gete no greyne of his grete wittis. 
Fieri Plowman (B), x. 139. 
Art/i. Is there no remedy ? 
I lull. None but to lose your eyes. 
Art ft. O heaven ! that there were but a mote in yours, 
A grain, a dust, a gnat, a wandering hair. 
Shot., K. John, iv. 1. 
Love's too precious to be lost, 
A little grain shall not be spilt 
Ti-iiniixuii, In Memoriam, Ixv. 
5. In hot., a grain-like prominence or tuber- 
cle, as upon the sepals of dock. 6. pi. The 
husks or remains of malt after brewing, or of 
any grain after distillation. It is used as feed for 
domestic animals : in the United States, for cows, which 
eat it greedily, but whose milk is made thinner and less 
nutritious by it, though temporarily increased in quantity, 
while the animal is soon materially injured. 
7. The quality of a substance due to the size, 
character, or arrangement of its grains or par- 
ticles, as its coarseness or fineness, or superficial 
roughness or smoothness; granular texture: as, 
a stone or salt of coarse grain; marble or sugar 
of fine grain. 
The compass heaven, smooth without grain or fold, 
All set with spangs of glitt'ring stars untold. 
Bacon, Paraphrase of Psalm civ. 
The tooth of a sea-horse contains a curdled grain. 
Sir T. Browne. 
In any process of photograph engraving in half tones it 
is absolutely necessary to produce what is termed a grain, 
so as to obtain an ink-holding surface, and giving detail 
in the shadows. Set. Amer. Supp., p. 8972. 
8. Fibrous texture or constitution, especially 
of wood ; the substance of wood as modified by 
the quality, arrangement, or direction of its 
fibers : as, boxwood has a very compact grain ; 
wood of a gnarled grain; to plane wood with, 
against, or across the grain. 
When any side of it was cut smooth and polite, it ap- 
peared to have a very lovely grain, like that of some cu- 
rious close wood. Evelyn, Forest Trees, in. { 12. 
Then what were left of roughness in the grain 
Of British natures . . . would disgust. 
Cowper, Task, v. 480. 
The crushed petals' lovely grain. 
D. 0. Rotsetti, Jenny. 
The middle of the blade [of whalebone] is of a looser 
texture than the rest, and is called the grain, being com- 
posed of coarse, bristly hairs. 
Workshop Receipts, 1st ser., p. 362. 
Hence 9. Intimate structure or character; 
intrinsic or essential quality. 
The one being tractable and mild, the other stiff and 
impatient of a superior, they lived but in cunning con- 
cord, as brothers glued together, but not united in grain. 
Hayward. 
My father, as I told you, was a philosopher in grain, 
speculative, systematical. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, i. 21. 
10f. A spice: same as grains of paradise (which 
see, below). 
First he cheweth greyn and lycoris, 
To smellen swete. 
Chaucer, Miller's Tale, 1. 504. 
Ther was eke wexyng many a spice, 
As clowe gelofre, and lycorice, 
Gyngevre, and greyn de paris [orig. F., graine de paradis], 
Rom. of the Rose, L 1S69. 
11. (or) One of the grain-like insects of the 
genus Coccus, as C. potonicus or C. ilicis, which 
yield a scarlet dye; later, especially, cochineal; 
the product of the Coccus cacti; kermes: so 
called from the granular appearance of the 
dried insects. See cut under cochineal. Hence 
(6) A red-colored dye; a red color of any 
kind pervading the texture : sometimes used as 
equivalent to Tyrian purple, (c) Any fast color. 
See in grain, below. 
Coarse complexions, 
And cheeks of sorry grain, will serve to ply 
The sampler, and to tease the huswife's wool. 
Milton, Comus, 1. 750. 
Over his lucid arms 
A military vest of purple flow'd, 
Livelier than Melibcean, or the grain 
Of Sarra. Milton, P. L., xi. 242. 
12. The side of leather from which the hair 
has been removed, showing the fibrous texture. 
The part from which the " split" is taken, called the 
grain, is shaved on a beam with a currier's knife. 
C. T. Davis, Leather, p. 514. 
13. In mining, cleat or cleavage. 14. pi. A 
solution of birds' dung used iu leather-manu- 
grain 
facture to counteract the effects of lime and 
make the leather soft and flexible. Against the 
grain, (a) Against the fibers of the wood. Hence 
< M Against the natural temper : contrary to desire or feel- 
ing. 
Your minds 
Pre-occupied with what yon rather must do 
Thau what you should, made you against the grain 
To voice him consul. Shak., Cor., it 3. 
Quoth Hudibras, " It is in vain 
(I see) to argue 'gainst the grain." 
S. Butler, Hudibras, II. ii. 478. 
Black in the grain. See black in the flesh, under black. 
Brewers' grains. Same as draff. See also def. 6. 
Grains of paradise, the seeds of Amomum Stelegueta 
and A. Granum-Paradisi, two scitamineous plants of 
western tropical Africa. They are feebly aromatic and 
have a very pungent and burning taste, and are used as a 
constituent in some cattle-powders, and especially to give 
pungency to cordials. They are ajso known as guinea- 
grains or melegueta pepper, and were an ingredient in the 
nippocras or spiced wine of the middle ages. 
Look at that rough o' a boy gaun . . . into the ginshop, 
to buy beer poisoned wi' grains o' paradise and cocculus 
indicus. Kingsley, Alton Locke, viii. 
Ingrain. [OF. engraine.] (ot) With the scarlet dye ob- 
tained from insects of the genus Coccus. (6) With any fast 
dye ; in fast colors : as, to dye in grain. 
How the red roses flush up in her cheekes. 
And the pure snow, with goodly vermill stayne 
Like crimsiu dyde in grayne. 
Spenser, Epithalamion, 1. 228. 
Oli. 'Tis in grain, sir ; 'twill endure wind and weather. 
Via. 'Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white 
Nature's own sweet and cunning hand laid on. 
Shak., T. N., i. B. 
Our reason is first stained and spotted with the dye of 
our kindred and country, and our education puts it in 
grain. Jar. Taylor, Works (ed. 1836), I. 68S. 
(c) See def. 9. To break the grain. See break. To 
dye In grain. See in grain ((>). 
grain 1 (gran), v. [< ME. greynen; from the 
noun.] J. intrans. If. To bring forth grain; 
yield fruit. 
It floureth, but it shal not greiine 
Unto the fruite of rightwisnesse. 
Qower, Coal. Amant, v. 
2. To form grains or assume a granular form ; 
crystallize into grains, as sugar. 
II. trans. If. To produce, as from a seed. 
Certes all maner linage of men been euen liche in birth, 
for one father maker of all goodnes informed hem al, and 
all mortal folke of one seed are greined. 
Testament of Love, ii. 
2. In brewing, to free from grain ; separate the 
grain from, as wort. 
The graining of wort from wheat is difficult on account 
of the tenacious layer of grains. 
Thauting, Beer (trans. X p. 198. 
3. To form into grains, as powder, sugar, and 
the like. 4. To paint, etc., so as to give the 
appearance of grain or fibers of wood. 5. In 
tanning, to take the hair off of; soften and raise 
the grain of: as, to grain skins or leather. 6. 
To dye in grain. 
Persons lightly dipped, not grained in generous hon- 
esty, are but pale in goodness. 
Sir T. Browne, Christ Mor., L 9. 
Kermes, like cochineal, were supposed to be berries 
or grains, and colors dyed with them were said to be 
grained, or engrained. 
O'Neill, Dyeing and Calico Printing, p. 302. 
grain 2 (gran), . [< Icel. grein, the branch of a 
tree, a branch, arm, point, difference, = Sw. 
gren, branch, arm, stride, fork, = Dan. yren, 
branch, bough, prong. Doublet, groin%, q. v.] 
1. A tine, prong, or spike. See grain-staff, 1. 
2. The fork of a tree or of a stick. 3. The 
groin. 
Then Corin up doth take 
The Oiant twixt the grayw. 
Drayton, Polyolbion, i. 495. 
4. A piece of sheet-metal used in a mold to 
hold in position an additional part, 
as a core. Also called cJiapelet and 
gagger. 5. pi. An iron instrument 
with four or more barbed points, and 
a line attached to it, used at sea for 
striking and taking fish. In the United 
States these fish-spears are made in many pat- 
terns, with different numbers of prongs or 
barbs, sometimes only one prong and a half- 
barb. They oftenest have two prongs, each 
half-barbed inwardly. They are used for tur- 
tles as well as fish. Among seamen the plural 
is commonly used as a singular. 
Another amusement we sometimes indulg- 
ed in was " burning the water " for craw-fish. 
For this purpose we procured a pair of grains, 
with a long staff like a harpoon, . . . mak- 
ing torches with tarred rope twisted round 
a long pine stick. 
K. H. Dana, Jr., Before the Mast, p. 191. 
6. pi. A place at which two streams unite; the 
fork of a river. 
The survey of 1542 describes the Redesdale men as liv- 
ing in sheels during the summer months, and pasturing 
