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Pronunciation Guide
HOW TO PRONOUNCE

mill

/mɪl/

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What does mill mean?

noun

  1. A grinding apparatus for substances such as grains, seeds, etc. (Some are small and simple, and some are large and complex.)
  2. The building housing such a grinding apparatus; also, any similar building that houses a similarly material activity (such as weaving, fulling, dying, etc.); the place of business comprising such a building and its outbuildings and grounds.
  3. A machine used for expelling the juice, sap, etc., from vegetable tissues by pressure, or by pressure in combination with a grinding, or cutting process; any similar apparatus that otherwise processes.
More meanings (46)

noun

  1. A machine for grinding and polishing.
  2. A milling machine for machining of solid metal, wood, or plastic.
  3. A milling cutter used on such a machine.
  4. A manufacturing plant for paper, steel, textiles, flooring, and some other kinds of materials.
  5. The building complex housing such a plant; the place of business comprising such buildings and their grounds.
  6. (informal) An engine.
  7. A hardened steel roller with a design in relief, used for imprinting a reversed copy of the design in a softer metal, such as copper.
  8. An excavation in rock, transverse to the workings, from which material for filling is obtained.
  9. A passage underground through which ore is shot.
  10. The raised or ridged edge or surface made in milling anything, such as a coin or screw.
  11. (slang) A military prison, either guardhouse or post prison.
  12. (slang) A delousing station: a cootie mill.
  13. A typewriter used to transcribe messages received.
  14. One thousandth of a US dollar, one-hundredth of a dime or one-tenth of a cent.
  15. One thousandth part in millage rates of property tax.
  16. Alternative form of mil (“one thousandth of an inch”).
  17. (informal) Clipping of millimeter.
  18. (informal) Alternative form of mil (“million”).
  19. A line of three matching pieces in nine men's morris and related games.
  20. Discarding a card from one's deck.
  21. A strategy centered on depleting the opponent's deck.
  22. (derogatory, figuratively) An establishment that handles a certain type of situation or procedure routinely, or produces large quantities of an item without much regard to quality. (The notion of churning out massive amounts indiscriminately underlies the figurative metaphor.)
  23. (derogatory, figuratively) An institution or pseudo-institutional business awarding credentials (such as diplomas, degrees, certificates, or certifications) of either dubious value or fraudulent nature; one selling essays or other documents for the buyers (usually students) to fraudulently pass off as their own.
  24. (archaic, informal) A boxing match or fistfight.
  25. (historical) A prison treadmill.

verb

  1. To grind or otherwise process in a mill or other machine.
  2. To shape, polish, dress or finish using a machine.
  3. To engrave one or more grooves or a pattern around the edge of (a cylindrical object such as a coin).
  4. To move about in an aimless fashion.
  5. To cause to mill, or circle around.
  6. To swim underwater.
  7. To swim suddenly in a new direction.
  8. (slang) To beat; to pound.
  9. To pass through a fulling mill; to full, as cloth.
  10. To roll (steel, etc.) into bars.
  11. To make (drinking chocolate) frothy, as by churning.
  12. To undergo hulling.
  13. (slang) To take part in a fistfight; to box.
  14. To fill (a winze or interior incline) with broken ore, to be drawn out at the bottom.
  15. To move (a card) from a deck to the discard pile.
  16. To destroy (a card) due to having a full hand.
  17. (obsolete) To commit burglary.

proper noun

  1. A surname.
  2. John Stuart Mill, English libertarian and utilitarian philosopher.
  3. A village in North Brabant, Netherlands.
  4. An unincorporated community in Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri, United States.
Wiktionary contributors Wiktionary contributors

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/mɪl/

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

The man looked at him, looked at the village in the hollow, at the mill, and at the prison on the crag.
Charles DickensA Tale of Two CitiesProject Gutenberg ebook #98
First he went to the steel mill and the harvester works, and found that his places there had been filled long ago.
Upton SinclairThe JungleProject Gutenberg ebook #140
More book examples (3)
A mill with fifteen thousand spindles, employing three hundred hands, does not pay at present an annual dividend of twenty thousand francs.
P.-J. (Pierre-Joseph) ProudhonSystem of Economical Contradictions; Or, The Philosophy of MiseryProject Gutenberg ebook #444
It had been used as a cotton mill, but was abandoned by the owner in favour of more suitable and extensive premises.
James NasmythJames Nasmyth, Engineer: An AutobiographyProject Gutenberg ebook #476
There was no other method but going to Italy, getting into a silk mill, and learning the secret of the Italian art.
Samuel SmilesMen of Invention and IndustryProject Gutenberg ebook #725