mill
mill
noun
/mɪl/
​ 1 a building fitted with equipment for grinding grain into flour; a machine for grinding grain
The old mill has been converted into apartments.
The mill can be seen grinding wheat.
The river was harnessed to drive many mills.
SEE ALSO watermill, windmill
TOPICS Buildings C1
TOPICS Farming C1
Collocations
adjective
cornflourgrain…
verb + mill
operateconvertrestore…
mill + verb
grind something
mill + noun
stonewheel
2 (often in compounds) a factory that produces a particular type of material
a cotton/cloth/steel/paper mill
mill owners/workers
a textile/woollen mill
a northern mill town
Synonyms factory
SEE ALSO content mill, rolling mill, rumor mill, sawmill
TOPICS Business C1
Collocations
adjective
cottonfeedjute…
verb + mill
operateownrun…
mill + verb
produce something
mill + noun
townbuildingshand…
3 (often in compounds)
a small machine for grinding a solid substance into powder
a pepper mill
SEE ALSO run-of-the-mill, treadmill
Idioms
put somebody through the mill
(all) grist to the/somebody’s mill
mill
verb (mills, milled, milled, milling)
/mɪl/
often passive
​mill something to grind something (= break or press it into very small pieces) in a mill
Phrasal Verbs
mill around
Word Origin
Old English mylen, based on late Latin molinum, from Latin mola ‘grindstone, mill’, from molere ‘to grind’.