grind

grind 1

•  verb [T] ground , ground, grinding

1    to crush something such as coffee beans into small pieces or powder
2    to make something such as a knife sharp by rubbing it against a rough hard surface

3    if you grind your teeth, you rub them together
4    grind to a halt if something grinds to a HALT, it stops moving or making progress:
?Traffic slowly ground to a halt.
grind down phrasal verb
[T grind sb <-> down] to treat someone cruelly or unfairly for a long time, so that they lose all their courage and hope:
?She had been ground down by years of poverty and hardship.
grind on phrasal verb [I]
to continue for an unpleasantly long time:
?The morning seemed to be grinding on.

grind 2

• noun [singular] informal

hard or boring work that takes a lot of your time:
?It's Monday again - back to the grind.