Grind vs. Mill — What's the Difference?
By Maham Liaqat & Urooj Arif — Updated on March 21, 2024
Grinding involves breaking down substances into finer particles using friction, while milling is a more complex process of cutting and shaping materials.
Difference Between Grind and Mill
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Grinding is a process that typically involves the use of a mortar and pestle or a grinding machine to break down substances into finer particles through friction and pressure. On the other hand, milling is a more complex process that involves the use of milling machines or mills to cut, carve, or shape materials, often resulting in more precise and uniform particles or shapes.
Grinding is often used for softer substances and smaller-scale tasks, such as creating powders from spices or grains, where the texture and size of the final product can vary. Milling, however, is generally associated with harder materials and industrial-scale operations, capable of producing highly uniform and precise outputs, such as metal parts or flour.
The equipment used for grinding and milling differs significantly; grinders can range from simple handheld tools to complex industrial machines, whereas mills are usually more sophisticated machinery specifically designed for milling operations.
Grinding can be a more accessible and less costly process for small-scale or domestic tasks, requiring simpler equipment and less precision. Conversely, milling, due to its need for specialized machinery and its capability for precision, is often more suited for industrial applications and larger-scale production.
Comparison Chart
Definition
Breaking down substances into finer particles using friction.
Cutting and shaping materials using a machine.
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Common Uses
Spices, coffee, grains for household purposes.
Flour, metals, plastics for industrial purposes.
Equipment
Mortar and pestle, hand-held grinders.
Milling machines, CNC mills.
Scale of Operation
Smaller-scale, often manual.
Larger-scale, often automated.
Precision
Generally less precise, variable outcomes.
High precision, uniform outcomes.
Compare with Definitions
Grind
To reduce to small bits or crush to a fine powder.
Grind coffee beans into a fine powder for a fresh brew.
Mill
To grind or crush something in a mill.
Mill the wheat into flour using the stone mill.
Grind
To sharpen, smooth, or produce by crushing or friction.
Grind a knife's edge to restore its sharpness.
Mill
To cut or shape metal or other materials using a milling machine.
Mill the aluminum block into an engine component.
Grind
To wear down, polish, or sharpen by friction.
Grind the metal pieces until they fit perfectly.
Mill
To produce a ridge around the edge of a coin.
Mill the edge of the coin to prevent counterfeiting.
Grind
To operate by turning a handle.
Grind the crank to churn the ice cream mixture.
Mill
To move about in a confused manner.
The crowd milled outside the concert hall, waiting for the doors to open.
Grind
To make a grating or grinding noise by rubbing together.
Grind your teeth during stressful moments can cause damage.
Mill
To process or treat in a mill, especially by grinding, crushing, or cutting.
Mill the pulp to produce high-quality paper.
Grind
A blade's grind is its cross-sectional shape in a plane normal to the edge. Grind differs from blade profile, which is the blade's cross-sectional shape in the plane containing the blade's edge and the centre contour of the blade's back (meaning the shape of the blade when viewed from the side, i.e.
Mill
A building equipped with machinery for grinding grain into flour.
Grind
Reduce (something) to small particles or powder by crushing it
Grind some black pepper over the salad
She ground up the rice prior to boiling
Mill
A factory fitted with machinery for a particular manufacturing process
A steel mill
A mill town
Grind
Rub or cause to rub together gratingly
He keeps me awake at night, grinding his teeth
Tectonic plates that inexorably grind against each other
Mill
An engine.
Grind
(of a dancer) gyrate the hips erotically
Go-go girls grinding to blaring disco
Mill
A boxing match or a fist fight.
Grind
A crushing or grating sound or motion
The slow grind of the US legal system
The crunch and grind of bulldozers
Mill
A monetary unit used only in calculations, worth one thousandth of a dollar.
Grind
Hard dull work
Relief from the daily grind
Mill
Grind (something) in a mill
Hard wheats are easily milled into white flour
Grind
A dancer's erotic gyration of the hips
A bump and grind
Mill
Cut or shape (metal) with a rotating tool
In the machine shop we mill and grind the castings
Grind
To reduce to small bits or crush to a fine powder
Grind wheat into flour.
Grind coffee beans.
Mill
(of people or animals) move around in a confused mass
Tourists were milling about in the lobby
Grind
To shape, sharpen, or refine with friction
Grind scissors to a fine edge.
Grind lenses for eyeglasses.
Mill
Thicken (wool or another animal fibre) by fulling it
Ordinary wool blankets are made by milling a woven wool fabric
Grind
To rub (two surfaces) together harshly; gnash
Grind one's teeth.
Mill
A building equipped with machinery for grinding grain into flour or meal.
Grind
To bear down on harshly; crush
The team's spirit was ground down by harsh losses.
Mill
A device or mechanism that grinds grain.
Grind
To oppress or weaken gradually or persistently
“Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law” (Oliver Goldsmith).
Mill
A building or farm equipped with machinery that presses or grinds fruit to extract the juice
A cider mill.
Grind
To operate by turning a crank
Ground a hurdy-gurdy.
Mill
A device or machine used to extract juice from fruit.
Grind
To instill or teach by persistent repetition
Ground the truth into their heads.
Mill
A machine or device that reduces a solid or coarse substance into pulp or minute grains by crushing, grinding, or pressing
A pepper mill.
Grind
To perform the operation of grinding something.
Mill
A building or group of buildings equipped with machinery for processing raw materials into finished or industrial products
A textile mill.
A steel mill.
Grind
To become crushed, pulverized, or powdered by friction
Those coffee beans ground easily.
Mill
A machine, such as one for stamping coins, that produces something by the repetition of a simple process.
Grind
To move with noisy friction; grate
A train grinding along rusty rails.
Mill
A steel roller bearing a raised design, used for making a die or a printing plate by pressure.
Grind
Past tense and past participle grind·ed(grīndĭd) To ride a skateboard, a snowboard, or skis over a grind rail or narrow surface, often with the board or skis at right angles to the direction of movement.
Mill
Any of various machines for shaping, cutting, polishing, or dressing metal surfaces.
Grind
(Informal) To devote oneself to study or work
Grinding for a test.
Grinding away at housework.
Mill
A process, agency, or institution that operates in a mechanical way or turns out products in the manner of a factory
The college was nothing more than a diploma mill.
Grind
Past tense and past participle grind·ed(grīndĭd) Slang To rotate the pelvis erotically, as while dancing or performing a striptease.
Mill
A business that breeds and sells animals, such as purebred puppies, often in substandard conditions. Often used in combination
A puppy mill.
Grind
The act of grinding.
Mill
A difficult or laborious series of experiences
Went through the mill trying to get approval to build an addition onto the house.
Grind
A crunching or grinding noise.
Mill
A unit of currency equal to 1/1000 of a US dollar or 1/10 of a cent.
Grind
A specific grade or degree of pulverization, as of coffee beans
Drip grind.
Mill
To grind, pulverize, or break down into smaller particles in a mill
Mill grain.
Grind
Bits of ground coffee; grounds.
Mill
To produce or process mechanically in a mill
Mill steel.
Grind
(Informal) A laborious task, routine, or study
The daily grind.
Mill
To cut, shape, or finish in a mill or with a milling tool
Logs that are milled for lumber.
Grind
(Informal) A student who works or studies excessively.
Mill
To produce a ridge around the edge of (a coin).
Grind
(Slang) An erotic rotation of the pelvis.
Mill
To groove or flute the rim of (a coin or other metal object).
Grind
(transitive) To reduce to smaller pieces by crushing with lateral motion.
Mill
Western US To cause (cattle) to move in a circle or tightening spiral in order to stop a stampede.
Grind
(transitive) To shape with the force of friction.
Grind a lens; grind an axe
Mill
To move around in churning confusion
"A crowd of school children milled about on the curb looking scared" (Anne Tyler).
Grind
(metalworking) To remove material by rubbing with an abrasive surface.
Mill
(Slang) To fight with the fists; box.
Grind
(intransitive) To become ground, pulverized, or polished by friction.
This corn grinds well.
Steel grinds to a sharp edge.
Mill
To undergo milling
Grain that mills well.
Grind
To move with much difficulty or friction; to grate.
Mill
A grinding apparatus for substances such as grains, seeds, etc.
Pepper mill
Pepper has a stronger flavor when it is ground straight from a mill.
Grind
To slide the flat portion of a skateboard or snowboard across an obstacle such as a railing.
Mill
The building housing such a grinding apparatus.
My grandfather worked in a mill.
Grind
(transitive) To oppress, hold down or weaken.
Mill
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.
A cider mill; a cane mill
Grind
To rotate the hips erotically.
Mill
A machine for grinding and polishing.
A lapidary mill
Grind
(transitive) To operate by turning a crank.
To grind an organ
Mill
A milling machine for machining of solid metal, wood, or plastic.
Lathes, mills, and drill presses
Grind
To produce mechanically and repetitively as if by turning a crank.
Mill
The raised or ridged edge or surface made in milling anything, such as a coin or screw.
Grind
To automatically format and indent code.
Mill
A manufacturing plant for paper, steel, textiles, etc.
Grind
To instill through repetitive teaching.
Grinding lessons into students' heads does not motivate them to learn.
Mill
A building housing such a plant.
Grind
To eat.
Eh, brah, let's go grind.
Mill
(figurative) An establishment that handles a certain type of situation or procedure routinely, or produces large quantities of an item without much regard to quality, such as a divorce mill, a puppy mill, etc.
Grind
To work or study hard; to hustle or drudge.
Mill
An institution awarding educational certificates not officially recognised
Grind
To annoy or irritate (a person); to grind one's gears.
Mill
(informal) An engine.
Grind
The act of reducing to powder, or of sharpening, by friction.
Mill
(informal) A boxing match, fistfight.
Grind
Something that has been reduced to powder, something that has been ground.
Mill
(die sinking) 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.
Grind
A specific degree of pulverization of coffee beans.
This bag contains espresso grind.
Mill
(mining) An excavation in rock, transverse to the workings, from which material for filling is obtained.
Grind
A tedious and laborious task.
This homework is a grind.
Mill
(mining) A passage underground through which ore is shot.
Grind
A grinding trick on a skateboard or snowboard.
Mill
A milling cutter.
Grind
One who studies hard.
Mill
(historical) A prison treadmill.
Grind
Clipping of grindcore
Mill
A typewriter used to transcribe messages received.
Grind
(slang) Hustle; hard work. en
I pledge allegiance to the grind. I'm up early as hell tryna get mine.
Mill
An obsolete coin worth one thousandth of a US dollar, or one tenth of a cent.
Grind
A traditional communal pilot whale hunt in the Faroe Islands.
Mill
One thousandth part, particularly in millage rates of property tax.
Grind
To reduce to powder by friction, as in a mill, or with the teeth; to crush into small fragments; to produce as by the action of millstones.
Take the millstones, and grind meal.
Mill
A line of three matching pieces in nine men's morris and related games.
Grind
To wear down, polish, or sharpen, by friction; to make smooth, sharp, or pointed; to whet, as a knife or drill; to rub against one another, as teeth, etc.
Mill
(trading card games) Discarding a card from one's deck.
Grind
To oppress by severe exactions; to harass.
To grind the subject or defraud the prince.
Mill
(trading card games) A strategy centered on depleting the opponent's deck.
Grind
To study hard for examination; - commonly used with away; as, to grind away at one's studies.
Mill
(transitive) To grind or otherwise process in a mill or other machine.
To mill flour
Grind
To perform the operation of grinding something; to turn the millstones.
Send theeInto the common prison, there to grind.
Mill
(transitive) To shape, polish, dress or finish using a machine.
Grind
To become ground or pulverized by friction; as, this corn grinds well.
Mill
(transitive) To engrave one or more grooves or a pattern around the edge of (a cylindrical object such as a coin).
Grind
To become polished or sharpened by friction; as, glass grinds smooth; steel grinds to a sharp edge.
Mill
To move about in an aimless fashion.
I didn't have much to do, so I just milled around the town looking at the shops.
Grind
To move with much difficulty or friction; to grate.
Mill
(transitive) To cause to mill, or circle around.
To mill cattle
Grind
To perform hard and distasteful service; to drudge; to study hard, as for an examination.
Mill
To swim underwater.
Grind
The act of reducing to powder, or of sharpening, by friction.
Mill
To swim suddenly in a new direction.
Grind
Any severe continuous work or occupation; esp., hard and uninteresting study.
Mill
To beat; to pound.
Grind
A student that studies hard; a dig; a wonk.
Mill
To pass through a fulling mill; to full, as cloth.
Grind
An insignificant student who is ridiculed as being affected or studying excessively
Mill
(transitive) To roll (steel, etc.) into bars.
Grind
Hard monotonous routine work
Mill
(transitive) To make (drinking chocolate) frothy, as by churning.
Grind
The act of grinding to a powder or dust
Mill
(intransitive) To undergo hulling.
This maize mills well.
Grind
Press or grind with a crunching noise
Mill
To take part in a fistfight; to box.
Grind
Make a grating or grinding sound by rubbing together;
Grate one's teeth in anger
Mill
To fill (a winze or interior incline) with broken ore, to be drawn out at the bottom.
Grind
Reduce to small pieces or particles by pounding or abrading;
Grind the spices in a mortar
Mash the garlic
Mill
To commit burglary.
Grind
Work hard;
She was digging away at her math homework
Lexicographers drudge all day long
Mill
To move (a card) from a deck to the discard pile.
Grind
Dance by rotating the pelvis in an erotically suggestive way, often while in contact with one's partner such that the dancers' legs are interlaced
Mill
To destroy (a card) due to having a full hand.
Mill
A money of account of the United States, having the value of the tenth of a cent, or the thousandth of a dollar.
Mill
A machine for grinding or comminuting any substance, as grain, by rubbing and crushing it between two hard, rough, or indented surfaces; as, a gristmill, a coffee mill; a bone mill.
Mill
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; as, a cider mill; a cane mill.
Mill
A machine for grinding and polishing; as, a lapidary mill.
Mill
A common name for various machines which produce a manufactured product, or change the form of a raw material by the continuous repetition of some simple action; as, a sawmill; a stamping mill, etc.
Mill
A building or collection of buildings with machinery by which the processes of manufacturing are carried on; as, a cotton mill; a powder mill; a rolling mill.
Mill
A hardened steel roller having a design in relief, used for imprinting a reversed copy of the design in a softer metal, as copper.
Mill
An excavation in rock, transverse to the workings, from which material for filling is obtained.
Mill
A milling cutter. See Illust. under Milling.
Mill
A pugilistic encounter.
Mill
Short for Treadmill.
Mill
The raised or ridged edge or surface made in milling anything, as a coin or screw.
Mill
A building or complex of buildings containing a mill{1} or other machinery to grind grains into flour.
Mill
To reduce to fine particles, or to small pieces, in a mill; to grind; to comminute.
Mill
To shape, finish, or transform by passing through a machine; specifically, to shape or dress, as metal, by means of a rotary cutter.
Mill
To make a raised border around the edges of, or to cut fine grooves or indentations across the edges of, as of a coin, or a screw head; also, to stamp in a coining press; to coin.
Mill
To pass through a fulling mill; to full, as cloth.
Mill
To beat with the fists.
Mill
To roll into bars, as steel.
Mill
To swim under water; - said of air-breathing creatures.
Mill
To undergo hulling, as maize.
Mill
To move in a circle, as cattle upon a plain; to move around aimlessly; - usually used with around.
The deer and the pig and the nilghar were milling round and round in a circle of eight or ten miles radius.
Mill
To swim suddenly in a new direction; - said of whales.
Mill
To take part in a mill; to box.
Mill
To fill (a winze or interior incline) with broken ore, to be drawn out at the bottom.
Mill
To cause to mill, or circle round, as cattle.
Mill
A plant consisting of buildings with facilities for manufacturing
Mill
Scottish philosopher who expounded Bentham's utilitarianism; father of John Stuart Mill (1773-1836)
Mill
English philosopher and economist remembered for his interpretations of empiricism and utilitarianism (1806-1873)
Mill
Machine that processes materials by grinding or crushing
Mill
The act of grinding to a powder or dust
Mill
Move about in a confused manner
Mill
Grind with a mill;
Mill grain
Mill
Produce a ridge around the edge of;
Mill a coin
Mill
Roll out (metal) with a rolling machine
Common Curiosities
Can grinding achieve the same precision as milling?
Grinding generally offers less precision compared to milling, which is designed for more precise and uniform outputs.
How do the costs of grinding and milling compare?
Grinding tends to be less costly and more accessible for small-scale or domestic tasks, while milling, due to its specialized machinery and precision, can be more expensive.
What safety precautions are necessary for grinding and milling?
Both processes require safety precautions such as protective eyewear, appropriate clothing, and understanding of the machinery.
Is milling only applicable to industrial applications?
While milling is often associated with industrial applications due to its scale and precision, small-scale milling operations also exist, such as those used for crafting or in smaller workshops.
What is the main difference between grind and mill in terms of process?
Grinding relies on friction and pressure to break down materials, while milling involves cutting and shaping materials.
What materials can be milled?
Materials such as grains, metals, and plastics can be milled to achieve a desired shape or texture.
Can a mill be used for grinding?
Some mills can perform grinding tasks, but they are generally more complex and suited for milling operations.
Is a grinder necessary for grinding?
While grinders facilitate grinding, simple tools like a mortar and pestle can also be effective for small-scale grinding tasks.
What is grinding used for?
Grinding is primarily used for breaking down substances into finer particles or powders, such as spices or coffee beans.
Can all materials be both ground and milled?
Not all materials are suitable for both processes; the choice depends on the material's properties and the desired outcome.
Are there any materials that should not be ground or milled?
Extremely hard or elastic materials may pose challenges to grinding and milling and require specialized equipment or processes.
How does the texture of ground and milled products differ?
Ground products may have a more variable texture, while milled products typically have a more uniform and consistent texture.
Is manual milling possible?
Manual milling is possible, particularly with smaller mills designed for hand use, though it is less common than automated milling.
How does the energy consumption compare between grinding and milling?
Milling typically requires more energy, especially for industrial-scale operations, due to the complexity and precision of the machinery involved.
Can grinding and milling be done at home?
Grinding is more commonly done at home, using tools like a coffee grinder, whereas home milling is less common and requires specific equipment.
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Written by
Maham Liaqat
Co-written by
Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
