mill 1
/mil/ , n.
1. a factory for certain kinds of manufacture, as paper, steel, or textiles.
2. a building equipped with machinery for grinding grain into flour and other cereal products.
3. a machine for grinding, crushing, or pulverizing any solid substance: a coffee mill.
4. any of various machines that modify the shape or size of a workpiece by rotating tools or the work: rolling mill.
5. any of various other apparatuses for shaping materials or performing other mechanical operations.
6. a business or institution that dispenses products or services in an impersonal or mechanical manner, as if produced in a factory: a divorce mill; a diploma mill.
7. Mach. a cutter on a milling machine.
8. a steel roller for receiving and transferring an impressed design, as to a calico-printing cylinder or a banknote-printing plate.
9. Mining. a place or set of machinery for crushing or concentrating ore.
10. Slang. a boxing match or fistfight.
11. through the mill , Informal. undergoing or having undergone severe difficulties, trials, etc., esp. with an effect on one's health, personality, or character: He's really been through the mill since his wife's death.
v.t.
12. to grind, work, treat, or shape in or with a mill.
13. Coining.
a. to make a raised edge on (a coin or the like).
b. to make narrow, radial grooves on the raised edge of (a coin or the like).
14. to beat or stir, as to a froth: to mill chocolate.
15. Slang. to beat or strike; fight; overcome.
v.i.
16. to move around aimlessly, slowly, or confusedly, as a herd of cattle (often fol. by about or around ).
17. Slang. to fight or box.
[ bef. 950; ME milne, mille (n.), OE myl ( e ) n molina, n. use of fem. of molinus of a mill, equiv. to L mol ( a ) mill + -inus -INE 1 ]
Syn. 16. crowd, wander, roam, teem.
mill 2
/mil/ , n.
a unit of monetary value equal to 0.001 of a U.S. dollar; one tenth of a cent: used at various times and places in the U.S. as a money of account, esp. in certain tax rates.
[ 1785-95, Amer.; short for L millesimus thousandth; see MIL ]