sand
1 Americannoun
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the more or less fine debris of rocks, consisting of small, loose grains, often of quartz.
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Usually sands. a tract or region composed principally of sand.
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the sand or a grain of sand in an hourglass.
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sands, moments of time or of one's life.
At this stage of his career the sands are running out.
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a light reddish- or brownish-yellow color.
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Informal. courage; pluck.
verb (used with object)
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to smooth or polish with sand, sandpaper, or some other abrasive.
to sand the ends of a board.
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to sprinkle with or as if with sand.
to sand an icy road.
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to fill up with sand, as a harbor.
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to add sand to.
The mischievous child sanded the sugar.
idioms
noun
abbreviation
noun
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loose material consisting of rock or mineral grains, esp rounded grains of quartz, between 0.05 and 2 mm in diameter
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(often plural) a sandy area, esp on the seashore or in a desert
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a greyish-yellow colour
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( as adjective )
sand upholstery
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the grains of sandlike material in an hourglass
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informal courage; grit
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to put a stop to or a limit on
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there is not much time left before death or the end
verb
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(tr) to smooth or polish the surface of with sandpaper or sand
to sand a floor
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(tr) to sprinkle or cover with or as if with sand; add sand to
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to fill or cause to fill with sand
the channel sanded up
noun
Other Word Forms
- sandable adjective
- sandless adjective
- sandlike adjective
- unsanded adjective
- well-sanded adjective
Etymology
Origin of sand
before 900; Middle English (noun), Old English; cognate with German Sand, Old Norse sandr
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Anthropic has drawn a line in the sand over how the agency can use its technology.
From MarketWatch
The barren sands yielded nothing and the team, disheartened, headed back to their camp.
From Barron's
Like sands through the hourglass, so are the screams of our lives.
It takes purified silicon rocks, a good source of which is sand in North Carolina, and fashions them into the 12-inch wafers that will later be imprinted with trillions of transistors to become chips.
Across the river on a sand bar, a big blue crane let out a loud squawk.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
