"against the grain" meaning in English

See against the grain in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Prepositional phrase

IPA: /əˈɡɛnst ðə ɡɹeɪn/ Audio: en-au-against the grain.ogg [Australia]
Head templates: {{head|en|prepositional phrase|head=against the grain}} against the grain
  1. (woodworking, of sanding or planing a piece of wood) Preventing a smooth, level surface from being formed by raising the nap of the wood or causing larger splinters to form ahead of the cutting tool below the cutting surface. Categories (topical): Woodworking Translations (woodworking): à contre-fil (French)
    Sense id: en-against_the_grain-en-prep_phrase-M-dL2p9r Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 18 41 34 7 Topics: arts, business, carpentry, construction, crafts, hobbies, lifestyle, manufacturing, woodworking Disambiguation of 'woodworking': 78 9 7 6
  2. (idiomatic) Contrary to what is expected; especially, of behavior different from what society expects. Tags: idiomatic Translations (contrary to what is expected): vastakarvaan (Finnish), à contre-courant (French), in aghaidh an stuif (Irish), pod prąd (Polish), pod wiatr (Polish), pod włos (Polish), contra a maré (Portuguese), contra a corrente (Portuguese), contramano (Spanish), a contracorriente (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-against_the_grain-en-prep_phrase-dpwNtgE~ Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 18 41 34 7 Disambiguation of 'contrary to what is expected': 3 67 28 2
  3. (idiomatic) Unwillingly, reluctantly; contrary to one's nature. Tags: idiomatic Translations (unwillingly, reluctantly): à contre-cœur (French), à son corps défendant (French), gegen den Strich (German), unwillig (German), widerwillig (German), gegen die Natur von jemandem (German), widerstrebend (German), in aghaidh an stuif (Irish), a contragosto (Portuguese), не по нутру́ (ne po nutrú) (Russian)
    Sense id: en-against_the_grain-en-prep_phrase-YDI6l9me Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 18 41 34 7 Disambiguation of 'unwillingly, reluctantly': 3 9 87 1
  4. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see against, the, grain. Related terms: go against the grain, turn the tide
    Sense id: en-against_the_grain-en-prep_phrase-QdK4d--N

Download JSON data for against the grain meaning in English (7.1kB)

{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": "against the grain"
      },
      "expansion": "against the grain",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Woodworking",
          "orig": "en:Woodworking",
          "parents": [
            "Crafts",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "18 41 34 7",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Preventing a smooth, level surface from being formed by raising the nap of the wood or causing larger splinters to form ahead of the cutting tool below the cutting surface."
      ],
      "id": "en-against_the_grain-en-prep_phrase-M-dL2p9r",
      "links": [
        [
          "woodworking",
          "woodworking"
        ],
        [
          "nap",
          "nap#fabric direction"
        ],
        [
          "tool",
          "tool"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(woodworking, of sanding or planing a piece of wood) Preventing a smooth, level surface from being formed by raising the nap of the wood or causing larger splinters to form ahead of the cutting tool below the cutting surface."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "of sanding or planing a piece of wood"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "arts",
        "business",
        "carpentry",
        "construction",
        "crafts",
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle",
        "manufacturing",
        "woodworking"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "78 9 7 6",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "woodworking",
          "word": "à contre-fil"
        }
      ]
    },
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
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        {
          "text": "By going against the grain and going to work nude, you've made yourself a laughing stock.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015 August 1, Ed Vulliamy, quoting Robert Gordon, “‘Don’t call me a crypto-Nazi!’ The lost heart of political debate”, in The Guardian",
          "text": "Get the thinkers out into the open like Vidal and Buckley, a really radical idea, against the grain.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 March 5, Richard Partington, “Russia’s central bank head ‘is mourning for her economy’”, in The Guardian",
          "text": "For Nabiullina, the developments unpick almost a decade of work going against the grain of Putin’s increasing global isolation by opening up the economy.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Contrary to what is expected; especially, of behavior different from what society expects."
      ],
      "id": "en-against_the_grain-en-prep_phrase-dpwNtgE~",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Contrary to what is expected; especially, of behavior different from what society expects."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "3 67 28 2",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "contrary to what is expected",
          "word": "vastakarvaan"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 67 28 2",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "contrary to what is expected",
          "word": "à contre-courant"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 67 28 2",
          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "sense": "contrary to what is expected",
          "word": "in aghaidh an stuif"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 67 28 2",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "contrary to what is expected",
          "word": "pod prąd"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 67 28 2",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "contrary to what is expected",
          "word": "pod wiatr"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 67 28 2",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "contrary to what is expected",
          "word": "pod włos"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 67 28 2",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "contrary to what is expected",
          "word": "contra a maré"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 67 28 2",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "contrary to what is expected",
          "word": "contra a corrente"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 67 28 2",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "contrary to what is expected",
          "word": "contramano"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 67 28 2",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "contrary to what is expected",
          "word": "a contracorriente"
        }
      ]
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    {
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
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            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "It went much against the grain with him",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Unwillingly, reluctantly; contrary to one's nature."
      ],
      "id": "en-against_the_grain-en-prep_phrase-YDI6l9me",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Unwillingly, reluctantly; contrary to one's nature."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "3 9 87 1",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "unwillingly, reluctantly",
          "word": "à contre-cœur"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 9 87 1",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "unwillingly, reluctantly",
          "word": "à son corps défendant"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 9 87 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "unwillingly, reluctantly",
          "word": "gegen den Strich"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 9 87 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "unwillingly, reluctantly",
          "word": "unwillig"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 9 87 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "unwillingly, reluctantly",
          "word": "widerwillig"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 9 87 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "unwillingly, reluctantly",
          "word": "gegen die Natur von jemandem"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 9 87 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "unwillingly, reluctantly",
          "word": "widerstrebend"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 9 87 1",
          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "sense": "unwillingly, reluctantly",
          "word": "in aghaidh an stuif"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 9 87 1",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "unwillingly, reluctantly",
          "word": "a contragosto"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 9 87 1",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "ne po nutrú",
          "sense": "unwillingly, reluctantly",
          "word": "не по нутру́"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1879, R. C. Kedzie, “The Adulteration and Deterioration of Food”, in Annual Report of the National Board of Health, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 138",
          "text": "In all ordinary processes of grinding, the friction of the rapidly revolving millstones against the grain, or even of the stones against each other, develops a large amount of heat, so that the crushed wheat comes from the stones quite hot",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1983, US Congress, Grain Elevator Bankruptcy, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 134",
          "text": "There simply was not enough grain in each elevator to satisfy the known claims against the grain.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see against, the, grain."
      ],
      "id": "en-against_the_grain-en-prep_phrase-QdK4d--N",
      "links": [
        [
          "against",
          "against#English"
        ],
        [
          "the",
          "the#English"
        ],
        [
          "grain",
          "grain#English"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "1 9 8 81",
          "word": "go against the grain"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 9 8 81",
          "word": "turn the tide"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/əˈɡɛnst ðə ɡɹeɪn/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-against the grain.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b9/En-au-against_the_grain.ogg/En-au-against_the_grain.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/En-au-against_the_grain.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "against the grain"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English prepositional phrases",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links"
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": "against the grain"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "go against the grain"
    },
    {
      "word": "turn the tide"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "en:Woodworking"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Preventing a smooth, level surface from being formed by raising the nap of the wood or causing larger splinters to form ahead of the cutting tool below the cutting surface."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "woodworking",
          "woodworking"
        ],
        [
          "nap",
          "nap#fabric direction"
        ],
        [
          "tool",
          "tool"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(woodworking, of sanding or planing a piece of wood) Preventing a smooth, level surface from being formed by raising the nap of the wood or causing larger splinters to form ahead of the cutting tool below the cutting surface."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "of sanding or planing a piece of wood"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "arts",
        "business",
        "carpentry",
        "construction",
        "crafts",
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle",
        "manufacturing",
        "woodworking"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "By going against the grain and going to work nude, you've made yourself a laughing stock.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015 August 1, Ed Vulliamy, quoting Robert Gordon, “‘Don’t call me a crypto-Nazi!’ The lost heart of political debate”, in The Guardian",
          "text": "Get the thinkers out into the open like Vidal and Buckley, a really radical idea, against the grain.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 March 5, Richard Partington, “Russia’s central bank head ‘is mourning for her economy’”, in The Guardian",
          "text": "For Nabiullina, the developments unpick almost a decade of work going against the grain of Putin’s increasing global isolation by opening up the economy.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Contrary to what is expected; especially, of behavior different from what society expects."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Contrary to what is expected; especially, of behavior different from what society expects."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "It went much against the grain with him",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Unwillingly, reluctantly; contrary to one's nature."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Unwillingly, reluctantly; contrary to one's nature."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1879, R. C. Kedzie, “The Adulteration and Deterioration of Food”, in Annual Report of the National Board of Health, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 138",
          "text": "In all ordinary processes of grinding, the friction of the rapidly revolving millstones against the grain, or even of the stones against each other, develops a large amount of heat, so that the crushed wheat comes from the stones quite hot",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1983, US Congress, Grain Elevator Bankruptcy, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 134",
          "text": "There simply was not enough grain in each elevator to satisfy the known claims against the grain.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see against, the, grain."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "against",
          "against#English"
        ],
        [
          "the",
          "the#English"
        ],
        [
          "grain",
          "grain#English"
        ]
      ]
    }
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  "sounds": [
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      "ipa": "/əˈɡɛnst ðə ɡɹeɪn/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-against the grain.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b9/En-au-against_the_grain.ogg/En-au-against_the_grain.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/En-au-against_the_grain.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
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      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "woodworking",
      "word": "à contre-fil"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "contrary to what is expected",
      "word": "vastakarvaan"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "contrary to what is expected",
      "word": "à contre-courant"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "contrary to what is expected",
      "word": "in aghaidh an stuif"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "contrary to what is expected",
      "word": "pod prąd"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "contrary to what is expected",
      "word": "pod wiatr"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "contrary to what is expected",
      "word": "pod włos"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "contrary to what is expected",
      "word": "contra a maré"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "contrary to what is expected",
      "word": "contra a corrente"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "contrary to what is expected",
      "word": "contramano"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "contrary to what is expected",
      "word": "a contracorriente"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "unwillingly, reluctantly",
      "word": "à contre-cœur"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "unwillingly, reluctantly",
      "word": "à son corps défendant"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "unwillingly, reluctantly",
      "word": "gegen den Strich"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "unwillingly, reluctantly",
      "word": "unwillig"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "unwillingly, reluctantly",
      "word": "widerwillig"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "unwillingly, reluctantly",
      "word": "gegen die Natur von jemandem"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "unwillingly, reluctantly",
      "word": "widerstrebend"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "unwillingly, reluctantly",
      "word": "in aghaidh an stuif"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "unwillingly, reluctantly",
      "word": "a contragosto"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "ne po nutrú",
      "sense": "unwillingly, reluctantly",
      "word": "не по нутру́"
    }
  ],
  "word": "against the grain"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (93a6c53 and 21a9316). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.