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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

against the grain en · ADP

Pronunciation

  • (Australia) audio
  • /əˈɡɛnst ðə ɡɹeɪn/

Meanings

  1. (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.
  2. (idiomatic) Contrary to what is expected; especially, of behavior different from what society expects.
    • 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. 2022 March 5, Richard Partington, “Russia’s central bank head ‘is mourning for her economy’”, in The Guardian:
    • By going against the grain and going to work nude, you've made yourself a laughing stock.
    • Get the thinkers out into the open like Vidal and Buckley, a really radical idea, against the grain. 2015 August 1, Ed Vulliamy, quoting Robert Gordon, “‘Don’t call me a crypto-Nazi!’ The lost heart of political debate”, in The Guardian:
  3. (idiomatic) Unwillingly, reluctantly; contrary to one's nature.
    • Indeed, when I interviewed Ken Skates, the Welsh Cabinet Member for Transport and North Wales, for my Calling All Stations podcast, he suggested (rightly) that the electrification of 170km (106 miles) of Valleys line ^([sic]) "was no mean feat in less than ten years". Given the stalled electrification of England's railways, notably the Midland Main Line, he has a point. This project went completely against the grain of Treasury thinking, which Skates reckons has been a crucial barrier to preventing investment in less populated areas. 2026 March 18, Christian Wolmar, “Wales sets example with long-term rail strategy”, in RAIL, number 1057, page 42:
    • Say, you chose him / More after our commandment than as guided / By your own true affections, and that your minds, / Preoccupied with what you rather must do / Than what you should, made you against the grain / To voice him consul: lay the fault on us. c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
    • It went much against the grain with him.
  4. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see against, the, grain.
    • There simply was not enough grain in each elevator to satisfy the known claims against the grain. 1983, US Congress, Grain Elevator Bankruptcy, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 134:
    • 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 1879, R. C. Kedzie, “The Adulteration and Deterioration of Food”, in Annual Report of the National Board of Health, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 138:

Relateds

go against the grain · turn the tide

Translations (23)

de gegen die Natur von jemandem (unwillingly, reluctantly) · pl pod włos (contrary to what is expected) · de widerstrebend (unwillingly, reluctantly) · es a contramano (contrary to what is expected) · fr à contre-fil (woodworking) · de gegen den Strich (unwillingly, reluctantly) · fi vastakarvaan (contrary to what is expected) · fr à contre-courant (contrary to what is expected) · pl pod prąd (contrary to what is expected) · pt contra a maré (contrary to what is expected) · pt a contragosto (unwillingly, reluctantly) · de widerwillig (unwillingly, reluctantly) · pl pod prąd (woodworking) · ga in aghaidh an stuif (contrary to what is expected) · ga in aghaidh an stuif (unwillingly, reluctantly) · fr à contre-cœur (unwillingly, reluctantly) · de unwillig (unwillingly, reluctantly) · ru против шерсти (unwillingly, reluctantly) · pl pod prąd (unwillingly, reluctantly) · ru не по нутру́ (unwillingly, reluctantly) · pt contra a corrente (contrary to what is expected) · pl pod wiatr (contrary to what is expected) · fr à son corps défendant (unwillingly, reluctantly)