How to Use grain in a Sentence

grain

1 of 2 noun
  • There is not a grain of truth in what he said.
  • The farm grows a variety of grains.
  • The machine grinds grain into flour.
  • Anyone with a grain of sense knows that she's lying.
  • Serve with steamed short-grain rice.
    — Shirley Parameswaran, Bon Appetit Magazine, 19 Mar. 2026
  • There is a grain of truth to this.
    — Michelle Goldberg, Mercury News, 15 Apr. 2026
  • That could be beef, that could be grains.
    — CBS News, 17 May 2026
  • Choose these whole-grain foods at least half the time.
    — Leeann Weintraub, Daily News, 5 Mar. 2026
  • Nuts, seeds, grains, beans, and herbs all count too.
    — Abby Norman, Verywell Health, 18 May 2026
  • Add a hearty grain to thicken the broth.
    — Lynda Balslev, Mercury News, 24 Oct. 2025
  • Cook the earthy grains and nutty lentils.
    — Rebecca Firkser, Bon Appetit Magazine, 23 Apr. 2026
  • Brooks goes against the grain in this respect.
    — Jack Beresford, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Oct. 2025
  • Uncooked rice grains loom over these sands.
    — Literary Hub, 25 Mar. 2026
  • Like other whole grains, rye is high in fiber.
    — Lindsey Desoto, Health, 16 Sep. 2025
  • Long-grain rice works nicely, too.
    — The New York Times News Service Syndicate, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Feb. 2026
  • Shave toward the grain of where your hair grows.
    — Ariana Yaptangco, Glamour, 18 May 2026
  • Plus, the wood grain helps mask any markings.
    — Jamie Fischer, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 Sep. 2025
  • Fiber can be found in whole grains, nuts, seeds and legumes such as beans.
    — Fielding Buck, Oc Register, 22 Jan. 2026
  • Try to eat more fruits, veggies, and whole grains.
    — Care Resource, Miami Herald, 13 Feb. 2026
  • The grains were slick with soy sauce, each one caramelized and tinged with smoke.
    — Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2026
  • Avoid grains with gluten, like freekeh and barley.
    — Jillian Kubala, Health, 8 Apr. 2026
  • The grain is used to make flour and is baked into breads.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Mar. 2026
  • To be fair, humans aren't shaped like sheep or grains.
    — Ari Daniel, NPR, 27 Oct. 2025
  • Pair a handful of peanuts with fruit and whole-grain toast.
    — Amy Brownstein, Verywell Health, 11 June 2026
  • These compounds are found in foods such as whole grains and legumes.
    — Merve Ceylan, Health, 21 Oct. 2025
  • This is the part of the grain that would grow into a new plant.
    — Brandi Jones, Health, 23 Apr. 2026
  • In its dry form, this grain is labeled as black rice in stores.
    — Bethany Thayer, Freep.com, 25 Oct. 2025
  • Just three weeks ago, the coral was smaller than a grain of rice.
    — Popular Science, 8 Nov. 2023
  • Opt for whole grains rather than refined grains, such as white flour.
    — Kelly Burch, Verywell Health, 4 May 2026
  • Feel free to make a grain side dish, like quinoa or rice, instead.
    — Southern Living Test Kitchen, Southern Living, 12 Nov. 2023

grain

2 of 2 verb
  • But the challenge will be getting even more fine-grained.
    — Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Jan. 2026
  • The teak across the main deck was richly grained, with snug joinery.
    — Kevin Koenig, Robb Report, 5 Mar. 2024
  • Dark fruit is carried by firm acidity and fine-grained tannins.
    — Robb Report Studio, Robb Report, 13 Mar. 2026
  • The raw flesh of the fish is opalescent, fine-grained and smooth and nearly translucent, with a flavor to match.
    — Ben Lowy, Smithsonian, 23 May 2018
  • The official data were not fine-grained enough to reveal such patterns.
    — The Economist, 16 Dec. 2017
  • That said, his big, coarse-grained, penetrating sound carried forcefully to the back of the house.
    — John Von Rhein, chicagotribune.com, 8 Oct. 2017
  • Each one would resemble the (A) to (E) outline above, but would be much more finely grained.
    — Quanta Magazine, 3 June 2019
  • Some may find this a bit too fine-grained, overly implicated in language’s self-enfolding folds.
    — Katie Kadue, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
  • However, most dogs with skin allergies are not allergic to grain itself.
    — Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 23 Oct. 2022
  • Seed-starting mix is a special form of soilless potting mix that is especially porous and fine-grained.
    — Kerry Michaels, The Spruce, 21 Jan. 2026
  • Bridgework and components can be frosted, grained, or mirror-polished.
    — Carol Besler, Robb Report, 23 Oct. 2024
  • Very few interior panels are soft to the touch, but the vast expanses of hard plastic are nicely grained and don’t feel cheap.
    — Drew Dorian, Car and Driver, 24 Jan. 2018
  • White Ash features more subtle graining while Black Ash has a dark grain that contrasts with its light background.
    — Kelly Allen, House Beautiful, 3 Mar. 2021
  • Birch hardwood floors feature a fine, even grain with occasional waves and curls, adding a subtle texture and visual interest.
    — Nafeesah Allen, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 July 2024
  • Because there were, on average, 20 routers in each station in the pilot, London’s data are quite fine-grained.
    — Henry Grabar, Slate Magazine, 16 Oct. 2017
  • Made of double-faced calf leather — one side grained, the other smooth — it can be carried over the arm or crossbody, fits an iPad and has an external phone pocket.
    — Joelle Diderich, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
  • Within 15 minutes, a portion of this radioactive dust — mostly grains the size of salt or sand — would begin to fall directly on the city.
    — Daily Intelligencer, 12 June 2018
  • Even the coarsest topsoil, something that would be magical in a vegetable garden, is way to fine-grained to adequately drain if used in a container.
    — Paul Cappiello, Louisville Courier Journal, 17 Apr. 2026
  • The cereal grains mixed with clover attract deer first while the brassicas stand tall and are accessible above snow in northern areas for late-season forage.
    — Gerald Almy, Field & Stream, 14 Feb. 2020
  • Jared Huffman’s case — are all demonstrations that our caucus is open to making difficult and fine-grained choices about who should serve as chair or ranking member.
    — Morgan Chalfant, semafor.com, 21 Nov. 2025
  • The interior woodwork was richly grained and snugly fit, the doors were satisfyingly heavy, and the drawers closed softly, with no rattling.
    — Kevin Koenig, Robb Report, 15 Nov. 2023
  • Microphenomena, such as tornadoes, may be missed because models are not sufficiently fine-grained.
    — The Economist, 17 Sep. 2019
  • As in other full-size pickups at this price, the dashboard is largely made up of hard plastics, although their graining looks nice and most critical touch points inside the F-150 are made from softer materials.
    — Alexander Stoklosa, Car and Driver, 9 Mar. 2018
  • In the cloud services market, 2026 is likely to be a year of nuance and divergences, as the influence of AI on the cloud services and infrastructure markets becomes more fine-grained.
    — R. Scott Raynovich, Forbes.com, 22 Jan. 2026
  • What’s more is the Calibre 3098—derived from the extra-thin 9-line Calibre 3090 (AP’s first movement developed and manufactured in-house in 1999)—follows the shape of the case and features bridges grained by hand.
    — Paige Reddinger, Robb Report, 14 Apr. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'grain.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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