Library / English Dictionary

SAND

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Fortitude and determination

Example:

he didn't have the guts to try it

Synonyms:

backbone; grit; gumption; guts; moxie; sand

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("sand" is a kind of...):

fortitude (strength of mind that enables one to endure adversity with courage)

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

Sense 2

Meaning:

French writer known for works concerning women's rights and independence (1804-1876)

Synonyms:

Amandine Aurore Lucie Dupin; Baroness Dudevant; George Sand; Sand

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Instance hypernyms:

author; writer (writes (books or stories or articles or the like) professionally (for pay))

Sense 3

Meaning:

A loose material consisting of grains of rock or coral

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("sand" is a kind of...):

dirt; soil (the part of the earth's surface consisting of humus and disintegrated rock)

Meronyms (substance of "sand"):

atomic number 14; Si; silicon (a tetravalent nonmetallic element; next to oxygen it is the most abundant element in the earth's crust; occurs in clay and feldspar and granite and quartz and sand; used as a semiconductor in transistors)

Holonyms ("sand" is a substance of...):

beach (an area of sand sloping down to the water of a sea or lake)

quicksand (a pit filled with loose wet sand into which objects are sucked down)

sand bar; sandbar (a bar of sand)

spit; tongue (a narrow strip of land that juts out into the sea)

concrete (a strong hard building material composed of sand and gravel and cement and water)

Derivation:

sandy (resembling or containing or abounding in sand; or growing in sandy areas)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Rub with sandpaper

Example:

sandpaper the wooden surface

Synonyms:

sand; sandpaper

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "sand" is one way to...):

smooth; smoothen (make smooth or smoother, as if by rubbing)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sand"):

rough-sand (sand roughly)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

sander (a power tool used for sanding wood; an endless loop of sandpaper is moved at high speed by an electric motor)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The white beach, the stars, and the lights of the sugar steamers would look great, he thought, and midway on the sand the dark group of figures that surrounded the fighters.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The long coat is usually the color of sand with a darker face and ear fringes.

(Afghan Hound, NCI Thesaurus)

He rode on, and after a while it seemed to him that he heard a voice in the sand at his feet.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

The sight hast been burned from mine eyes by the sands of the Holy Land, and I have had neither crust of bread nor cup of wine these two days past.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Because I followed it and saw it vanish into a wall, as easily as an eel into sand.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease spread by the bite of infected sand flies.

(Leishmaniasis, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

It may be as small as a grain of sand or as large as a pearl.

(Kidney Stones, NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

As he was proceeding along the sands, he struck his foot against something and fell at his length on the ground.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

The coat comes in red, brindle, blackish, sand and various shades of gray.

(Cairn Terrier, NCI Thesaurus)

It was a beautiful dry tunnel with smooth gray walls covered with native symbols, a curved roof which arched over our heads, and white glistening sand beneath our feet.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)