sand

noun, adj, verb — 16 senses

sand

noun

CA, US, UK /sænd/ · UK, SC, WA /sand/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English sond, sand, from Old English sand, from Proto-West Germanic *samd, from Proto-Germanic *samdaz. See also North Frisian sun, Sön, sönj (“sand”), Saterland Frisian Sound (“sand”), West Frisian sân (“sand”), Dutch zand (“sand”), German and Luxembourgish Sand (“sand”), Yiddish זאַמד (zamd, “sand”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish sand (“sand”), Faroese and Icelandic sandur (“sand”), Latin sabulum (“sand, gravel”), Ancient Greek ἄμαθος (ámathos, “sand”), English dialectal samel (“sand bottom”), Old Irish do·essim (“to pour out”), Latin sentina (“bilge water”), Lithuanian sémti (“to scoop”), Ancient Greek ἀμάω (amáō, “to gather”), ἄμη (ámē, “water bucket”).

11 senses
  1. 1Rock that is ground more finely than gravel, but is not…
  2. 2A specific grade, type, or composition of sand.
  3. 3A beach or other mass of sand.
  4. 4Personal courage.
  5. 5A particle from 62.5 microns to 2 mm in diameter…
  6. 6A light beige colour, like that of typical sand.
  7. 7A single grain of sand.
  8. 8A moment or interval of time; the term or extent of…
  9. 9Dried mucus in the eye's inner corner, perhaps left from…
  10. 10"sand in [someone's] eyes" (idiom)
  11. 11An excuse for tears.
1

Usually Rock that is ground more finely than gravel, but is not as fine as silt (more formally, see grain sizes chart), forming beaches and deserts and also used in construction.

  • For a spell we done pretty well. Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester same as you don't get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
  • “We are addicted to sand but don’t know it because we don’t buy it as individuals,” says Aurora Torres, […]2018, Neil Tweedie, “Is the world running out of sand? The truth behind stolen beaches and dredged islands”, in The Guardian:
1 more example
  • China’s hunger for sand is insatiable, its biggest dredging site at Lake Poyang produces 989,000 tonnes per day.2018, Neil Tweedie, “Is the world running out of sand? The truth behind stolen beaches and dredged islands”, in The Guardian:
2

Usually A specific grade, type, or composition of sand.

  • One sand was that used in cement testing with white well rounded smooth grains, passing through a 20-mesh sieve and retained on a 30-mesh sieve. The other was ordinary brown building sand, passing 40-mesh and retained on 60-mesh.1922, Harvey Whipple, Concrete, volumes 20-21, page 96:
3

In plural, Often, Usually A beach or other mass of sand.

  • The Canadian tar sands are a promising source of oil.
  • From east and south the danger was to be expected. Not from the uninhabited northern desert, not from the desolate sands of the unknown west, would it come.1892, James Yoxall, chapter 14, in The Lonely Pyramid:
4

Dated, Usually Personal courage.

  • You may say what you want to, but in my opinion she had more sand in her than any girl I ever see; in my opinion she was just full of sand.1884, Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn:
  • He said, “I admire your sand but I believe you will find I am not liable for such claims. Let me say too that your valuation of the horse is high by about two hundred dollars.”1968, Charles Portis, True Grit:
1 more example
  • There was youngsters all around him, and he stood there lookin’ at me and never turned a hair. He had sand, that Morrell.1979, Louis L'Amour, Bendigo Shafter, →ISBN, →OL:
5

Geography, Geology, Natural sciences Usually A particle from 62.5 microns to 2 mm in diameter, following the Wentworth scale.

6

Usually A light beige colour, like that of typical sand.

7

Obsolete, Usually A single grain of sand.

  • One sand another. Not more resembles that sweet rosy lad1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v]:
8

Figuratively, Usually A moment or interval of time; the term or extent of one's life (referring to the sand in an hourglass).

  • The sands are numbered that make up my life.c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:
  • Cf. sands of time (idiom)
1 more example
  • […] And, departing, leave behind us / Footprints on the sands of time […]1838 October, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “A Psalm of Life. […]”, in Voices of the Night, Cambridge, Mass.: […] John Owen, published 1839, →OCLC, stanza 7, page 7:
9

Usually Dried mucus in the eye's inner corner, perhaps left from sleep (sleepy sand).

  • Sleep in your eyes, sleep crust, sand, eye gunk—whatever you call it, we all get it—that crusty stuff in the corners of your eyes when you wake up in the morning. "The medical term is 'rheum,' though you rarely hear it used," […]2018 January 3, Moran Eye Center, “Is That Morning 'Eye Gunk' Normal?”, in HealthFeed Blog, University of Utah Hospital, archived from the original on 02 Jan 2020:
10

Figuratively, Usually "sand in [someone's] eyes" (idiom)

  • Cf. Sandman, a mythical character in European folklore who puts people to sleep and encourages and inspires beautiful dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto their eyes.
11

Usually An excuse for tears.

  • Cf. “Sand in My Eyes”, in TV Tropes, 1 March 2023 (last accessed): “Alternative Title(s): Something In My Eye”
Derived terms
315 termsAfrican sand fox, ant sand, belt-sand, bituminous sand, black sand, Blundellsands, Bolton-le-Sands, brain sand, bring sand to the beach, build on sand, built on sand, Burgh by Sands, bury one's head in the sand, cover sand, desand, desert sand, draw a line in the sand, draw lines in the sand, dunesand, enough sense to pound sand into a rathole, firesand, Florida sand plum, golden sand-eater, gold sand, Grange-over-Sands, Great Sandy Desert, Great Wall of Sand, greensand, green sand, Halimeda sand, head-in-the-sand, head in the sand, ironsand, iron sand, javelin sand boa, kick sand in somebody's face, kinetic sand, line in the sand, Maplin Sands, Mojave sand-verbena, molding sand, naked sand rat, oil sand, oversand, parting sand, polymeric sand, pound sand, pound sand into a rathole, purple leaf sand cherry, put one's head in the sand, quicksand, red-banded sand wasp, resand, rope of sand, running sand, sandable, sand and spinach, sand art, sand asp, sand badger, sandbag, sandball, sand band, sandbank, sandbar, sand bar, sand bass, sand bath, sandbathe, sand bathing, sand battery, Sandbeach, sandbeach, Sand Beach, sand bean, sand bear, sandbed, sand bee, sandbell, sandbelt, sandbin, sandbird, sand blackberry, sandblast, sandblaster, sand-blind, sand bluestem, sand boa, sandboard, sandboarding, sand boil, sand-boondy, sand box, sandbox, sandbox tree, sandboy, sand break, sand bug, sandbugger, sand buggy, sandbur, sand canal, sand-cast, sand casting, sandcastle, sand cat, sand catchfly, sand cherry, sand clock, sand cock, sand cookie, sandcorn, sand crab, sand crack, sand cress, sandcrete, sand cricket, sand crocus, sand culture, sand dab, sand dam, sand daphne, sand dart, sand darter, sand diver, sand dollar, sand dome, sand down, sand drag, sand dune, sand duning, sand eel, sand engine, sander, sanderling, sandfall, sand fence, sandfish, sand-flag, sandflat, sandflea, sand flea, sand flounder, sandfly fever, sandfly, sand fly, sand fox, sand gazelle, sandglass, sand goanna, sand grape, sandgroper, sandgrounder, sandgrouse, sand-grouse, sand grouse, sandgun, sandheap, sandhill crane, sandhiller, sand hill, sandhill, sandhog, sand hog, sand-hog, sand hopper, sandhopper, sand hornet, Sandhurst, Sand Hutton, sandification, sandiness, sand in one's vagina, sand iron, sandish, sand jack, sand-jet, sandlace, Sand Lake, sand lance, Sandland, sand lark, sand leek, sandless, sand lettuce, sandlighter, sandlike, sand lily, sandling, sand lizard, sandlot, sandman, sand martin, sand-martin, sand mason, sand mason worm, sand mole, sand monitor, sand monkey, sand motor, sand mouse, sand myrtle, sand-natter, sandnigga, sand nigger, sand-nigger, sand off, sand olive, sand painting, sandpainting, sand palm, sandpaper, sand partridge, sand pear, sand-peep, sand perch, sandpile, sand pillar, sand pine, sandpipe, sand-pipe, sandpiper, sandpit, sandplain, sand plover, sand plum, sandpot, sandprawn, sand-pride, sandproof, sand pump, sand puppy, sand python, sand rail, sand rat, sand reed, sand reel, sandridge, Sand Ridge, Sandridge, sand-roll, sand runner, sand saucer, sandscape, sand-screw, sand sedge, sand shark, sand sheet, sand shoe, sandshoe, sand shot, sand shrimp, sand skink, sand-skipper, sandslide, sand sludger, sand slug, sand smelt, sand snake, sandsoap, sand-spit, sandspit, sand spit, sandspout, sand-spout, sandspur, sand star, sandstone, sandstorm, sand storm, sandsucker, sand table, sandthorn, sand thrower, sand tiger, sand tiger shark, sand timer, sand trap, sand tube worm, sand verbena, sand violet, sand viper, sand volleyball, sandward, sandwasher, sand wasp, sand wave, sand wedge, sand whiting, Sandwich, sand winner, sand winning, sandworm, sandwort, sandy, sand yachting, sand yacht, sandyacht, seasand, sharp sand, shell sand, silver sand, singing sand, sleepy sand, spotted sand lizard, starlily, star lily, stick one's head in the sand, tar sand, titanium sand, war sand, wet sand, wet-sand, White Sands, Woburn Sands
Related terms
arena, arenicolous, psammite, sabulous, shar-pei, tombolo

sand

adj
Etymology

Inherited from Middle English sond, sand, from Old English sand, from Proto-West Germanic *samd, from Proto-Germanic *samdaz. See also North Frisian sun, Sön, sönj (“sand”), Saterland Frisian Sound (“sand”), West Frisian sân (“sand”), Dutch zand (“sand”), German and Luxembourgish Sand (“sand”), Yiddish זאַמד (zamd, “sand”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish sand (“sand”), Faroese and Icelandic sandur (“sand”), Latin sabulum (“sand, gravel”), Ancient Greek ἄμαθος (ámathos, “sand”), English dialectal samel (“sand bottom”), Old Irish do·essim (“to pour out”), Latin sentina (“bilge water”), Lithuanian sémti (“to scoop”), Ancient Greek ἀμάω (amáō, “to gather”), ἄμη (ámē, “water bucket”).

1

Of a light beige colour, like that of typical sand.

sand

verb

Etymology From Middle English sanden, from the noun (see above).

1

To abrade the surface of (something) with sand or sandpaper in order to smooth or clean it.

2

To cover with sand.

  • Sudden stopping, which could be effected easily by sanding the rails and reversing the driving-gear, was dangerous, because the train might telescope and overwhelm the engine.1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter IX, in Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, published 1943, page 141:
  • The golden domes of churches and the freshly sanded paths in the town gardens were a glaring yellow.1958, Boris Pasternak, chapter 4, in Max Hayward, Manya Harari, transl., Doctor Zhivago, New York: Pantheon, page 96:
3

Historical To blot ink using sand.

  • The officer wrote until he had finished, read over to himself what he had written, sanded it, and handed it to Defarge, with the words "In secret."1859, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities:

sand

noun
1

Biology, Birdwatching, Natural sciences, Ornithology Abbreviation, Colloquial, Ellipsis Ellipsis of sandpiper.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

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