sand

plural sands

1. uncountableusuallyRock 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.

   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 more examples

   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. countableusuallyA 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

   2. countablein pluraloftenusuallyA beach or other mass of sand.

      The Canadian tar sands are a promising source of oil.

      1 more example

      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

2. dateduncountableusuallyPersonal courage.

   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

   2 more examples

   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

   Synonyms: grit

3. uncountableusuallygeographyA particle from 62.5 microns to 2 mm in diameter, following the Wentworth scale.
4. uncountableusuallyA light beige colour, like that of typical sand.
5. countableobsoleteusuallyA single grain of sand.

   One sand another. Not more resembles that sweet rosy lad

   1611 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]

6. countablefigurativelyusuallyA moment or interval of time; the term or extent of one's life (referring to the sand in an hourglass).

   Cf. sands of time (idiom)

   2 more examples

   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]

   […] 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

7. uncountableusuallyDried 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

   1. figurativelyuncountableusually"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.

   2. uncountableusuallyAn excuse for tears.

      Cf. “Sand in My Eyes”, in TV Tropes, 1 March 2023 (last accessed): “Alternative Title(s): Something In My Eye”

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

present singular third person sands · participle present sanding · participle past sanded · past sanded

1. transitiveTo abrade the surface of (something) with sand or sandpaper in order to smooth or clean it.
2. transitiveTo cover with sand.

   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

   1 more example

   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

3. historicaltransitiveTo 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

plural sands

1. abbreviationcolloquialellipsisbiologyEllipsis of sandpiper.