Meanings
adjectivethrough the mill (not comparable)
- idiomaticnot comparableThrough a period of bad treatment or an ordeal.
put through the mill
2 more examples
My father found me a nuisance, and put me through the mill, and I can never forget it particularly the evenings.
1907, E.M. Forster, The Longest Journey, Part II, XVIii [Uniform ed., p. 192]‘He’s been through the mill, this one,’ she said.
1999, J. K. Rowling, chapter 4, in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Bloomsbury
Cite this entry
APA
through the mill. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/through%20the%20mill
MLA
“through the mill.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/through%20the%20mill. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “through the mill,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/through%20the%20mill.
Source: through the mill on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.