What does "meal" mean?
Meal: Grain (esp. maize, rye, or oats) that is coarsely ground and unbolted; also, a kind of flour made from beans, pease, etc.; sometimes, any flour, esp. if coarse.
Additional senses
- 2.Any substance that is coarsely pulverized like meal, but not granulated. Meal beetle (Zoöl.), the adult of the meal worm. See Meal worm, below. -- Meal moth (Zoöl.), a lepidopterous insect (Asopia farinalis), the larvæ of which feed upon meal, flour, etc. -- Meal worm (Zoöl.), the larva of a beetle (Tenebrio molitor) which infests granaries, bakehouses, etc., and is very injurious to flour and meal.
- 3.To sprinkle with, or as with, meal. Shak.
- 4.To pulverize; as, mealed powder.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00