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against the grain

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Financial, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
*against the grain 
1. Lit. across the alignment of the fibers of a piece of wood. (*Typically: be ~; Cut ~; go ~; run ~; saw ~.) You sawed it wrong. You sawed against the grain when you should have cut with grain. You went against the grain and made a mess of your sanding.
2. Fig. running counter to one's feelings or ideas. (*Typically: be ~; go ~.) The idea of my actually taking something that is not mine goes against the grain.
See also: against, grain
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It was not because I had a strong sense of the virtue of industry, but because Joe had a strong sense of the virtue of industry, that I worked with tolerable zeal against the grain.
Great Expectations by Dickens, Charles View in context
Changeable is she, and wayward; often have I seen her bite her lip, and pass the comb against the grain of her hair.
Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book For All And None by Nietzsche, Friedrich View in context
It has gone very much against the grain, I can assure you, to have neglected you for so long a time.
The Vanished Messenger by Oppenheim, E. Phillips View in context
 
 
 
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