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against the grain |
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*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. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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Such a policy, if adopted, would cut against the grain of conventional opinion, which holds that newcomers should integrate and acquire citizenship before they are allowed to vote. While for a long time the idea of "regional art" exhibitions has been laughable at anything but a global scale, in which impossibly large swaths of geopolitically unstable land (Africa, the Middle East, Latin America) are represented, there is something to be said for a quaint show that tries to cut against the grain, particularly in light of the homogeneity and repetition that increasingly dominate shows that promise the new and the next. Travertine is usually cut with the grain, but there are also cross cut types, which are cut against the grain. |
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