sand

Etymology 1

From Middle English sand, from Old English sand, from Proto-West Germanic *samd, from Proto-Germanic *samdaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sámh₂dʰos, from *sem- (“to pour”). See also West Frisian sân, Dutch zand, German Sand, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian sand, Latin sabulum, Ancient Greek ἄμαθος (ámathos), English dialectal samel (“sand bottom”), Old Irish do·essim (“to pour out”), Latin sentina (“bilge water”), Lithuanian sémti (“to scoop”), Ancient Greek ἀμάω (amáō, “to gather”), ἄμη (ámē, “water bucket”).

noun

1. (uncountable) Rock 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.
   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. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt's Patients
   2018, The Guardian, "Riddle of the sands: the truth behind stolen beaches and dredged islands" We are addicted to sand but don't know it because we don't buy it as individuals,
   2018, The Guardian, "Riddle of the sands: the truth behind stolen beaches and dredged islands" China's hunger for sand is insatiable, its biggest dredging site at Lake Poyang produces 989,000 tonnes per day.
2. (countable, often in the plural) A beach or other expanse of sand.
   The Canadian tar sands are a promising source of oil.
   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
3. (uncountable, dated) Personal courage.
   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
   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, →OL
4. (uncountable, geology) A particle from 62.5 microns to 2 mm in diameter, following the Wentworth scale.
5. A light beige colour, like that of typical sand.
   sand:
6. (countable, obsolete) A single grain of sand.
7. (countable, figurative) A 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)
8. (uncountable, figurative) "sand in [someone's] eyes" (idiom):
   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," […] 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. a. Dried mucus in the eye's inner corner, perhaps left from sleep (sleepy sand). January 3, 2018, Moran Eye Center, “Is That Morning 'Eye Gunk' Normal?”, in HealthFeed Blog, University of Utah Hospital, archived from the original on 2020-01-02
   b. An excuse for tears. Cf. “Sand in My Eyes”, in TV Tropes, accessed 2023-03-01: “Alternative Title(s): Something In My Eye”

adj

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

Etymology 2

From Middle English sanden, from the noun (see above).

verb

1. (transitive) To abrade the surface of (something) with sand or sandpaper in order to smooth or clean it.
2. (transitive) To cover with sand.
   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
   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
3. (transitive, historical) To 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

Etymology 3

Abbreviation of sand(piper).

noun

1. (colloquial) A sandpiper.