as in to grind
to reduce to fine particles eons of incessant pounding by the waves have comminuted the once-rocky shoreline into a bed of fine-grained sand

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of comminute The report of displacement (out of alignment) is not as worrisome as if the fracture was comminuted (pieces). Profootballdoc, sandiegouniontribune.com, 5 Nov. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for comminute
Verb
  • Worcestershire, dry mustard, and ground red pepper combine with your go-to cheese, for a foolproof party snack.
    Mary Alice Russell, Southern Living, 22 Oct. 2025
  • Teflon’s nonstick, nonreactive characteristics hinge on its immensely strong carbon-fluorine bonds, but the ball mill can break these bonds apart by grinding them with the sodium metal.
    Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 22 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • And so the Jays did, piling up one quality at-bat after another, grinding down Snell, pounding the Dodgers’ suspect bullpen.
    Ken Rosenthal, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
  • Its rain has already been pounding parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic for several days, flooding roadways and triggering landslides.
    Briana Waxman, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Their 2021 Châteauneuf-du-Pape has aromas of red plum, red raspberry, and crushed violet petals with soft, rounded tannins and flavors of cassis, raspberry, and black plum.
    Mike DeSimone, Robb Report, 23 Oct. 2025
  • Next to the nonwoven ends sits a tray of unused beads, some of which have seemingly spilled over and were crushed into dust by footsteps.
    Mario Rodriguez, Miami Herald, 23 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • All-mountain skiing is a style of skiing that covers the entire mountain, from groomed trails to powder, bumps, trees, and variable terrain.
    Marina Knight, Outside, 17 Oct. 2025
  • They are dried and powdered, and, depending on the product, extra nitrogen or phosphorus may be added.
    Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 23 July 2025
Verb
  • Dale Ellis covers the federal courthouse beat for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, reporting on criminal and civil matters that impact Arkansans.
    Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 23 Oct. 2025
  • Michele Di Gregorio made a stunning double save and was only beaten when a Vinicius Junior shot came back off the post and Jude Bellingham reacted quicker to it than Lloyd Kelly.
    James Horncastle, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • And taking a casual tally of the Focus Fest’s attendees milling about the upper floor of the Common on the Universal Studios lot, the crowd certainly skews younger.
    Mia Galuppo, HollywoodReporter, 22 Oct. 2025
  • Amid upbeat music, families milled with their dogs and kids whizzed by on scooters.
    Erin Glynn, Cincinnati Enquirer, 18 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • After pulverizing Gaza so relentlessly that a country founded in the shadow of the Holocaust was judged by experts as complicit in genocide, Israel’s military and intelligence apparatus also struck out elsewhere—Lebanon, Yemen, Iran, Syria.
    Karl Vick, Time, 11 Oct. 2025
  • On both days, nuance was pulverized in the heat of war.
    Caity Weaver, The Atlantic, 8 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Ethan Hawke stars as Lorenz Hart of legendary songsmiths Rodgers & Hart as the prolific partnership disintegrates to his great dismay.
    Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 17 Oct. 2025
  • This difference sounds small, but preventing a few tenths of a degree of warming could keep polar ice caps from completely disintegrating, coral reefs from collapsing and other tipping points from triggering.
    Syris Valentine, Scientific American, 16 Oct. 2025

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“Comminute.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/comminute. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.

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