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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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
Also, this prognosis is rooted in my hopefulness the fracture is not comminuted (in multiple pieces), as that might prolong the timeline by a couple of weeks.
—Profootballdoc, sandiegouniontribune.com, 16 Oct. 2017
Profootballdoc, sandiegouniontribune.com, 5 Nov. 2017
Also, this prognosis is rooted in my hopefulness the fracture is not comminuted (in multiple pieces), as that might prolong the timeline by a couple of weeks.
—Profootballdoc, sandiegouniontribune.com, 16 Oct. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for comminute
Verb
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That impacts many young players like Pak, who are grinding, just trying to survive on tour.—
Daniel R. Depetris,
MSNBC Newsweek,
22 May 2025
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Since Hamas’s devastating attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel’s large-scale response, pro-Palestinian protests spread across the United States, including at Israeli consulates and college campuses, during the grinding conflict in Gaza.—
Adam Goldman,
New York Times,
22 May 2025
Verb
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Thirty minutes later, Combs was pounding on the apartment door with a hammer, Morgan said.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
20 May 2025
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The creek is pounding the foundation of his cottage and seeping inside.—
Jennifer Berry Hawes,
ProPublica,
19 May 2025
Verb
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After collapsing under the weight of 130 points in a crushing Game 4 loss, Tom Thibodeau’s squad regrouped and unleashed an inspired performance at that end of the court to fend off elimination.—
C.J. Holmes,
New York Daily News,
30 May 2025
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Ulta Beauty — The beauty retailer’s shares rallied 9% after the firm raised its annual profit forecast and crushed expectations with its quarterly results.—
Lisa Kailai Han,
CNBC,
30 May 2025
Verb
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Pallets of jurema bark, powdered and shredded, in a storage room at one of Akasha Song’s production facilities.—
Andy Greenberg,
Wired News,
22 May 2025
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Makeup patted him down—he’d worked up a coat of sweat during the setup—and powdered him up; the costumer threw his shirt on him.—
Seija Rankin,
HollywoodReporter,
22 Apr. 2025
Verb
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The men beat 27-year-old Chin with a baseball bat, cracking his skull.—
Hannah Allam,
ProPublica,
31 May 2025
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Madrid were soundly beaten 5-1 on aggregate by Arsenal in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.—
Dermot Corrigan,
New York Times,
30 May 2025
Verb
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In the aftermath of the robbery, Kardashian took her first real retreat from the public eye, reappearing on Instagram three months later to post lo-fi family photos with her then husband, Kanye West, and their kids milling about a middle-class-looking home.—
M. J. Corey,
New Yorker,
24 May 2025
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Others milling around the security perimeter near the Capitol Jewish Museum expressed similar concerns.—
Karissa Waddick,
USA Today,
23 May 2025
Verb
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Matcha is traditionally grown in the shade—which allows the plant to develop more antioxidant-rich and amino-rich compounds—and then pulverized and mixed with water instead of steeped.—
Christina Pérez,
Vogue,
27 May 2025
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Heavy excavation machines bash giant concrete blocks into more manageable chunks, before grinders pulverize the material into 1- to 3-inch rocks, which can be recycled.—
James Rainey,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Mohammadi works with materials that disintegrate, for instance halva, soap, letting their ephemerality echo the fragility of memory.—
Nargess Banks,
Forbes.com,
26 May 2025
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Toward the end of the movie, Bob’s house of shame disintegrates.—
Katy Waldman,
New Yorker,
24 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Comminute.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/comminute. Accessed 3 Jun. 2025.
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