to take a grind
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To take a constitutional; to cram into the smallest space the greatest amount of physical exercise. This is the physical grind. The literary grind is a turn at hard study.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to take a grind” mean?
To take a constitutional; to cram into the smallest space the greatest amount of physical exercise. This is the physical grind. The literary grind is a turn at hard study.
Is “to take a grind” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.