Definition of "grindstone" []

• A revolving stone disk used for grinding, polishing, or sharpening tools. (noun)
• A millstone. (noun)
• Keep (one's) nose to the grindstone To work hard and steadily. (idiom)
• Put (one's) nose to the grindstone To work in earnest. (idiom)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "ChangeWave keeps its nose to a shorter-term grindstone -- he called the category's ability to grow in the face of a serious economic downturn "astounding.""
• "While Carton declined to comment on smartphones 'long-range prospects -- ChangeWave keeps its nose to a shorter-term grindstone -- he called the category's ability to grow in the face of a serious economic downturn "astounding.""
• "The grindstone was the kind that operated with a pedal, but the pedal had a tendency to stick."