Definition of against the grain

English Dictionary - With Multi-Lingual Search

against the grain
idiom

(idiom) Contrary to what is expected; especially, of behavior different from what society expects.
By going and going to work nude, you've made yourself a laughing stock.''
1. To sand or plane a piece of wood parallel or nearly parallel to the fibers such that splinters forming ahead of the tool originate below the cutting surface
2. Unwilling. It went much against the grain with him, i.e. it was much against his inclination, or against his pluck.
See: wikipedia: plane (tool)

Etymology: Popularized by wikipedia:William Shakespeare, William Shakespeare in the play wikipedia:Coriolanus (play), Coriolanus. This figurative has literal origins in woodworking, where carving against the grain is undesirable because the resulting surface is not smooth.

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