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who won the four most important women's competitions,
an achievement called the GRAND SLAM, in 1988, and won
the women's SINGLES competition at Wimbledon seven
times. She RETIRED in 1999, and in 2001 she married the
tennis player Andre Agassi.
graf·fi·ti /græ'fi:ti, grə-/ n [U] drawings or writing on a wall
etc, especially of a rude, humorous, or political nature: The
men's toilet is full of the usual graffiti.
graf,fIti 'art n [U] graffiti, especially names of people, painted
on walls etc in a decorative way, usually with an AEROSOL and
considered by some people to be a kind of art
graft¹ /græft|græft/ n 1 [C] a piece cut from one plant and
tied to or placed inside a cut in another, so that it grows
there 2 [C] a piece of healthy living skin or bone taken from
a person's body and placed instead of such a substance in
another part of the body which has been damaged: Her
severe burns were treated with skin grafts. 3 [U] especially AmE
the practice of obtaining money or advantage by the dis-
honest use of especially political influence: He rose to power
through graft and corruption.
graft² v [T(ON, onto)] to put onto a plant or body as a graft:
They grafted a piece of skin from his thigh onto his badly
burnt face. | (fig.) You could see that the last part of the report
had just been grafted on as an afterthought.
graft³ n [U] infml BrE work: It's hard graft peeling potatoes for
a hundred people.
graft⁴ v [I] infml, BrE to work hard --->er n: She may be slow, but
she's a real grafter.
Gra·ham, Billy /'greıəm/ (1918-) a US EVANGELIST who
travels around the world and speaks at meetings where there
are large numbers of people, and tries to persuade them to
believe in the Christian religion
Graham, Mar·tha /'ma:θə|'mær-// (1894-1991) a US dancer
and CHOREOGRAPHER (=someone who decides what move-
ments dancers will do during a performance), known espe-
cially for her work in developing MODERN DANCE
'graham ,cracker n (often cap.) a flat, plain, slightly sweet
American BISCUIT: S'more's are made with chocolate and
toasted marshmallows between graham crackers.
Gra·hame, Ken·neth /'greıəm, 'ken!ə/ (1859-1932) a Brit-
ish writer, known especially for his book for children The
Wind in the Willows
Grail, the /greıl/ the HOLY GRAIL
grain /greın/ n 1 [C] a single seed of rice, wheat, or other
similar food plants: a grain of rice 2 [U] crops from plants
which produce these seeds, especially wheat: a cargo of
grain | the grain harvest 3 [C(of)] a single very small piece of
a hard substance: a grain of sand/salt | (fig.) There may be a
grain of truth (=some but not much truth) in his
story. 4 [(the)U] the natural arrangement of the threads or
FIBRES in wood, flesh, rock, and cloth, or the pattern of lines
one sees as a result of this: It's easiest to cut wood in the
direction of the grain. 5 [C] the smallest measure of weight,
as used for medicines (1/7000 of a pound or 0.0648
gram) 6 go against the grain to be something that one
does not like doing: It goes against the grain for me to borrow
money. -> see also with a grain of salt (SALT)
-gram -> see WORD FORMATION TABLE
gram also gramme BrE /græm/ written abbrev. gm n (a measure
of weight equal to) 1/1000 of a kilogram -> see TABLE 2
gram·mar /'græmə/ n 1 [U] (the study or use of) the rules
by which words change their forms and are combined into
sentences: I find German grammar very difficult. | His pro-
nunciation is good, but his grammar is terrible. | 'It's 'they
were', not 'they was',' he said, correcting my grammar. 2 [C] a
book which describes or teaches these rules: an Italian
grammar/a grammar of Italian
gram·ma·ri·an /grə'meəriən/ n a person who studies and
knows about grammar, especially a writer of grammar books
'grammar school n 1 (in Britain, especially formerly) a
school for children over the age of 11, who are specially
chosen to study for examinations which may lead to higher
education -> compare COMPREHENSIVE, SECONDARY MOD-
ERN; see also ELEVEN-PLUS 2 (in the US) becoming rare an
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
gram·mat·i·cal /grə'mætıkəl/ adj 1 [A no comp.] concerning
grammar: grammatical rules 2 correct according to the
rules of grammar: 'What means this word?' is not a grammati-
cal question in modern speech. ---ly /-kli/ adv ---ity
/grə,mæti'kæliti/ n [U]
gramme /græm/ n GRAM
Gram·my /'græmi/ n an AWARD given by the US National
Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for special achieve-
ment in the record industry
gram·o·phone /'græməfəun/ n old-fash for RECORD PLAYER
'gramophone ,record n old-fash for RECORD
Gram·pi·an /'græmpiən/ 1 a former ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
(=area controlled by local government) in northeast Scot-
land. It is now divided into the City of Aberdeen, Aberdeen-
shire, and Moray. One of its well-known products is
WHISKY. 2 also Grampian Television an independent tele-
vision company which broadcasts programmes in northeast
Scotland
Gram·pi·ans, the /'græmpiənz/ also the ,Grampian
'Mountains a RANGE of mountains in northern and eastern
Scotland
gran /græn/ n especially BrE infml a grandmother
gra·nar·y¹ /'grænərı|'gre-, 'græ-/ n a storehouse for grain,
especially wheat: (fig.) The Midwest is often called the granary
of the US. (=because a lot of wheat is grown there)
granary² adj BrE (of bread) containing a mixture of white and
WHOLEMEAL flours, and some whole grains of wheat: a
granary loaf | granary bread
Gran Ca·na·ri·a /,græn kə'næ:rıə/ also Grand Canary an
island in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of northwest Africa,
which is one of the CANARY ISLANDS
grand¹ /grænd/ adj 1 splendid in appearance or style; IMPRES-
SIVE: How grand the mountains look in the early light. | a
millionaire who entertained his guests on a grand scale 2 (of
a person) important but perhaps too proud: The king's court
was full of nobles and grand ladies. 3 old-fash infml or dial very
pleasant; delightful: That was a grand party. ---ly adv
---ness n [U]
grand² n 1 (pl. grands) infml for GRAND PIANO: a concert
grand | a baby grand (=a small one) 2 (pl. grand) slang a
thousand pounds or dollars: That fur coat cost me five grand!!
gran·dad, granddad /'grændæd/ n infml 1 a grand-
father 2 an impolite way of speaking to an old man: Come
on, grandad!
gran·dad·dy, grand·dad·dy /'grændædı/ n infml 1 [the
S+of] the first, greatest, or most powerful example: Louis
Armstrong was the grandaddy of jazz trumpeters. | Last night
we had the grandaddy of all thunderstorms. 2 [C] a grand-
father
,Grand Ca'nal, the 1 a CANAL (=an artificial river) in
Venice, Italy, which is the main way through the city and
has many famous buildings along its sides 2 the longest
canal in China. Part of it, connecting the Yangtze and
Yellow Rivers, was built in the 5th century BC.
,Grand Ca'nary -> see GRAN CANARIA
,Grand 'Canyon, the a very large, deep GORGE (=a steep-
sided valley cut by a river) in the US state of Arizona. The
Grand Canyon is in a national park, and many tourists visit
it.
,Grand Central 'Station the main railway station in New
York City. Grand Central Station is a very busy place, and in
the US people often mention it humorously to say how busy
another place is: Our house was like Grand Central Station
last night!
grand·child /'græntʃaıld/ n pl. grandchildren
/'græn,tʃildrən/ (more fm/ in the singular than grand-
daughter or grandson) the child of someone's son or daugh-
ter
grand·daugh·ter /'græn,dɔ:tə/ n the daughter of some-
one's son or daughter
gran·dee /græn'di:/ n a Spanish or Portuguese nobleman of
the highest rank