Safin, a two-time Grand Slam winner, lost that first set but returned refreshed, gradually grinding his Spanish opponent into submission.

BBC: Safin books meeting with Federer

In the latter case, the kernels are soaked in lye first (making hominy) then dried before grinding.

NPR: Kernels of Truth About Cornmeal

The first time Bernie Madoff called me, the grinding sounds of a floor buffer in the background nearly drowned him out.

NEWYORKER: Madoff��s Curveball

You could almost see the gears grinding, and its getting hopelessly lost after the first simple question.

FORBES: Sorry, Jeopardy Watchers: No Computer Will Ever Be Remotely Human

In this wondrously accomplished and furiously expressive drama blending the moody rambles of a road movie with the tightly ratcheted criminal tension of a film noir the director Amy Seimetz, in her first feature, captures the wildly flailing energy and exhausted torpor of grinding frustration as well as the flickering grace of stifled dreams.

NEWYORKER: Sun Don't Shine

First, companies can take longer to get off their feet, given grinding local bureaucracy.

ECONOMIST: Making money by bringing old ideas to new markets