Sand

n. [A-S., Ger., Dan., & Sw. sand, D. zand, Icel. sandr, O. H. Ger. sant, Gr. ψάμμος, ψάμαθος, ἄμμος.] 1. Fine particles of stone, especially of silicious stone, but not reduced to powder or dust; comminuted stone in the form of grains, which are not coherent when wet; coarse dust or soil. That finer matter, called sand, is no other than very small pebbles. Woodward. 2. Hence, from the use of sand in the hour-glass, a moment; a measured interval;—usually in the plural. The sands are numbered that make up my life. Shak. 3. (pl.) Tracts of land consisting of sand, like the deserts of Arabia and Africa; also, extensive tracts of sand exposed by the ebb of the tide. “The Libyan sands.” Milton. “The sands of Dee.” C. Kingsley.