sander

name

1. A diminutive of the male given name Alexander, from Ancient Greek.
2. A surname transferred from the given name.
3. A village in Norway.

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree substratebor. Proto-Indo-European *sámdʰos? Proto-Germanic *samdaz Proto-West Germanic *samd Old English sand Middle English sond English sand Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzijos Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English sander From sand + -er.

1. A person employed to sand wood.
2. A machine to mechanize the process of sanding.

   “The autophiles hang around a big, fluorescent-lighted garage with cars on cinder blocks, ostensibly in competition for a job, and they talk to the camera in between sessions at the sander or other machines.”

3. A device which spreads sand on the rails in wet, snowy, icy, slippery conditions to improve traction.

   “Grass growing on the track made the running far from easy, and only frequent use of the sanders enabled us to breast the 1 in 50 gradients between Letterkenny and Kilmacrenon [sic].”

   “Traditionally, sand was used to aid grip, being released onto the track in front of the wheels from a special 'sandbox'. However, the Slough accident led to two trials on the use of train-borne sanders to aid braking: [...] Now, all new stock is fitted with automatic sanders, as have most of the pre-1994 units still running.”

4. A small device resembling a salt shaker but containing sand that was shaken over a document to remove excess ink.