The direction perpendicular to the grain direction of a paper (the direction in which all or most of the paper fibers are oriented in a sheet or web). Since the grain is produced on the forming wire of a papermaking machine in the direction of the web's travel through the machine, the grain direction is also called the machine direction, and the cross-grain direction is called the cross-machine direction. Grain direction is an important factor of such paper properties as strength and dimensional stability. See Grain. Also known as the cross direction.
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