And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.

Have you ever looked closely at a piece of wood?

If you have, you might have noticed its beautiful grain.

When talking about wood, grain describes the appearance of cell fibers in the wood.

A wood's grain is important when choosing the right sort of wood for a project.

Different kinds of wood have different grains, which affect their appearance, strength, and usefulness.

Paying attention to a wood's grain helps you to know how to work with it.

For example, if you are cutting a wood board with the grain, you would use a tool called a rip saw.

If you are cutting across the grain, you would use a crosscut saw.

Cutting against the grain is more difficult.