ta.chan denotes reducing material by grinding, including grain, a calf burned to powder, and figurative crushing of afflicted faces.

The attested uses chiefly describe grinding or processing material: grain is ground with millstones, flour is commanded to be ground, and a burned calf is reduced to powder or dust. One verse applies the action to the faces of afflicted people in an accusation of crushing treatment.

1. Grinding material into powder or meal · dominant

   In Numbers 11:8, a Qal sequential perfect plural form occurs as the people process what they gathered in millstones before boiling it. In Exodus 32:20 and Deuteronomy 9:21, forms of the verb occur in the destruction of the calf after burning, with the APB rendering its reduction to powder or dust; Isaiah 47:2 gives an imperative to grind flour.

   Numbers 11:8Exodus 32:20Deuteronomy 9:21Isaiah 47:2Judges 16:21Ecclesiastes 12:3
2. Crushing people in oppressive treatment · occasional

   In Isaiah 3:15, a Qal imperfect plural form appears in the accusation, “You crush my people, and you grind the faces of the afflicted.” The clause applies the action to afflicted persons rather than to food or another material.

   Isaiah 3:15

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly uses “ground” or “grinding” for material processing, including grain, flour, and the burned calf; it also renders Isaiah 3:15 with “grind the faces of the afflicted.” These renderings confirm the clauses' overall presentation rather than define each form individually.