To have practical experience of anything.
1837. I had been ‘through the mill’ of a pre-concerted, artificial revival, and felt a secret joy, as if possessed of an experience of some consequence.—Knick. Mag., ix. 356 (April).
1848. Buy the balance of every edition, until they have all of them fairly been run through the mill.—Lowell, ‘A Fable for Critics.’
