/ɡɹɪst/
OriginFrom Middle English grist, gryst, from Old English grist, gyrst (“the action of grinding, corn for grinding, gnashing”), of obscure origin: possibly from a pre-Germanic substrate language, or from a derivative of Proto-Germanic *gredaną (“to crunch”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (“to rub, grind”). Cognate with Old Saxon gristgrimmo (“gnashing of the teeth”), German Griesgram (“a grumbler, a grouch, peevishness, misery”), Old English gristel (“gristle”).
- countable, uncountableGrain that is to be ground in a mill.
“That it will, however, cause the subscribers to wish, in their minds, for many oaths to fly about, which is a heinous crime, and to lay stratagems to try the patience of men of all sorts; to put them ”
“Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kin”
- countable, obsolete, uncountableA group of bees.
- colloquial, countable, obsolete, uncountableSupply; provision.
“Matter, as wise logicians say, / Cannot without a form subsist; / And form, say I, as well as they, / Must fail if matter brings no grist.”
- countable, uncountableA given size of rope, common grist being a rope three inches in circumference, with twenty yarns in each of the three strands.
- abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, figurativelyEllipsis of grist for the mill.
“The judge needed a case with the potential for great emotional impact to gain media coverage for his political career. He was running for judgeship on the Nevada Supreme Court. Nicky and I were in the”
“True stories are embellished, the casts of fictional dramas stuffed with unlikely non-actors. All is grist to what [Werner] Herzog calls “ecstatic truth”.”
- transitiveTo grind in a mill.
“[…] and another mill is erecting on the same stream near Sparrow Lake, to which a run of stones for gristing will be added.”
“[…] it cleaned out two hundred and ten bushels called screenings; the balance was sold, gristed and used for seed.”
Formsgrists(plural) · grists(present, singular, third-person) · gristing(participle, present) · gristed(participle, past) · gristed(past)