grit one's teeth

English

Verb

grit one's teeth (third-person singular simple present grits one's teeth, present participle gritting one's teeth, simple past and past participle gritted one's teeth or (nonstandard) grit one's teeth)

1. To clench one's teeth together tightly because of pain, anger, frustration, or self-assurance.
   • 2019 December 10, Yacht Club Games, "Story" (Shield Knight), in Shovel Knight Showdown (version 4.1), Nintendo Switch, scene: ending:

     [Shield Knight] LOOKED WITH DREAD THROUGH THE EYES OF THE ENCHANTRESS. SHE WAS TRAPPED AGAIN! SHIELD KNIGHT GRIT HER TEETH. SHOVEL KNIGHT WOULDN'T GIVE UP, AND NEITHER WOULD SHE.

2. (idiomatic) To face up to a difficult or disagreeable situation and deal with it.

   Synonyms: face up to, bite the bullet, grin and bear it, suck it up

   There's a storm coming, so I grit my teeth and start rowing with all my might.

   • 1964 July, “Tokaido line trouble”, in Modern Railways, page 52:

     Japan's revolutionary New Tokaido Line, the 310-mile, 150 m.p.h. route between Tokyo and Osaka that is due to open for passenger traffic in October, has run into the same kind of budgetary trouble that held up our own LMR electrification, though the Japanese Government, unlike our own, has apparently gritted its teeth and allowed the project to go ahead to planned completion.

Translations

clench one's teeth together

• Arabic: صَرَّ أَسْنَانَهُ (ṣarra ʔasnānahu)

  Moroccan Arabic: غزز سنانه (ḡazzaz snānu)

• Belarusian: сашчамля́ць зу́бы impf (saščamljácʹ zúby), сашчамі́ць зу́бы pf (saščamícʹ zúby)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 咬牙 (zh) (yǎoyá)

• Dutch: knarsetanden (nl)
• Finnish: kiristellä hampaitaan, kiristellä hampaita, purra hammasta
• French: serrer les dents (fr)
• German: die Zähne zusammenbeißen (de)
• Greek: σφίγγω τα δόντια (sfíngo ta dóntia)
• Hebrew: חָרַק שִׁנַּיִם (he) (ẖaráq shináyim)
• Italian: digrignare i denti, stringere i denti
• Japanese: 歯を食いしばる (はをくいしばる, ha o kuishibaru)
• Korean: 이를 악물다 (i-reul angmulda)
• Maltese: għażżaż snienu
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bite tennene sammen (no), bite tennene sammen (no)

• Polish: zaciskać zęby impf, zacisnąć zęby pf
• Portuguese: ranger os dentes
• Russian: сти́скивать зу́бы impf (stískivatʹ zúby), сти́снуть зу́бы (ru) pf (stísnutʹ zúby) (clench teeth), скрежета́ть зуба́ми impf (skrežetátʹ zubámi) (grind teeth), скрипе́ть зуба́ми (ru) impf (skripétʹ zubámi) (creak teeth)
• Spanish: apretar los dientes
• Swedish: bita ihop (tänderna), gnissla tänder (in anger)
• Tagalog: pagngalatin, lumangutngot
• Ukrainian: зці́плювати зу́би impf (zcípljuvaty zúby), зці́пити зу́би pf (zcípyty zúby), сти́снути зу́би pf (stýsnuty zúby)

face up to a difficult or disagreeable situation, and deal with it

• Belarusian: сашчамля́ць зу́бы impf (saščamljácʹ zúby), сашчамі́ць зу́бы pf (saščamícʹ zúby)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 咬緊牙關／咬紧牙关 (zh) (yǎojǐnyáguān)

• Dutch: door de zure appel heen bijten
• Finnish: purra hammasta
• French: serrer les dents (fr)
• German: die Zähne zusammenbeißen (de), in den sauren Apfel beißen (de) (literally “bite into the sour apple”)
• Greek: σφίγγω τα δόντια (sfíngo ta dóntia)
• Italian: stringere i denti
• Japanese: 歯を食いしばる (はをくいしばる, ha o kuishibaru), 歯軋りする (ja) (はぎしりする, hagishiri suru)
• Korean: 이를 악물다 (i-reul angmulda)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bite tennene sammen (no)

• Polish: zaciskać zęby impf, zacisnąć zęby pf
• Russian: сти́скивать зу́бы impf (stískivatʹ zúby), сти́снуть зу́бы (ru) pf (stísnutʹ zúby)
• Swedish: bita ihop
• Ukrainian: зці́плювати зу́би impf (zcípljuvaty zúby), зці́пити зу́би pf (zcípyty zúby), сти́снути зу́би pf (stýsnuty zúby)

See also

• bit between one's teeth