grist

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See also: Grist

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English grist, gryst, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old English grist, gyrst (the action of grinding, corn for grinding, gnashing), from a derivative of (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Germanic *gredaną (to crunch), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Indo-European *gʰrew- (to rub, grind). Cognate with Old Saxon gristgrimmo (gnashing of the teeth), German Griesgram (a grumbler, a grouch, peevishness, misery), Old English gristel (gristle). More at gristle.

Pronunciation

Noun

grist (countable and uncountable, plural grists)

  1. Grain that is to be ground in a mill.
    • 2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:
      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 kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.
    • 1720, Jonathan Swift, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift: An Essay on English Bubbles, volume 8:
      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 upon the swearing strain, in order to bring grist to their own mill, which is a crime still more enormous; and that therefore, for fear of these evil consequences, the passing of such an act is not consistent with the really extraordinary and tender conscience of a true modern politician.
  2. (obsolete) A group of bees.
  3. (colloquial, obsolete) Supply; provision.
  4. (ropemaking) A given size of rope, common grist being a rope three inches in circumference, with twenty yarns in each of the three strands.

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams


Dutch

Pronunciation

  • Audio:(file)

Verb

grist

  1. (deprecated template usage) second- and third-person singular present indicative of grissen
  2. (deprecated template usage) (archaic) plural imperative of grissen

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

Verb

grist

  1. past participle of grise