grist

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English

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Etymology

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From 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,[1] or from a derivative of Proto-Germanic *gredaną (to crunch), (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?) possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (to rub, grind).[2] Cognate with Old Saxon gristgrimmo (gnashing of the teeth), German Griesgram (a grumbler, a grouch, peevishness, misery), Old English gristel (gristle).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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grist (countable and uncountable, plural grists)

  1. Grain that is to be ground in a mill.
    • 1720, Thomas Hope [pseudonym; Jonathan Swift], “An Essay on English Bubbles”, in The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift[1], 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.
    • 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.
  2. (obsolete) A group of bees.
  3. (colloquial, obsolete) Supply; provision.
    • 1719, Jonathan Swift, “The Progress of Beauty”, in The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D.[2], volume 1:
      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.
  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.
  5. (figurative) Ellipsis of grist for the mill.
    • 1985 August 24, Robert Butler, “Sex More Punished Than Murder”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 7, page 5:
      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 wrong place at the wrong time. We were available, vulnerable, and expendable for political grist.
    • 2023 November 11, Danny Leigh, “Living on the edge”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 10:
      True stories are embellished, the casts of fictional dramas stuffed with unlikely non-actors. All is grist to what [Werner] Herzog calls “ecstatic truth”.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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grist (third-person singular simple present grists, present participle gristing, simple past and past participle gristed)

  1. (transitive) To grind in a mill.
    • 1861, Sessional Papers of the Parliament of the Province of Canada:
      [] and another mill is erecting on the same stream near Sparrow Lake, to which a run of stones for gristing will be added.
    • 1892, Annual report of the Department of Indian Affairs, page 70:
      [] it cleaned out two hundred and ten bushels called screenings; the balance was sold, gristed and used for seed.

References

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  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “gristle”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  2. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “grist”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

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Dutch

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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grist

  1. inflection of grissen:
    1. second/third-person singular present indicative
    2. (archaic) plural imperative

Norwegian Bokmål

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Alternative forms

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Verb

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grist

  1. past participle of grise

Old English

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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grīst

  1. second/third-person singular present indicative of grīsan

Slovene

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Verb

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grȋst

  1. supine of gristi