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grit - What does it mean?

Definition of 'grit'

English

Etymology 1

With early modern vowel shortening, from (etyl) grete, griet, from (etyl) ‘lump’).

Noun

(-)
  • Collection of hard small materials, such as dirt, ground stone, debris from sandblasting or other such grinding, swarf from metalworking.
    • The flower beds were white with grit from sand blasting the flagstone walkways.
  • Inedible particles in food.
    • It tastes like grit from nutshells in these cookies.
  • Firmness of mind; invincible spirit; unyielding courage or fearlessness; fortitude.
    • That kid with the cast on his arm has the grit to play dodgeball.
  • A measure of relative coarseness of an abrasive material such as sandpaper.
    • I need a sheet of 100 grit sandpaper.
  • (geology) A hard, coarse-grained siliceous sandstone; gritstone. Also, to a finer sharp-grained sandstone, e.g. grindstone grit .
    • Derived terms
    * *
    Related terms
    * * * sand, sandy, sandblasting
    See also
    * debris * mortar and pestle * swarf

    Verb

  • To clench, particularly in reaction to pain or anger; apparently only appears in gritting one's teeth .
    • We had no choice but to grit our teeth and get on with it.
    He has a sleeping disorder and grits his teeth.
  • To cover with grit .
  • To give forth a grating sound, like sand under the feet; to grate; to grind.
  • * Goldsmith
    • The sanded floor that grits beneath the tread.
    Derived terms
    *

    Etymology 2

    (etyl) gryt ‘bran, chaff’, from (etyl) grytt, from (etyl) . See above.

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • (usually in plural) husked]] but unground [[oat|oats
  • (usually in plural) coarsely ground corn or hominy used as porridge
    • Related terms
    * *

    Anagrams

    * girt * trig

    Similar to 'grit'

    great, grout, greet, girt, grot, groat, grat, griot, gart, gert, greit, gurt, gruit