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grist

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grist

  • /ɡɹɪst/

Rhymes with -ɪst

Where it comes from

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, 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”).

noun grists

  1. countable, uncountable Grain 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 upon the swearing strain, in order to bring grist to their own mill, which is a crime still more eno
  2. collective, countable, dated, uncountable A group of bees. Swarming like a grist of bees...
  3. colloquial, countable, obsolete, uncountable Supply; 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.
  4. countable, uncountable A given size of rope, common grist being a rope three inches in circumference, with twenty yarns in each of the three strands.
  5. abbreviation, countable, ellipsis, figuratively, uncountable Ellipsis 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 wrong place at the wrong time. We were available, vulnerable, and expendable for political grist.

verb grists · gristing · gristed

  1. transitive To 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.

Translations

Every language

noun grain that is to be ground in a mill

Españolgrano (para molino), molienda
Françaisgrain à moudre
DeutschMahlgut
Italianogranaglia, cereale da mola
Русскийзерно́ n для помола dlja

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MLA

"grist." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/grist. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

grist. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/grist

Chicago

"grist." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/grist.

BibTeX
@misc{grist_2026,
  title = {grist},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/grist},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}