grise 
3f. A young animal of another kind, as a bad- 
ger ; a cub. 
This flne 
Smooth bawson cub, the young grice of a gray [a badger]. 
B. Jonson, Sad Shepherd, II. 1. 
grise :i t, " Same as greese 2 . 
Let mo speak like yourself ; and lay a sentence. 
Which, as a grist, or step, may help these lovers, 
Shak., Othello, L 3. 
grise*t, a. and . [Early mod. E. also grice, 
I/fix ; < ME. gryce, gris, grys, < OP. gris = Pr. 
Sp. Pg. gris It. grigio (ML. grisivs, griseus), 
gray, < OHG. MHG. gris, Gr. greis = OS. gris, 
gray ; as a noun, < ME. gryce, grig, grys, < OF. 
gris = Pr. Sp. Pg. gris, a gray fur, miniver, = 
It. grigio, a homespun cloth, russet ; from the 
adj.] I. a. Gray. 
His hakeuey, that was al pomely grys. 
Chaucer, Prol. to Canon's Yeoman's Tale, 1. 6. 
II. H. A gray fur, of the squirrel or rabbit. 
I saugh his sieves ypurflled at the hond 
With grys, and that the fyneste of a loud. 
Chaucer, Gen. Prol. to C. T., 1. 194. 
They ar clothed in veluet and chamlet furred with grice, 
and we be vestured with pore clothe. 
Berners, tr. of Froissart's Chron., ccclxL 
"Here is a glove, a glove," he said, 
" Lined with the silver gris." 
Child Soryce (Child's Ballads, II. 41). 
griseous (gris'e-us), a. [< ML. griseus, grisiits, 
gray: seegrrac'*.] Pearl-gray; gray verging on 
as 
1-1 
lue. 
grisette (gri-zef), . [< F. grisette (= Sp. gri- 
seta = It. grisetto), a sort of gray fabric (see 
def. 1), dim. of gris, gray : see grise*.] 1. Ori- 
ginally, a sort of gray woolen fabric, much used 
for dresses by women of the lower classes in 
France : so called from its gray color. Hence 
2. A young woman of the working class; 
especially, a young woman employed as a shop- 
girl, a sewing girl, or a chambermaid : common- 
ly applied by foreigners in Paris to the young 
women of this class who are free in their man- 
ners on the streets or in the shops. 
She was working a pair of ruffles as she sat in a low 
chair, on the far side of the shop. . . . She was the hand- 
somest grisette I ever saw. Sterne, Sentimental Journey. 
3. The noctuid moth Acronycta strigosa: an 
English collectors' name. = Syn. 2. See lorette. 
grisfult, a. Terrible; dreadful, 
griskin (gris'kin), n. [< grind* + -kin.] The 
small bones taken out of the flitch of a bacon 
pig. Wright. [Prov. Eng.] 
Who in all forms of pork, . . . 
Leg, bladebone, baldrib, yriskin, chine or chop, 
Profess myself a genuine Philopig. 
Southey, To A. Cunningham. 
grisledt, An obsolete spelling of grizzled. 
grisliness (griz'li-nes), . [< ME. grislines; < 
grisly 1 + -ness.'] The quality of being grisly or 
horrible ; dreadf ulness. 
There as they schuln have . . . scharp hunger and 
thurst, and grislities of develes. Chaucer, Parson's Tale. 
That ill-agreeing musick was beautified with the grisli- 
nfss of wounds, the rising of dust, the hideous falls and 
the groans of the dying. Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, iii. 
grisly 1 (griz'H), a. [Eavly mod. E. also griesly; 
< ME. grisly, grysly, grisely,grysely, grissely ; -lick, 
-lie, < AS. "grislie, not found except as in an- 
grislic, on-grislic, an-gryslic, on-grysenlic, horri- 
ble, terrible, adv. angrysenlice, horribly (each 
form once), = OD. grijselick = OFries. grislik or 
gryslik = MHG. grisenlich, horrible ; connected 
with grise^, v., a. v.] Such as to inspire fear; 
frightful ; terrible ; gruesome ; grim : as, a gris- 
ly countenance ; a grisly specter. 
Ac he hath sent sou to socoure so grismliche an host, 
That ther nis man vpon mold that may 3011 with-stond. 
William of Paler lie (E. E. T. S.), 1. 4935. 
Whose grimly looks, and eyes like brands, 
Strike terrour where they come. 
Robin Hood and the Stranger (Child's Ballads, V. 412). 
Who enters at such grisly door, 
Shall ne'er, I ween, tlnd exit more. 
Scott, Marmion, ii. 23. 
To the executioner she expressed a hope that his sword 
was sufficiently sharp, " as he was likely to find her old 
neck very tough." With this grisly parody upon the pa- 
thetic dying words of Anne Boleyn, the courageous old 
gentlewoman submitted to her fate. 
Motley, Dutch Republic, IL 226. 
Grisly bear. See grizzly. = Syn. Grim, Hideous, etc. (see 
ghastly) : horrid, appalling, dreadful. 
grisly 1 !, adv. [< ME. grisly, grissely ; from the 
adj.] Frightfully; terribly. 
Nayled thou wag thnrgh hande and feete, 
And all was for oure synne. 
Full grissely muste we caitims grete, 
Of bale howe schulde I blynne ? 
York Playe, p. 42S. 
grisly 2 t, a. An obsolete spelling of grizzly. 
2628 
grison (gri'son), n. [< F. grison, gray (as a noun, 
applied to an ass), < gris, gray: see grise*.] 
1. An animal of the genus Galictis, G. vittata 
or Guiana marten, a plantigrade carnivorous 
quadruped of the subfamily Mustelines, inhabit- 
ing South America. It is made by J. E. Gray 
the type of a genus Grisonia. See cut under 
Galictis. 2. A kind of sapajou, the Lagothrix 
rn mis of Geoffroy. Curier, ed. 1849. 
grissel ' t, n . An obsolete spelling of grizzle. 
grissel-t, n. and a. See grizel. 
grist (gnst), n. [< ME. grist, gryxt, < AS. yrixt, 
lit. a grinding (glossed by ML. molitura, and, 
transposed gyrst, by L. stridor; as adj. gyrst by 
L. stridulus, grinding, gnashing) (also in deriv. 
i/mtajn, grind, grate, gnash, in comp.gristbatiaii 
&nAgristbitia>i, gnash the teeth, ME. gristbutii n, 
gristbetien, grisbaten, grispaten, gnash the teeth, 
mod. E. dial, grizbite (Gloucester), gnash the 
teeth, grisbet (Somerset), make a wry face (see 
bite, bift, bait 1 ) ; of. OS. gristgrimmo, n., gnash- 
ing of teeth, OHG. grisgrimmon, also grisgra- 
mon, MHG. grisgramen, gri.tgrimmen, gnash the 
teeth, growl, G. griesgramfii, be fretful, morose, 
peevish, MHG. grisgram, gnashing of teeth, G. 
griesgram, peevishness, a grumbler, adj. pee- 
vish, morose); f ormed, with suffix -st,< AS. grin- 
dan, grind: see grind. Hence gristle, q. v.] 
It. A grinding: in the quotation used of the 
gnashing of the teeth. 
Thy heued hate nanther grenie ne gryste, 
On arme other fynger, thag thou ber byge. 
Alliterative Poems (ed. MorrlsXi. 465. 
2. That which is ground; corn to be ground; 
grain carried to the mill to be ground sepa- 
rately for its owner. 
Oon wolde riflee us at name, 
And gadere the flour out of cure gryst. 
Hymn* to Virgin, etc. (E. E. T. 8.X p. 44. 
Get grist to the mill to have plenty in store. 
Tvster, Five Hundred Points. 
3. The amount ground at one time ; the grain 
carried to the mill for grinding at one time. 
Hence 4. Material for an occasion; a supply 
or provision. 
Matter, as wise logicians say, 
Cannot without a form subsist ; 
And form, say I as well as they, 
Must fail, if matter bring no grift. 
Suifl, Progress of Beauty. 
5. Material for one brewing. See the extract. 
The quantity of malt and raw fruit used for one brew- 
ing, expressed by weight or by measure and weight, is 
called the grist. Thausing, Beer (trans.), p. 410. 
6. A given size of rope or yarn, as determined 
by the amount of material. The common grist 
of rope is a circumference of 3 inches, with 20 
yarns in each of the 3 strands. 
The grist or quality of all flne yarns is estimated by the 
number of leas in a pound. Encyc. Brit., XIV. 666. 
The hemp is not stripped of the tow, or cropped, unless 
it is designed to spin beneath the usual grist, which is 
about 20 yarns for the strand of a 3-inch strap-laid rope. 
Ure, Wet, III. 716. 
To bring grist to the mill, to be a source of profit ; bring 
profitable business into one's hands. 
The computation of degrees, in all matrimonial causes, 
is wont to be made according to the rules of that law, be- 
cause it brings grist to the mill. Ayliffe, Parergon. 
gristle (gris'l), . [< ME. gristel, grystyl, < AS. 
gristle (= OFries. gristel, gristl, grestel, gerstel). 
cartilage ; dim. in form, < AS. grist, a grinding 
(with reference to the difficulty of masticating 
it): see grist, . Cf. D. knarsbeen, gristle, < 
knarsen, gnash, crunch, + been, bone.] 1. The 
popular name of cartilage. See cartilage. 
The women generally weare in one of the gristles of 
their noses a ring like a wedding ring. 
Hakluyt's Voyages, U. 269. 
Hence 2. Something young and unformed. 
You have years, and strength to do it ! but were you, 
As I, a tender gristle, apt to bow, 
You would, like me, with cloaks enveloped, 
Walk thus, then stamp, then stare. 
Fletcher (and another), Queen of Corinth, v. 3. 
They were but gristles, and not one amongst a hundred 
come to any full growth or perfection. 
Middleton, Mad World, ii. 7. 
In the gristle, not yet hardened into bone or strength- 
ened into sinew ; young, weak, and unformed. 
A people who are still, as it were, but in the gristle, and 
not yet hardened into the bone of manhood. 
Burke, Conciliation with America. 
gtistled (gris'ld), a. [< gristle + -ed%.] Con- 
sisting of gristle ; tough. 
I pitied the man whose Bristled half a heart the contrast 
could not move. New York Tribune, May 17, 1862. 
gristliness (gris'li-nes), n. The quality of be- 
ing gristly or cartilaginous. 
grit 
gristly (gris'li), . [< gristle + -yl.] Consist- 
ing of gristle; like gristle; cartilaginous: as. 
the gristly rays of fins connected by mem- 
branes ; the gristly caps or epiphyses of grow- 
ing bones. 
In the so-called cuttlefish, for example, there is a dis- 
tinct brain enclosed in a kind of skull a gristly, not a 
bony, case. W. L. Davidson, Mind, XII. 262. 
grist-mill (grist'mil), n. A mill for grinding 
grain by the grist, or for customers. See flour- 
ing-mill. 
grit 1 (grit), . [Usually in pi., < ME. 'grytte, 
*gratte (in deriv. grutten, a.: see gritteti), < AS. 
grytt, usually in pi. grytta, grytte (also spelled 
gritta, gretta), and gryttan, flour, bran (ii.pollis 
and furfur), = D. grutte, grut, grits, groats, = 
OHG. gnizzi, bran, grits (> It. gmeso, a heap, 
pile), MHG. G. griitze, grits, groats, = Icel. 
grautr, porridge, = Norw. grant, porridge, = 
Sw. grot, thick pap, = Dan. grod, boiled groats; 
derived, with orig. suffix -ja, from AS. grut, E. 
grout 1 , q. v. ; a different word from AS. greot, E. 
grift, with which, however, it is closely allied ; 
different also from groats, q. v.] 1. The coarse 
part of meal. 2. pi. Oats or wheat hulled 
or coarsely ground ; small particles of broken 
grain; sizmgs: as, oaten or wheaten grits. 
grit 2 (grit), n. [A later form, with shortened 
vowel (prob. to suit the allied grift, meal), of 
earlier greet; < ME. greet, gret, greot, < AS. greot, 
sand, dust, earth, = OS. griot = OFries. gret, 
sand, = OHG. grioz, sand, gravel, MHG. griez, 
sand, gravel (comp. griez^mel, coarse meal), G. 
griess, gries, coarse sand, gravel, grit, also grits, 
groats, = Icel. grjot, collectively, stones, rough 
stones, rubble; akin to AS. grot, ME. grot, a 
particle, small piece. Grit 2 is allied to, and in 
mod. use partly confused with, grift : see grift, 
grouft,groufi.] 1. Sand or gravel ; rough hard 
particles collectively. 2t. Soil; earth. 
How out of great and of gras grewe so meny huwes, 
Somme soure and somme swete selcouth me thonhte. 
Piers Plowman (C), iciv. 177. 
With marble greet ygrounde and myxt with lyme 
Polisshe alle uppe thy werke in goodly tyme. 
Palladium, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 15. 
3. In geol., any silicious rock of which the 
particles have sharp edges, so that it can be 
used for grinding. The best-known grit-rock is the 
millstone-grit (see that word, and carboniferous), to which 
belongs much of the rock used in England for grindstones. 
The best-known and most important gritstone in the 
United States is the so-called Berea grit or sandstone. 
BM nndttone. 
4. The structure of a stone in regard to fine- 
ness and closeness or their opposites : as, a 
hone of fine grit. 
By statuaries, the marble is rubbed with two qualities 
of gritstone: the coarse, which is somewhat finer than 
Bilston, is known as first grit, and the flne as second grit. 
0. Byrne, Artisan's Handbook, p. 380. 
5. Firmness of mind; courage; spirit; resolu- 
tion ; determination ; pluck. 
If he hadn't a had the clear grit in him, and showed his 
teeth and claws, they'd a nullified him so you wouldn't see 
a grease spot of him no more. Haliburton, Sam Slick. 
She used to write sheets and sheets to your Aunt Lois 
about it ; and I think Aunt Lois she kep' her grit up. 
H. B. Stoute, Oldtown, p. 36. 
They came to a rising ground, not sharp, but long ; and 
here youth, and grit, and sober living told more than ever. 
C. Beade, Cloister and Hearth, \ \ i . 
It was, indeed, a point of honour with Shelley to prove 
that some grit lay under his outward appearance of weak- 
ness. E. Dmcden, Shelley, II. 119. 
6. [tap.] In Canada, an extreme Liberal: so 
called by the opposite party. 
The names "Tory" and "Grit," by which they call each 
other, therefore, being free from meaning, are really more 
hemselves. 
, 
Contemporary Ken., LII. 15. 
, , , 
appropriate than Conservative and Liberal, by which they 
all the 
( 
. [< 
grate 2 .] I. intrans. To give forth a grating 
grit 2 (grit), v. ; pret. and pp. gritted, ppr. grit- 
ting. [< grit 2 , sand, etc. Not connected with 
. 
sound, as of sand under the feet ; grate. 
The sanded floor that grits beneath the tread. 
Goldsmith, An Author's Bedchamber. 
II. trans. To grate; grind: as, to grit the 
teeth. [Colloq.] 
grit 3 (grit), . [Origin uncertain.] A kind of 
crawfish; the sea-crab. Minsheu. [Old and 
prov. Eng.] 
Paguro [It. I a kind of creuis or craflsh called a grit, a 
grampell, or a punger. Florio. 
grit* (grit), a. A Scotch variant of great. 
But fair Lady Anne on Sir William call'd, 
With the tear grit in her ee. 
Lady Anne (Child's Ballads, II. 263). 
Yet has sae mony takin' arts, 
Wl' grit an' sma'. 
Burnt, Holy Willie's Prayer. 
