grith 
gritflt, n. [ME. grith, gryth, < AS. grith, peace 
(as limited in place or time), truce, protection, 
security ; < Icel. gridh = OSw. grirli, grittli, prop, 
a domicile, home (with the notion of service), 
pi. a truce, peace, pardon (limited in place or 
time). Often used in connection with frith, 
peace: see frith 1 .] A truce; peace; security. 
To come and goo I graunte yow grith. 
York Plays, p. 131. 
"I gaf hem yrithe," seid oure kyng, 
"Thorowout alle mery Inglond." 
Robin Hood and the Monk (Child's Ballads, V. 16). 
grit-rock (grit'rok), n. Same as grift, 3. 
gritstone (grit'ston), . Same as grit*, 3. 
If the scale be rubbed off with, say, a little grit-atone, 
the colours are very plainly visible, and when the proper 
tint appears, the borer is plunged into water, and the 
tempering finished. W. Morgan, Manual of Mining Tools. 
grittent (grit ' n), a. [ME. grutten; < grit 1 + 
-ew 2 .] Made, as bread, of grits, 
grittie (grit'i), a. [Origin not ascertained.] 
In her., composed equally of a metal and a 
color: said of the field, 
grittiness (grit'i-nes), . The state or quality 
of being gritty. 
We had always recognized city dust as r. nuisance, and 
had supposed that it derived the peculiar grittineis and 
flintiness of its structure from the constant macadamiz- 
ing of city roads. R. A. Proctor, Light Science, p. 290. 
gritty (grit'i), a. [< grit* + -y 1 .] 1. Contain- 
ing sand or grit; consisting of grit; full of or 
covered with hard particles ; sandy. 
Sometimes also methought I found this powder . . . 
somewhat gritty between the teeth. 
Boyle, Works, III. 108. 
Coarse, gritty, and sandy papers are fit only for blotters 
and blunderers ; no good draughtsman would lay a line on 
them. Raskin, Elements of Drawing. 
It was damp and dark, and the floors felt gritty to the 
feet. H. James, Jr., Little Tour, p. 192. 
2. Courageous and resolute; determined; 
plucky. 
Thought I, my neighbor Buckingham 
Hath somewhat in him gritty, 
Some Pilgrim stun*, that hates all sham, 
And he will print my ditty. 
Lowell, Interview with Miles Standish. 
I 'lowed I'd see what sort uv stuff you've got, seein's 
you wuz so almighty gritty. A bigger man'n you could 
n' hold agin me. E. Eggleston, The Graysons, x. 
grivet (griv'et), n. [< F. grivet, appar. an ar- 
bitrary formation by some French naturalist, 
< gri(s), gray, + ve(r)t, green: see grise^ and 
vert.] A small greenish-gray monkey of north- 
eastern Africa, Cercofnthecux griseiviridis. It is 
one of the species oftenest seen in confinement^ or accom- 
panying organ-grinders. Also called iota. 
grizet (griz), n. Same as greese*. 
grizelt (griz'el), n. and a. [Also grissel; in al- 
lusion to Grizel, Grissel, othervrise called Grl- 
selda, the patient heroine of a well-known tale 
told by Boccaccio and Chaucer.] I. n. A meek 
woman. 
He had married five shrews in succession, and made 
grizeli of every one of them before they died. 
Brooke, Fool of Quality, ii. 15. 
II. (t. Meek; gentle. 
The grisseU Turtles (seldom seen alone\ 
Dis-payer'd and parted, wander one by one. 
Sylvester, tr. of Lm Bartas's Weeks, ii., The Colonies. 
grizelin (griz'e-lin), n. Same as gridelin. 
grizzle (griz'l), n. and a. [Formerly also 
grizle, grizele; < ME. grisel, grisell, gresell, n., 
an old man ('grisel, a., gray, not found), a 
dim. form equiv. to 'grayish/ < OF. gris, gray: 
see (/rise 4 .] I. n. 1. Gray; a gray color; a mix- 
ture of white and black. 
O, thou dissembling cub ! what wilt thou be, 
When time hath sow'd a grizzle on thy case? 
Shak., 1. N., v. 1. 
2f. A species of wig. Davies. 
Emerg'd from his grizzle, th' unfortunate prig 
Seems as if he was hunting all night for his wig. 
C. Anstey, Kew Bath Guide, xi. 
Even our clergy when abroad moult their feather'd 
grizzles, cast off their pudding-sleeves, and put on white 
stockings, long swords, and bag-wigs. 
Caiman, The Spleen, ii. 
3f. An old or gray-haired person. 
Lo, olde Grisel, liste to ryme and playe ! 
Chaucer, Scogan, 1. 35. 
And though thou feigne a yonge corage, 
It sheweth well by thy visage, 
That olde grigell is no fole. 
Goit'er, Conf. Amant., viii. 
Il.t Grizzly; gray. 
The grizzle grace 
Of bushy peruke shadow'd o'er his face. 
.Lloyd, Two Odes, I. 
grizzle (griz'l), v. i. ; pret. and pp. grizzled, ppr. 
grizzling. [< grizzle, n., or grizzled, grizzly, a.] 
2629 
To grow gray or grizzly ; become gray-haired. 
Emerson. [Rare.] 
grizzled (griz'ld), a. [< grizzle + -ed? ; former- 
ly spelled grixled.] Gray; of a mixed color. 
were ringstraked, speckled, and f/rfslptf. 
Gen. xxxi. 10. 
The rams . 
Old men like me are out of date : 
Who wants to see a grizzled pate ? 
Jt. a. Stoddard, Old Man's New- Year's Song. 
Grizzled sandpiper. See sandpiper. 
grizzly (griz'li), a. and n. [< grizzle + -y 1 .] I. 
a. Somewhat gray ; grayish. 
Old squirrels that turn grizzly. Bacon, Nat Hist., 851. 
And my good glass will tell me how 
A grizzly beard becomes me then. 
Bryant, Lapse of Time. 
Some rough old knight who knew the worldly way, 
Albeit grizzlier than a bear. 
Tennyson, Pelleas and Ettarre. 
Grizzly bear, Ursus horribilis, a very large and ferocious 
bear peculiar to mountainous parts of western North 
America. It is so called from its usual coloration, a griz- 
zled gray, but is very variable in this respect, some indi- 
viduals being whitish, blackish, brownish, or variegated. 
It is sometimes regarded as a variety of the common 
brown bear of Europe, U. arctos, but usually as a distinct 
species, of which several color-varieties have been recog- 
nized by name. See bear%, 1. [The spelling grisly, which 
refers to the nature of the brute, is later, and refers to 
grislyl, terrible, as reflected in the specific name.] 
II. n.; pi. grizzlies (-liz). 1. The grizzly 
bear, Ursus horribilis. See I. 
The miner chips the rock and wanders farther, and the 
grizzly muses undisturbed. 
R. L. Stevenson, Silverado Squatters, p. 49. 
The Indians and most of the white hunters are rather 
chary of meddling with "Old Ephraim," as the mountain 
men style the grizzly. T. Roosevelt, Hunting Trips, p. 334. 
2. In mining: (a) An arrangement in the sluices 
used in washing auriferous gravel for receiving 
and throwing out the large stones carried down 
by the current. [Pacific States.] (6) In Aus- 
tralia, a coarse grating of timber for separating 
large pieces of quartz from the decomposed 
rock with which they are associated, in some 
of the forms of granitic dikes containing aurif- 
erous quartz peculiar to that region. 
groan (gron), v. [Early mod. E. also grone (Sc. 
grane, grain); < ME. gronen,< AS. grdnian, la- 
ment, murmur ; akin to AS. grennian, snarl, grin, 
ME. grinnen, grennen, snarl, grin, howl, Icel. 
grenja, howl, etc.; both secondary verbs, the 
primary appearing in OHG. grinan, grin, snarl, 
grumble, growl, etc.: see grin 1 , and cf. grunt.] 
1. intran-s. 1. To breathe with a deep murmur- 
ing sound expressive of grief or pain ; utter a 
deep, low-toned, moaning sound : often used 
figuratively. 
We that are in this tabernacle do groan, being bur- 
dened. 2 Cor. v. 4. 
The land groans and justice goes to wrack the while. 
Milton, Civil Power. 
May the gods grant I may one day be [slain], 
And not from sickness die right wretchedly, 
Groaning with pain. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, I. 346. 
This profusion of food showed itself at dinner, where, if 
the table did not groan, the guests surely did : for each 
person is expected to eat of every dish. 
Darwin, Voyage of Beagle, I. 29. 
2. To long or strive with deep earnestness, and 
as if with groans. 
Nothing but holy, pure, and clear. 
Or that which groaneth to be so. G. Herbert. 
I'm sure the gallows groans for you. 
Swift, Polite Conversation, i. 
II. trans. To express disapproval of or to 
silence by means of groans : usually with down : 
as, the speaker was groaned down. 
Yesterday they met, as agreed upon, and, after groaning 
the Ward Committee, went to the mayor's office. 
New York Tribune, Dec. 19, 1861. 
groan (gron), n. [< groan, v.] 1. A low, deep, 
mournful sound uttered in pain or grief ; fig- 
uratively, any natural sound resembling this, 
and having a mournful or dismal effect. 
Such sheets of fire, such bursts of horrid thunder, 
Such groans of roaring wind and rain. 
Shak., Lear, iii. 2. 
Pain 
Implacable, and many a dolorous groan. 
Milton, P. L., vi. 658. 
He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan, 
Without a grave, unknell'd, uncoffln'd, and unknown. 
Byron, Childe Harold, iv. 179. 
2. A deep murmuring sound uttered in deri- 
sion or disapprobation: opposed to cheer or 
applause. 3. The noise made by a buck at 
rutting-time. Halliwett. 
groaner (gro'ner), n. One who groans. 
groanful (gron'ful), a. [< groan + -ful.] Sad; 
inducing groans. 
grocer 
It did aloft r rebownd. 
Anil gave against his mother earth &gronefull sownd. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. xi. 42. 
groaning-chairt (gro'ning-char), . The chair 
in which a woman formerly sat during labor, 
or after her confinement to receive congratu- 
lations. 
For the nurse, the child to dandle, 
Sugar, soap, spiced pots, and candle, 
A groaning^hair, and eke a cradle. 
Poor Robin's Almanack. 
groaning-cheeset, See cheese 1 . 
groaning-malt (gro'uing-malt), H. Drink, as 
ale or spirits, provided against a woman's con- 
finement, and drunk by the women assembled 
on the occasion. [Scotch.] 
Wha will buy my groanin'.maut ? 
Burns, The Rantin' Dog. 
groat (grot), . [< ME. grote, groote, < OD. 
groote, D. groot = LG. (Brem.) grote (> G. 
grot), a groat, lit. a 'great' or large coin, a 
name applied to various coins of different value 
(orig. to Bremen coins called grote sware, 'great 
pennies,' < swar, heavy), in distinction from 
the smaller copper coins of the same name, of 
which 5 made a groat. Cf. ML. grossi, grossi 
denarii, 'large pennies,' a name given to silver 
coins first issued in the 13th century at Prague 
and afterward at other places : see gross. ] 1 . An 
Obverse. Reverse. 
Groat of Edward III.. British Museum. (Size of the original.) 
English silver coin, of the value of fourpence, 
first issued for circulation in the reign of Ed- 
ward III. Groats were issued by subsequent sovereigns 
till 1662, when their coinage (except as Maundy money) was 
discontinued. The groat, under the name of fourpence, 
was again issued for circulation in 1836, but it has not been 
coined (except as Maundy money) since 1856. 
A ! give that covent [convent] half a quarter otes ; 
A ! gif that covent foure and twenty grates. 
Chaucer, Summoncr's Tale, 1. 256. 
S groates make 1 shilling. T. Hill, Arithmetic (1600). 
In the fifteenth Year of this King's Reign, Wheat was 
sold for ten Groats a Quarter. Baker, Chronicles, p. 101. 
2f. One of various small continental coins. 
A Flemish groat is a little above 3 farthings English. 
Recorde, Whetstone of Wit. 
3. Proverbially, a very small sum. 
He warned Watt his wyf was to blame, 
That hire hed was worth halue a niarke, his node nougte 
worth a grote. Piers Plowman (B), v. 31. 
"I care not a groat for Master Tressilian," he said; "I 
have done more than bargain by him, and have brought 
his errant-damozel within his reach." 
Scott, Kenilworth, xxix. 
groats (grots), n. pi. [< ME. grates, also groteti, 
pi. of grote, < AS. grdtan, pi., the grain of oats 
without the husks ; a once-occurring word, re- 
lated (though in what way is not clear, the vow- 
el-relation being irreg. ) to AS. grytt, gryttan, E. 
grits, the residuary materials of malt liquors, 
and grut,^. grout 1 , meal: see grit 1 , grift, grout 1 .] 
Oats or wheat from which the hull or outer 
coating has been removed and which is then 
crushed or used whole. Compare grit 1 , 2. 
Verrius reporteth, that the people of Rome for three 
hundred years together used no other food than the 
groats made of common wheat. 
Holland, tr. of Pliny, xviii. 7. 
There were oat and barley meal, or grotts, kail, leeks, 
and onions, oatcakes, and but little wheat bread. 
Quarterly Rev. 
grobian (gro'bi-an), TO. [< G. grobian (> Dan. 
Sw. grobian), < gfob, coarse, clumsy, rude, gruff, 
= D. grof, > E. gruff 1 , q. v.] A coarse, ill-bred 
fellow; a rude lout ; a boor. [Not in colloquial 
use.] 
Clownish, rude and horrid, Grobians and sluts. 
Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 530. 
He who is a Grobian in his own company will sooner or 
later become a Grobian in that of his friends. 
Kingsley, Westward Ho ! i!. 
Such passages are almost enough to convert the most 
hardened grobian, or even the robustious Philistine him- 
self. The Century, XXIII. 951. 
grobianism (gro'bi-au-izm), n. Slovenly be- 
havior. Bailey, 1731. 
grocet, n. Same as gross. 
grocer (gro'ser), n. [< ME. grocers, a corrupted 
spelling of reg. ME. grosser, also engrosser, a 
