Grit

[grit] /grɪt/

noun
1.
abrasive particles or granules, as of sand or other small, coarse impurities found in the air, food, water, etc.
2.
firmness of character; indomitable spirit; pluck:
She has a reputation for grit and common sense.
3.
a coarse-grained siliceous rock, usually with sharp, angular grains.
4.
British. .
5.
sand or other fine grainy particles eaten by fowl to aid in digestion.
verb (used with object), gritted, gritting.
6.
to cause to grind or grate together.
verb (used without object), gritted, gritting.
7.
to make a scratchy or slightly grating sound, as of sand being walked on; grate.
Idioms
8.
grit one’s teeth, to show tenseness, anger, or determination by or as if by clamping or grinding the teeth together.
/ɡrɪt/
noun
1.
small hard particles of sand, earth, stone, etc
2.
Also called gritstone. any coarse sandstone that can be used as a grindstone or millstone
3.
the texture or grain of stone
4.
indomitable courage, toughness, or resolution
5.
(engineering) an arbitrary measure of the size of abrasive particles used in a grinding wheel or other abrasive process
verb grits, gritting, gritted
6.
to clench or grind together (two objects, esp the teeth)
7.
to cover (a surface, such as icy roads) with grit
/ɡrɪt/
noun, adjective (Canadian)
1.
an informal word for Liberal
n.

Old English greot “sand, dust, earth, gravel,” from Proto-Germanic *greutan “tiny particles of crushed rock” (cf. Old Saxon griot, Old Frisian gret, Old Norse grjot “rock, stone,” German Grieß “grit, sand”), from PIE *ghreu- “rub, grind” (cf. Lithuanian grudas “corn, kernel,” Old Church Slavonic gruda “clod”). Sense of “pluck, spirit” first recorded American English, 1808.
v.

“make a grating sound,” 1762, probably from grit (n.). Related: Gritted; gritting.

noun

verb

To eat (1930s+ Black)

Related Terms

hit the dirt

[food senses at least partially fr hominy grits, although grit was British military slang for ”food” in the 1930s; Southern dialect sense probably ironically fr Civil War use of the expression true Yankee grit by Northern soldiers and writers]