Grist
noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Grain that is to be ground in a mill. countable, uncountable
"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 enormous; and that therefore, for fear of these evil consequences, the passing of such an act is not consistent with the really extraordinary and tender conscience of a true modern politician."
- 2 grain intended to be or that has been ground wordnet
- 3 A group of bees. countable, obsolete, uncountable
- 4 Supply; provision. colloquial, countable, obsolete, uncountable
"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."
- 5 A given size of rope, common grist being a rope three inches in circumference, with twenty yarns in each of the three strands. countable, uncountable
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- 6 Ellipsis of grist for the mill. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, figuratively, uncountable
"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."
- 1 To grind in a mill. transitive
"[…] and another mill is erecting on the same stream near Sparrow Lake, to which a run of stones for gristing will be added."
Example
More examples"All's grist that comes to his mill."
Etymology
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”).
Related phrases
More for "grist"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.