Synonym Game

grits

[grits] Origin

grits

[grits]
noun (used with a singular or plural verb)
1.
Also called hominy grits. coarsely ground hominy, boiled and sometimes then fried, eaten as a breakfast dish or as a side dish with meats.
2.
grain hulled and coarsely ground.

Origin:
before 900; Middle English gryttes (plural), Old English gryt(t); cognate with German Grütze

00:10

00:09

00:08

00:07

00:06

00:05

00:04

00:03

00:02

00:01

Grits is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
Dictionary.com Unabridged

grit

[grit] noun, verb, grit·ted, grit·ting.
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. gravel.
5.
sand or other fine grainy particles eaten by fowl to aid in digestion.
verb (used with object)
6.
to cause to grind or grate together.
verb (used without object)
7.
to make a scratchy or slightly grating sound, as of sand being walked on; grate.
8.
grit one's teeth, to show tenseness, anger, or determination by or as if by clamping or grinding the teeth together.

Origin:
before 1000; Middle English gret, griet, grit, Old English grēot; cognate with German Griess, Old Norse grjōt pebble, boulder; see grits

grit·less, adjective
grit·ter, noun


2. resolution, fortitude, courage.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To grits
Collins
World English Dictionary
grits (ɡrɪts)
 
pl n
1.  hulled and coarsely ground grain
2.  (US) See hominy grits
 
[Old English grytt; related to Old High German gruzzi; see great, grit]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

grit
O.E. greot "sand, dust, earth, gravel," from P.Gmc. *greutan "tiny particles of crushed rock" (cf. O.S. griot, O.Fris. gret, O.N. grjot "rock, stone," Ger. Grieß "grit, sand"), from PIE ghreu- "rub, pound, crush" (cf. Lith. grudas "corn, kernel," O.C.S. gruda "clod"). Sense of "pluck, spirit" first
EXPAND
recorded Amer.Eng. 1808. Gritty in sense of "unpleasant" (of literature, etc.) is 1882, in reference to the sensation of eating gritty bread.

grits
O.E. grytt (pl. grytta) "coarse meal, groats, grits," from P.Gmc. *grutja-, from the same root as grit, the two words having influenced one another in sound development. In Amer.Eng., corn-based grits and hominy (q.v.) were used interchangeably
in Colonial times. Later, hominy meant whole kernels that had been skinned but not ground, but in the U.S. South, hominy meant skinned kernels that could be ground coarsely to make grits. In New Orleans, whole kernels are big hominy and ground kernels little hominy.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary

grit definition


  1. n.
    courage; nerve. : It takes a lot of grit to do something like that.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature