grit1 (grit)

[Usually in pl., It. gruzzo, a heap, pile), MHG. G. grütze, grits, groats, = Icel. grautr, porridge, = Norw. graut, porridge, = Sw. gröt, thick pap, = Dan. gröd, boiled groats; derived, with orig. suffix ja, from AS. grut, E. grout, q.v.; a different word from AS. greót, E. grit, with which, however, it is closely allied; different also from groats, q. v.] 1. The coarse part of meal.-2. pl. Oats or wheat hulled or coarsely ground; small particles of broken grain; sizings: as, oaten or wheaten grits. grit2 (grit), n. [A later form, with shortened vowel (prob. to suit the allied grit, meal), of earlier greet; How out of great and of gras grewe so meny huwes, Somme soure and som me swete selcouth me thouhte. Piers Plowman (C), xiv. 177. With marble greet ygrounde and myxt with lyme Polis she alle uppe thy werke in goodly tyme. Palladius , 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. See sandstone. 4. The structure of a stone in regard to finene and closene 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 fine as second grit . O. Byrne, Artisan's Handbook, p. 380. 5. Firmne of mind; courage; spirit; resolution; 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. Stowe , 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. Reade, Cloister and Hearth, xxi. It was, indeed, a point of honour with Shelley to prove that some grit lay under his outward appearance of weakne . E. Dowden, Shelley, IL 119. 6. [ cap .] 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 appropriate than Conservative and Liberal, by which they call themselves. Contemporary Rev., LII. 15. grit2 (grit), v.; pret. and pp. gritted, ppr. grit ting. [ grit2, sand, etc. Not connected with grate2.] I. in trans. To give forth a grating 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.]