grit Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a hard coarse-grained siliceous sandstone
    gritrock; gritstone.
  2. noun fortitude and determination
    backbone; gumption; guts; sand; moxie.
    • he didn't have the guts to try it
  3. verb cover with a grit
    • grit roads
  4. verb clench together
    • grit one's teeth

WordNet

Grit noun
Etymology
OE, greet, greot, sand, gravel, AS. greót grit, sant, dust; akin to OS griott, OFries. gret gravel, OHG. grioz, G. griess, Icel. grjot, and to E. groats, grout. See Groats, Grout, and cf. Grail gravel.
Definitions
  1. Sand or gravel; rough, hard particles.
  2. The coarse part of meal.
  3. pl. Grain, esp. oats or wheat, hulled and coarsely ground; in high milling, fragments of cracked wheat smaller than groats.
  4. (Geol.) A hard, coarse-grained siliceous sandstone; as, millstone grit; -- called also gritrock and gritstone. The name is also applied to a finer sharp-grained sandstone; as, grindstone grit.
  5. Structure, as adapted to grind or sharpen; as, a hone of good grit.
  6. Firmness of mind; invincible spirit; unyielding courage; fortitude. C. Reade. E. P. Whipple.
Grit intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To give forth a grating sound, as sand under the feet; to grate; to grind.
    The sanded floor that grits beneath the tread. Goldsmith.
Grit transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Gritted; present participle &, verbal noun Gritting
Definitions
  1. To grind; to rub harshly together; to grate; as, to grit the teeth. Collog.

Webster 1913