abrasive particles or granules, as of sand or other small, coarse impurities found in the air, food, water, etc.
firmness of character; indomitable spirit; pluck.
She has a reputation for grit and common sense.
a coarse-grained siliceous rock, usually with sharp, angular grains.
British. gravel.
sand or other fine grainy particles eaten by fowl to aid in digestion.
small hard particles of sand, earth, stone, etc
Also called: gritstone. any coarse sandstone that can be used as a grindstone or millstone
the texture or grain of stone
indomitable courage, toughness, or resolution
engineering an arbitrary measure of the size of abrasive particles used in a grinding wheel or other abrasive process
to clench or grind together (two objects, esp the teeth)
to cover (a surface, such as icy roads) with grit
First recorded before 1000; Middle English gret, griet, grit, Old English grēot; cognate with German Griess, Old Norse grjōt “pebble, boulder”; see grits
Grit is a coarse, gravelly dust. If you don't rinse dried beans before you cook them, you may end up crunching grit between your teeth. Grit is small, sandy pieces of rock or stone. Another way to use the word grit is to mean a determined, courageous attitude. If you have grit, you'll keep trying to climb a rock wall no matter how many times you slip and fall. Charles Portis's 1968 novel "True Grit" tells the story of a young girl in the 1800s who embodies this quality, persevering through extreme difficulty and struggle.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Coexisting with the amazing athletic skill, physical intelligence and grit, there was a type of insecure performative patriotic hypermasculinity.
From Salon • Jun. 17, 2026
I have always prided myself on my grit, but this place has made me realize that perhaps East Coast toughness masks a greater vulnerability.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2026
Natural chewing, abrasive foods, or even swallowed grit can produce similar patterns.
From Science Daily • Jun. 8, 2026
"I always sort of go back to classic actresses in the way that they could sort of toe a line between extreme femininity and just rock hard will and grit," she said.
From Barron's • Jun. 3, 2026
I was dying to scrub the grit off my arms and face.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
