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grig

[grig]
noun Northern British Dialect.
  1. a cricket or grasshopper.
  2. a small or young eel.
  3. a lively person.
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Origin of grig

1350–1400; Middle English grig, grege; origin uncertain
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for grig

Historical Examples of grig

  • Mrs. Pendyce murmured: "Of course, dear Grig, I quite understand."

    The Country House

    John Galsworthy

  • Arden announced blandly that she no longer felt “merry as a grig.”

  • Of course it may have been for the best that it turned out as it did, but—damn it all, Grig, she was worth while!

    One Day

    Anonymous

  • As for himself, he was always as merry as a grig, and no fool, either.

    L'Assommoir

    Emile Zola

  • Mr. Mooney was so absent, that when the old gentleman said to him, “Shake hands with Mr. Grig,” he put out his leg.

    The Lamplighter

    Charles Dickens

British Dictionary definitions for grig

grig

noun dialect
  1. a lively person
  2. a short-legged hen
  3. a young eel
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Word Origin for grig

C14: dwarf, perhaps of Scandinavian origin; compare Swedish krik a little creature
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012