grig

[ grig ]

/ grɪg /

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noun Northern British Dialect.

a cricket or grasshopper.

a small or young eel.

a lively person.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

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Origin of grig

1350–1400; Middle English grig, grege; origin uncertain

Words nearby grig

Griffith, D. W., Griffith-Joyner, griffon, grift, grifter, grig, Grigioni, Grignard, Grignard reaction, Grignard reagent, grigri

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use grig in a sentence

Hard is her heart as flint or stone,She laughs to see me pale; And merry as a grig is grown,And brisk as bottled ale.
The Book of Humorous Verse|Various
I drove through that region with my father when I was a young grig—not very full of hope about my woman's future.
George Eliot's Life, Vol. III (of 3)|George Eliot
Roy loved and obeyed Polly almost as readily as Peggy, and cavorted off beside her as gay as a grig.
Peggy Stewart at School|Gabrielle E. Jackson
Grig (greg in Sligo): a boy with sugarstick holds it out to another and says, 'grig, grig,' to triumph over him.
English As We Speak It in Ireland|P. W. Joyce

Pinched for standing-room, the comical old grig laughs and lies down!
Merrie England In The Olden Time, Vol. 2 (of 2)|George Daniel

British Dictionary definitions for grig

grig

/ (ɡrɪɡ) /

noun dialect

a lively person

a short-legged hen

a young eel

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