grist for the mill

Idioms  

1. Something that can be used to advantage, as in These seemingly useless data will be grist for the mill when he lodges a complaint. This expression alludes to grist, the amount of grain that can be ground at one time. [Late 1500s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

grist for the mill

And even the peculiar prejudices of the island became grist for the mill once Booster read Austen’s novel and realized that her story of social stratification would map neatly onto his own experiences.

From New York Times ● Jun. 3, 2022

Three new polls offer grist for the mill.

From MSNBC ● Feb. 1, 2016

Every fact, no matter how sordid, whether plucked from the archives or the trash can, should be grist for the mill.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 23, 2015

One of the few advantages of being an artist is that everything that happens to you, from good to bad to awful—and especially the awful—is grist for the mill.

From Slate ● Nov. 29, 2011

There's no grist for the mill or siller for the till, But I've kept the mill-wheel turning To the rumble and the beat of a million marching feet, And my sad heart's muffled yearning.

From The New York Times Current History, A Monthly Magazine The European War, March 1915 by Various