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

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

Our daily bread is our daily life; it is economics – breadwinner, breadbaskets, breadlines; it is politics – upper crust, bread and circuses, grist for the mill.

From The Guardian • Oct. 10, 2019

Over the weekend, two more major pollsters added some grist for the mill.

From MSNBC • May 23, 2016

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

"We were made for talking and singing," said the lips, "but much of our time has to be spent in taking grist for the mill."

From Fifty Famous Fables by McMurry, Lida B. (Lida Brown)