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gristle

American

[gris-uhl] / ˈgrɪs əl /

noun

cartilage, especially in meats.

gristle British

/ ˈɡrɪsəl /

noun

cartilage, esp when in meat

"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

Other Word Forms

gristliness noun
gristly adjective

Etymology

Origin of gristle

before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Old Frisian, Middle Low German gristal; akin to Old English grost cartillage

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"Dishes often contain meat that looks like cartilage, jelly and fat, with a high percentage of gristle," she wrote.

From BBC • Sep. 28, 2025

Set in the mid-18th century, it is a classic tale of haves and have-nots filled with gristle and grit, limitless horizons, scenes of suffering, reversals of fortune and cathartic recognition.

From New York Times • Feb. 1, 2024

I suppose there's only so much originality to be mined from a universe bent on peeling every last bit of gristle off its main story.

From Salon • Sep. 10, 2023

My Los Angeles bookshelf filled up, book by book, with the glitter and gristle of L.A. noir.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2023

She’s the gristle stuck between Time’s teeth, and I love her for it.

From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023