gristle
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of gristle
before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Old Frisian, Middle Low German gristal; akin to Old English grost cartillage
Explanation
Gristle is a chewy, inedible part of meat. If there's too much gristle in your steak, you might send it back — or think seriously about becoming a vegetarian. Gristle is an unpleasant surprise in a bite of meat, a fibrous bit you may end up spitting in your napkin. It makes sense you can't chew it, since gristle is a type of connective tissue that's mainly found in ligaments and doesn't break down when it's cooked. Skilled cooks can easily cut out any gristle before cooking meat. In Old English, gristle simply meant "cartilage."
Vocabulary lists containing gristle
The House of the Scorpion
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Lyddie
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
The Birchbark House
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
Food included a bean soup, rice and a meat dish—which he said was “bone gristle and a sort of oily residue.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
"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
Perfect gristle for the celebrity industrial complex’s hunger for attention.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2022
All day long the outside stove cooked peelings and gristle into chicken feed.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
