grits
- Also called hominy grits. coarsely ground hominy, boiled and sometimes then fried, eaten as a breakfast dish or as a side dish with meats.
- grain hulled and coarsely ground.
Origin of grits
grit
- abrasive particles or granules, as of sand or other small, coarse impurities found in the air, food, water, etc.
- firmness of character; indomitable spirit; pluck: She has a reputation for grit and common sense.
- a coarse-grained siliceous rock, usually with sharp, angular grains.
- British. gravel.
- sand or other fine grainy particles eaten by fowl to aid in digestion.
- to cause to grind or grate together.
- to make a scratchy or slightly grating sound, as of sand being walked on; grate.
- grit one's teeth, to show tenseness, anger, or determination by or as if by clamping or grinding the teeth together.
Origin of grit
Synonyms
See more synonyms for grit on Thesaurus.comExamples from the Web for grits
Contemporary Examples
The cafeteria style stop is basically a comfort food joint—think baby back ribs, shrimp and grits, and gumbo—done well.
Historical Examples
We ate hominy, mush, grits and pone bread for the most part.
Slave Narratives, OklahomaVarious
There are sandstones, shales, and grits, with ferruginous joints.
British BorneoW. H. Treacher
There was a strip of bacon a few inches thick, some flour, grits—and these were about all.
Fred Fenton on the TrackAllen Chapman
And, secondly, since Grits Jarvis was contraband, nothing was to be said about him.
A Far Country, CompleteWinston Churchill
Grits Jarvis, his son, who had inherited the talent, was also contraband.
A Far Country, CompleteWinston Churchill
grits
- hulled and coarsely ground grain
- US See hominy grits
Word Origin
grit
- small hard particles of sand, earth, stone, etc
- Also called: gritstone any coarse sandstone that can be used as a grindstone or millstone
- the texture or grain of stone
- indomitable courage, toughness, or resolution
- engineering an arbitrary measure of the size of abrasive particles used in a grinding wheel or other abrasive process
- to clench or grind together (two objects, esp the teeth)
- to cover (a surface, such as icy roads) with grit
Word Origin
Grit
- an informal word for Liberal
Word Origin and History for grits
n.
plural of grit "coarsely ground grain," Old English grytt (plural grytta) "coarse meal, groats, grits," from Proto-Germanic *grutja-, from the same root as grit, the two words having influenced one another in sound development.
In American English, corn-based grits and hominy (q.v.) were used interchangeably in Colonial times. Later, hominy meant whole kernels that had been skinned but not ground, but in the U.S. South, hominy meant skinned kernels that could be ground coarsely to make grits. In New Orleans, whole kernels are big hominy and ground kernels little hominy.
grit
n.
Old English greot "sand, dust, earth, gravel," from Proto-Germanic *greutan "tiny particles of crushed rock" (cf. Old Saxon griot, Old Frisian gret, Old Norse grjot "rock, stone," German Grieß "grit, sand"), from PIE *ghreu- "rub, grind" (cf. Lithuanian grudas "corn, kernel," Old Church Slavonic gruda "clod"). Sense of "pluck, spirit" first recorded American English, 1808.
grit
v.
"make a grating sound," 1762, probably from grit (n.). Related: Gritted; gritting.