grits
Americannoun
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Also called hominy grits. (especially in Southern cooking) coarsely ground hominy, or white corn, boiled to a thick consistency and then sometimes fried, eaten as a breakfast dish or as a side dish with meat.
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grain hulled and coarsely ground.
plural noun
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hulled and coarsely ground grain
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See hominy grits
Etymology
Origin of grits
First recorded before 900; Middle English grut(t)a, gryttes (plural) “coarse meal, bran,” Old English gryt(t) “dust, meal”; cognate with German Grütze
Compare meaning
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Explanation
Grits are a savory dish made of ground cornmeal. You can order grits with your eggs at the diner, or try shrimp and grits for dinner. While grits are most popular in the southern United States, they've become more common in other places, particularly as a breakfast dish. Grits, unlike polenta, mash, and other soft, corn-based foods, are made from hominy, a type of corn that's soaked in an alkaline solution before being ground. This traditional Native American dish was passed along to southern colonists in the 17th century. Grits are so popular in the South that the region is sometimes called "the grits belt."
Vocabulary lists containing grits
World Cuisine - Introductory
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World Cuisine - Middle School and High School
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The Color Purple
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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.
Ms. Lakshmi serves it on a bed of traditional Southern cheesy grits and suggests chowchow pickles, an old-time relish, as a side.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 10, 2025
That week, they were going on a surf-and-turf version of shrimp and grits: steak tips, seared shrimp, a lake of cheesy grits and, right on top, a tangle of sweet-savory onions.
From Salon • Jul. 15, 2025
He married those influences with a deep love for South Carolina Lowcountry cuisine like shrimp and grits, fried fish and hoppin’ John.
From New York Times • Mar. 8, 2024
When the Huskies wake up, they’ll have French toast, cheddar grits, steak and eggs and andouille sausage.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 6, 2024
He didn’t notice he was talking as if Granny was in her kitchen, fixing to cook us some grits, instead of laid out in a coffin in the parlor.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
Definitions 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.
