Grit noun [ OE, greet , greot , sand, gravel, Anglo-Saxon greót grit, sant, dust; akin to OS griott , OFries. gret gravel, Old High German grioz , German griess , Icelandic grjōt , and to English groats , grout . See Groats , Grout , and confer Grail gravel.]
1. Sand or gravel; rough, hard particles.

2. The coarse part of meal.

3. plural Grain, esp. oats or wheat, hulled and coarsely ground; in high milling, fragments of cracked wheat smaller than groats.

4. (Geol.) A hard, coarse-grained siliceous sandstone; as, millstone grit ; -- called also gritrock and gritstone. The name is also applied to a finer sharp-grained sandstone; as, grindstone grit .

5. Structure, as adapted to grind or sharpen; as, a hone of good grit .

6. Firmness of mind; invincible spirit; unyielding courage; fortitude. C. Reade. E. P. Whipple.

Grit (grĭt) intransitive verb To give forth a grating sound, as sand under the feet; to grate; to grind.

The sanded floor that grits beneath the tread.

Goldsmith.

Grit transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Gritted ; present participle &, verbal noun Gritting .] To grind; to rub harshly together; to grate; as, to grit the teeth. [ Collog.]

Grith (grĭth) noun [ Anglo-Saxon grið peace; akin to Icelandic grid .] Peace; security; agreement. [ Obsolete] Gower.

Gritrock (grĭt"rŏk`), Grit"stone` (-stōn`) noun (Geol.) See Grit , noun , 4.

Grittiness (-tĭ*nĕs) noun The quality of being gritty.

Gritty (-tȳ) adjective
1. Containing sand or grit; consisting of grit; caused by grit; full of hard particles.

2. Spirited; resolute; unyielding. [ Colloq., U. S.]

Grivet (grĭv"ĕt) noun [ Confer French grivet .] (Zoology) A monkey of the upper Nile and Abyssinia ( Cercopithecus griseo-viridis ), having the upper parts dull green, the lower parts white, the hands, ears, and face black. It was known to the ancient Egyptians. Called also tota .

Grize (grīz or grēz) noun Same as 2d Grise . [ Obsolete]

Grizelin (grĭz"e*lĭn) adjective See Gridelin .

Grizzle noun [ French gris : confer grisaille hair partly gray, from gris gray. See Gris , and confer Grisaille .] Gray; a gray color; a mixture of white and black. Shak.

Grizzle transitive verb & i. To make or become grizzly, or grayish.

Hardship of the way such as would grizzle little children.

R. F. Burton.

I found grizzling man whom men addressed as Collins Bey.

Pall Mall Mag.

Grizzle intransitive verb & t. [ Etym. uncertain.] To worry; to fret; to bother; grumble. [ Prov. Eng.] " Don't sit grizzling there." Charles Reade.

Grizzled adjective Gray; grayish; sprinkled or mixed with gray; of a mixed white and black.

Grizzled hair flowing in elf locks.

Sir W. Scott.

Grizzly adjective Somewhat gray; grizzled.

Old squirrels that turn grizzly .

Bacon.

Grizzly bear (Zoology) , a large and ferocious bear ( Ursus horribilis ) of Western North America and the Rocky Mountains. It is remarkable for the great length of its claws.

Grizzly noun ; plural Grizzlies
1. (Zoology) A grizzly bear. See under Grizzly , adjective

2. plural In hydraulic mining, gratings used to catch and throw out large stones from the sluices. [ Local, U. S.] Raymond.

Groan intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Groaned ; present participle & verbal noun Groaning .] [ Middle English gronen , granen , granien , Anglo-Saxon gr...nian , from the root of grennian to grin. √35. See 2d Grin , and confer Grunt .]
1. To give forth a low, moaning sound in breathing; to utter a groan, as in pain, in sorrow, or in derision; to moan.

For we . . . do groan , being burdened.

2 Cor. v. 4.

He heard the groaning of the oak.

Sir W. Scott.

2. To strive after earnestly, as with groans.

Nothing but holy, pure, and clear,
Or that which groaneth to be so.

Herbert.

Groan transitive verb To affect by groans.

Groan noun A low, moaning sound; usually, a deep, mournful sound uttered in pain or great distress; sometimes, an expression of strong disapprobation; as, the remark was received with groans .

Such groans of roaring wind and rain.

Shak.

The wretched animal heaved forth such groans .

Shak.

Groanful adjective Agonizing; sad. [ Obsolete] Spenser.

Groat noun [ LG. grōte , orig., great, that is, a great piece of coin, larger than other coins in former use. See Great .]
1. An old English silver coin, equal to four pence.

2. Any small sum of money.

Groats noun plural [ Middle English grot , Anglo-Saxon grātan ; akin to Icelandic grautr porridge, and to English gritt , grout . See Grout .] Dried grain, as oats or wheat, hulled and broken or crushed; in high milling, cracked fragments of wheat larger than grits.

Embden groats , crushed oats.

Grobian noun [ G., from grob rude. Confer Gruff , adjective ] A rude or clownish person; boor; lout.

Grocer noun [ Formerly written grosser, orig., one who sells by the gross , or deals by wholesale, from French grossier , marchand grossier, from gros large, great. See Gross .] A trader who deals in tea, sugar, spices, coffee, fruits, and various other commodities.

Grocer's itch (Medicine) , a disease of the skin, caused by handling sugar and treacle.

Grocery noun ; plural Groceries . [ French grosserie wholesale. See Grocer .]
1. The commodities sold by grocers, as tea, coffee, spices, etc.; -- in the United States almost always in the plural form, in this sense.

A deal box . . . to carry groceries in.

Goldsmith.

The shops at which the best families of the neighborhood bought grocery and millinery.

Macaulay.

2. A retail grocer's shop or store. [ U. S.]

Grog noun [ So named from "Old Grog " a nickname given to Admiral Vernon, in allusion to his wearing a grogram cloak in foul weather. He is said to have been the first to dilute the rum of the sailors (about 1745).] A mixture of spirit and water not sweetened; hence, any intoxicating liquor.

Grog blossom , a redness on the nose or face of persons who drink ardent spirits to excess. [ Collog.]

Groggery noun ; plural Groggeries . A grogshop. [ Slang, U. S.]

Grogginess noun
1. State of being groggy.

2. (Man.) Tenderness or stiffness in the foot of a horse, which causes him to move in a hobbling manner.

Groggy adjective
1. Overcome with grog; tipsy; unsteady on the legs. [ Colloq.]

2. Weakened in a fight so as to stagger; -- said of pugilists. [ Cant or Slang]

3. (Man.) Moving in a hobbling manner, owing to ten der feet; -- said of a horse. Youatt.

Grogram, Grogran noun [ Old French gros-grain , lit., gros-grain, of a coarse texture. See Gross , and Grain a kernel, and confer Grog .] A coarse stuff made of silk and mohair, or of coarse silk.

Grogshop noun A shop or room where strong liquors are sold and drunk; a dramshop.

Groin noun [ French groin , from grogner to grunt, Latin grunnire .] The snout of a swine. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Groin intransitive verb [ French grogner to grunt, grumble.] To grunt to growl; to snarl; to murmur. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Bears that groined coatinually.

Spenser.

Groin noun [ Icelandic grein distinction, division, branch; akin to Swedish gren , branch, space between the legs, Icelandic greina to distinguish, divide, Swedish grena to branch, straddle. Confer Grain a branch.]
1. (Anat.) The line between the lower part of the abdomen and the thigh, or the region of this line; the inguen.

2. (Architecture) The projecting solid angle formed by the meeting of two vaults, growing more obtuse as it approaches the summit.

3. (Math.) The surface formed by two such vaults.

4. A frame of woodwork across a beach to accumulate and retain shingle. [ Eng.] Weale.

Groin transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Groined ; present participle & verbal noun Groining .] (Architecture) To fashion into groins; to build with groins.

The hand that rounded Peter's dome,
And groined the aisles of Christian Rome,
Wrought in a sad sincerity.

Emerson.

Groined adjective (Architecture) Built with groins; as, a groined ceiling; a groined vault.

Grolier noun The name by which Jean Grolier de Servier (1479-1565), a French bibliophile, is commonly known; -- used in naming a certain style of binding, a design, etc.

Grolier binding , a book binding decorated with a pattern imitated from those given covers of books bound for Jean Grolier, and bearing his name and motto. -- Grolier design or school , the pattern of interlacing bars, bands, or ribbons, with little scrolls of slender gold lines, assumed to be an imitation of the designs on Jean Grolier's book bindings.

Gromet noun Same as Grommet .

Gromill noun (Botany) See Gromwell .

Grommet noun [ French gourmette curb, curb chain, from gourmer to curb, thump, beat; confer Armor. gromm a curb, gromma to curb.]
1. A ring formed by twisting on itself a single strand of an unlaid rope; also, a metallic eyelet in or for a sail or a mailbag. Sometimes written grummet .

2. (Mil.) A ring of rope used as a wad to hold a cannon ball in place.

Gromwell noun [ Called also gromel , grommel , graymill , and gray millet, all probably from French gr ? mil , confer W. cromandi .] (Botany) A plant of the genus Lithospermum ( Latin arvense ), anciently used, because of its stony pericarp, in the cure of gravel. The German gromwell is the Stellera . [ Written also gromill .]

Grond obsolete imperfect of Grind . Chaucer.

Gronte obsolete imperfect of Groan . Chaucer.

Groom noun [ Confer Scot. grome , groyme , grume , gome , guym , man, lover, OD. grom boy, youth; perhaps the r is an insertion as in English bridegroom , and the word is the same as Anglo-Saxon guma man. See Bridegroom .]
1. A boy or young man; a waiter; a servant; especially, a man or boy who has charge of horses, or the stable. Spenser.

2. One of several officers of the English royal household, chiefly in the lord chamberlain's department; as, the groom of the chamber; the groom of the stole.

3. A man recently married, or about to be married; a bridegroom. Dryden.

Groom porter , formerly an officer in the English royal household, who attended to the furnishing of the king's lodgings and had certain privileges.

Groom intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Groomed ; present participle & verbal noun Grooming .] To tend or care for, or to curry or clean, as a, horse.

Groomer noun One who, or that which, grooms horses; especially, a brush rotated by a flexible or jointed revolving shaft, for cleaning horses.

Groomsman noun ; plural Groomsmen A male attendant of a bridegroom at his wedding; -- the correlative of bridesmaid.

Grooper noun (Zoology) See Grouper .

Groove noun [ Dutch groef , groeve ; akin to E. grove . See Grove .]
1. A furrow, channel, or long hollow, such as may be formed by cutting, molding, grinding, the wearing force of flowing water, or constant travel; a depressed way; a worn path; a rut.

2. Hence: The habitual course of life, work, or affairs; fixed routine.

The gregarious trifling of life in the social groove .

J. Morley.

3. [ See Grove .] (Mining) A shaft or excavation. [ Prov. Eng.]

Groove transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Grooved ; present participle & verbal noun Groving .] To cut a groove or channel in; to form into channels or grooves; to furrow.

Groover noun
1. One who or that which grooves.

2. A miner. [ Prov. Eng.] Holloway.

Grooving noun The act of forming a groove or grooves; a groove, or collection of grooves.