1804. Horsley, Speech, 23 July. A sly old pope created twenty new saints, to bring grist to the mill of the London clergy.
1817. Scott, Ivanhoe, c. 16. Some three or four dried pease—a miserable grist for such a mill. [[219]]
1838. Dickens, Nich. Nickleby, ch. xxxiv., p. 268. Meantime the fools bring grist to my mill.
Gristle, subs. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see Creamstick and Prick.
Grit, subs. (originally American: now colloquial).—1. Character; pluck; spirit; sand (q.v.). Also clear grit. No grit = lacking in stamina; wanting in courage.
1825. Neal, Bro. Jonathan, bk. II., ch. xiv. A chap who was clear grit for a tussle, any time.
1848. Burton, Waggeries, etc., p. 13. The old folks … began to think that she warn’t the clear grit.
1849. C. Kingsley, Alton Locke, ch. vi. A real lady—l’air noble—the rael genuine grit, as Sam Slick says.
1852. H. B. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, ch. vii. You’re a right brave old girl. I like grit, wherever I see it.
1860. Thackeray, Philip, ch. xxxi. If you were a chip of the old block you would be just what he called the grit.