gist

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“
The bill has several nicknames depending on who's talking about it -- "cap and trade," "cap and tax" or "cap and invest" -- but the gist is the creation of a program that sets a limit, or cap, on emissions.

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Definitions (11)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun The central idea; the essence. See Synonyms at substance.
  2. noun Law The grounds for action in a suit.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (6)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (2)

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Examples (50)

  • She just had time to cover the main gist and part of the minor gist (gist was the sort of stuff that needed to be covered quickly) before Humfrey's magic carpet arrived. —  Question Quest
  • But the gist was obvious, even if a few subtleties were perhaps being lost, and, as she took it all in, she shook her head slowly in amazement and delight Chapter 37 Don woke up a little before 6:00 A.M., some noise or other having disturbed him. —  AnalogSFF,January-February2007
  • A quick rifle through the pages of these books in an airport bookshop - in that peculiar pre-flight mode of having no time and time on your hands - is enough to get the gist, and speculate as to their point. —  Renegade Futurist
  • You can read the post to see the full discussion, but the gist is that Tanenbaum recommends players "Always Start Slowly," meaning essentially to avoid marginal situations and try one's best to win that first showdown. —  Hard-Boiled Poker
  • You can read the fine print, but the gist is one stack per person, and don't use any other coupons. —  Lakeland Local
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. From Anglo-Norman (cest action) gist, (this action) lies, third person sing. of gesir, to lie, from Latin iacēre; see yē- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Also written gest (see gest); from Middle English giste, gyste, a resting-place, couch, also a horizontal beam, a joist (joist, corrupted from jist (pron. jīst), being the modern form), from Old French giste, French gîte, lodging, form, seat, bed, deposit, from Old French gesir, French gésir, from Latin jacēre, lie: see jacent, jet. Cf. gist.
  2. Sometimes pron. jit, and in the 18th century sometimes written jet (see jet); from Old French gist (F. gît), in the proverb “Je scay bien ou gist le lievre, I know well which is the very point or knot of the matter” (Cotgrave), literally I know well where the hare lies; so “c′est là que gît le lièvre,” there lies the difficulty, literally that's where the hare lies; cf. “tout gît en cela,” the whole turns upon that; gist, French gît, in these expressions being the 3d person singular indicative present (from Latin jacet) of Old French gesir, French gésir, from Latin jacēre, lie: see jacent, jet. Cf. gist.
 

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/dʒɪst/
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