Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Cartilage, especially when present in meat.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The popular name of cartilage. See cartilage.
  • noun Hence Something young and unformed.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Anat.) Cartilage. See cartilage.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Cartilage; now especially: cartilage present, as a tough substance, in meat.
  • noun figuratively, from Bone not yet hardened by age and hard work.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun tough elastic tissue; mostly converted to bone in adults

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English gristel, grystyl, from Old English gristel, gristle ("gristle, cartilage"), formed from a diminutive of Old English grist ("a grinding"), from Proto-Germanic *gredanan (“to crunch”), equivalent to grist +‎ -le. Cognate with Old Frisian gristel, gerstel ("gristle, cartilage"), Middle Low German gristel ("gristle").

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Examples

  • Also, am I alone in the fact that whenever I hear the term gristle, I think of the best line from The Great Outdoors, “THERE’S NOTHIN’ ON THAT PLATE BUT GRISTLE AND FAT!”

    Guy Ritchie Compares Madonna To A Piece Of Gristle | Best Week Ever 2008

  • A gristle is a substance softer than bone, and harder than the rest, flexible, and serves to maintain the parts of motion.

    Anatomy of Melancholy 2007

  • Its muscular body has only a long piece of tough, bending tissue called gristle, which acts as a spine.

    Your Challenge for the Day Doppelganger 2007

  • Its muscular body has only a long piece of tough, bending tissue called gristle, which acts as a spine.

    Archive 2007-07-01 Doppelganger 2007

  • And some make a paste for the winter months, at which time the Chub is accounted best, for then it is observed, that the forked bones are lost, or turned into a kind of gristle, especially if he be baked, of cheese and turpentine.

    The Compleat Angler : or, The Contemplative Man`s Recreation 1653

  • Armed with the kind of gristle only acquired through years of experience, Obits is the sound of Brooklyn sharpening its teeth once again, just in time for that long overdue bite in the arse those condo-dwelling hipsters - the ones who wouldn't know Hot Snakes from The Blues Magoos - mucking up the old neighborhoods are in dire need of.

    JamBase 2009

  • But times have changed, content standards have loosened, and cable is able to target a niche crowd that likes a little gristle in their TV diet.

    Is TV Too Gory? 2011

  • My first tastes of venison were much like Douglas 'mom, from deer that were killed on dog drives, gut shot, hauled around in pickups then, to paraphrase Tom Kelly, haggled into unidentifiable hunks of bloody gristle by a succession of drunks with rusty saws and hatchets.

    Beef or Venison: Which Tastes Better? 2009

  • My first tastes of venison were much like Douglas 'mom, from deer that were killed on dog drives, gut shot, hauled around in pickups then, to paraphrase Tom Kelly, haggled into unidentifiable hunks of bloody gristle by a succession of drunks with rusty saws and hatchets.

    Beef or Venison: Which Tastes Better? 2009

  • I could feel it, and it was almost like he was cutting through gristle on a steak, Stankavich said in an interview.

    Lack of training can be deadly in cosmetic surgery 2011

Comments

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  • "Chap in the Burton today spitting back gumchewed gristle."

    Joyce, Ulysses, 13

    January 14, 2007

  • What's the problem with gristle, mollusque?

    March 28, 2008

  • I'd rather not find it in my food. (For context see this list).

    March 28, 2008

  • Blecch.

    March 28, 2008