To bring (hold, put, or keep) one’s nose to the grindstone, verb. phr.
(colloquial).—To oppress, harass, or punish; to treat harshly. To have
one’s nose kept to the grindstone = to be held to a bargain, or at
work.
1578. North, Plutarch, p. 241. They might be ashamed, for lack of
courage, to suffer the Lacedæmonians to hold their noses to the
grindstone.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hold. Hold his nose to the
grindstone, to keep him Under, or Tie him Neck and Heels in a
Bargain.
To have the grindstone on his back, verb. phr. (common).—Said of a man
going to fetch the monthly nurse.—Grose.
Grinning-stitches, subs. (milliners’).—Slovenly sewing; stitches wide
apart; ladders (q.v.).
Grip (or Gripsack), subs. (American).—A hand-bag or satchell.
To lose one’s grip, verb. phr. (American).—To fail; to lose one’s
control.
Gripe, subs. (old).—1. A miser; a usurer. Also Griper or Gripe-fist
(q.v.). For synonyms, see Hunks and Sixty-per-cent. Griping =
extortion.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Gripe, or griper, s.v. An old
covetous wretch. Also a banker, money scrivener, or usurer.
2. in. pl. (colloquial).—The colic; the stomach ache; the Collywobbles.
For synonyms, see Jerry-go-nimble.
1684. Bunyan, Pilgr. Prog., Pt. II. He concluded that he was sick
of the gripes.
1705. Char. of a Sneake, in Harl. Misc. (ed. Park), ii., 356. He
never looks upon her Majesty’s arms but semper eadem gives him the
gripes.
1714. Spectator, No 559. Meeting the true father, who came towards
him with a fit of the gripes, he begged him to take his son again,
and give back his cholic.
1812. Coombe, Tour in Search of Picturesque, c. xxvi. That he who
daily smokes two pipes, The tooth-ache never has—nor gripes.
Gripe-fist, subs. (common).—A miser; a grasping broker. For synonyms,
see Hunks. Also Gripe-penny.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.
Grist, subs. (American).—A large number or quantity. [Swift uses grist
= a supply; a provision.]
1848. Cooper, Oak Openings. There’s an unaccountable grist of bees,
I can tell you.
a. 1852. Traits of American Humour, i., 305. I ... got pretty
considerable soaked by a grist of rain.
To bring grist to the mill, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To bring
profitable business; to be a source of profit.
1719. Poor Robin’s Almanack, May. Lawyers pleading do refrain A
while, and then fall to ’t again; Strife brings grist unto their
mill.
1770. Foote, Lame Lover, i. Well, let them go on, it brings grist
to our mill.
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.
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.
1889. Referee, 6 Jan. They never did think there was any real grit
about him.
1890. Scribner, Feb., 242. ‘Looks like he got grit, don’t it?’ Lige
muttered.
1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 249. I am as
full of grit and work as ever, and just tower above our troubles.