Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913
Grit
Grit (grĭt), n. [OE, greet, greot, sand, gravel, AS. greót grit, sant, dust; akin to OS griott, OFries. gret gravel, OHG. grioz, G. griess, Icel. grjōt, and to E. groats, grout. See Groats, Grout, and cf. Grail gravel.] 1. Sand or gravel; rough, hard particles.
2. The coarse part of meal.
3. pl. 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), v. i. 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, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Gritted; p. pr. &, vb. n. Gritting.] To grind; to rub harshly together; to grate; as, to grit the teeth. [Collog.]