grist

noun

ˈgrist 

1

a

: grain or a batch of grain for grinding

b

: the product obtained from a grist of grain including the flour or meal and the grain offals

2

: a required or usual amount

3

: matter of interest or value forming the basis of a story or analysis

4

: something turned to advantage or use

—used especially in the phrase grist for one's mill

As a writer, he uses his unusual childhood as grist for his mill.

Examples of grist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The pasta is made in-house from flour that’s grown and milled in Pennsylvania from a pre-Revolutionary War grist mill. —Mary Lebus, Cincinnati Enquirer, 15 Dec. 2025

On the contrary, the five percent NATO defense and security spending target risks becoming further grist for the populist mill, especially in countries that are far from the Russian border, such as Belgium, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. —Matthias Matthijs, Foreign Affairs, 12 Dec. 2025

Also a novelist, Hval’s episodic songs brim with intertextual references, conceptual grist, and spoke-sung experimentation, but never stray far from the pleasures of melody. —Jenn Pelly, Time, 4 Dec. 2025

As grist for the algorithmic mills of social media, the emails are a cursed document—one that seems all but certain to sow maximum chaos online. —Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 14 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Old English grīst; akin to Old English grindan to grind

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing grist

• grist for one's/the mill
• grist to one's/the mill

Rhymes for grist

• cist
• cyst
• fist
• gist
• hissed
• kissed
• kist
• list
• missed
• mist
• schist
• tryst

Kids Definition

grist

noun

ˈgrist 

: grain to be ground or already ground