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Definition of gruel
1 : a thin porridge
2 [from to get one's gruel to accept punishment] chiefly British : punishment
3 : something that lacks substance or significance the argument was thin gruel
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Recent Examples of gruel from the Web
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Mehetabel was treating her daughter Sarah Huntington (Adriana Mazza), one of her 10 children with gruel.
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Helping keep them fed is a volunteer corps of about 80, who work two-hour shifts weighing kittens, taking notes on their eating habits and mixing gruel for those more than a month or so old.
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Working an absurd amount of hours, spending no money, eating gruel three times a day.
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Royal adviser suggested retraining self to think of drumsticks not as delicious treat but as hay for horses or gruel for peasants.
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Part of the obsession was driven by xenophobia: Nativists feared that the sudden influx of immigrants from southern and Eastern Europe would make thin gruel of hearty American stock.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gruel'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of gruel
Middle English grewel, from Anglo-French gruel, of Germanic origin; akin to Old English grūt grout
GRUEL Defined for English Language Learners
gruel
playDefinition of gruel for English Language Learners
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: a thin food made by boiling oatmeal or some other grain in water or milk
GRUEL Defined for Kids
Learn More about gruel
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See words that rhyme with gruel Britannica English: Translation of gruel for Arabic speakers
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