gristle

Meaning

Noun

• Cartilage; cartilage present, as a tough substance, in meat.
• Bone not yet hardened by age and hard work.

Origin

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