: cartilage
broadly
: tough cartilaginous, tendinous, or fibrous matter especially in table meats
Examples of gristle in a Sentence
a cheap piece of meat, full of gristle and fat
Recent Examples on the Web
The business press always has to have something to say each day, and debating the independence of the Fed is just the kind of gristle the media likes to sink its teeth into.
—
Jim Cramer, CNBC, 18 Sep. 2025
Then again, with nothing from the court yet on the sanctions move by Lively’s side against Baldoni’s top lawyer, maybe everyone being circumspect in anticipation of what’s next in a case that since December last year always seems to provided more gristle at every turn — with more likely to come.
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 8 Aug. 2025
For other authors, the sprawling gristle of motherhood and childrearing has offered a means of exploring the broader, if connected, matters of identity, sexuality, and race.
—Alice Vincent, Vogue, 7 Aug. 2025
There is banter and there is not-banter, but no gristle connecting them.
—James Wood, New Yorker, 14 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for gristle
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Jim Cramer, CNBC, 18 Sep. 2025
Then again, with nothing from the court yet on the sanctions move by Lively’s side against Baldoni’s top lawyer, maybe everyone being circumspect in anticipation of what’s next in a case that since December last year always seems to provided more gristle at every turn — with more likely to come.
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 8 Aug. 2025
For other authors, the sprawling gristle of motherhood and childrearing has offered a means of exploring the broader, if connected, matters of identity, sexuality, and race.
—Alice Vincent, Vogue, 7 Aug. 2025
There is banter and there is not-banter, but no gristle connecting them.
—James Wood, New Yorker, 14 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for gristle
Cite this Entry
“Gristle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gristle. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
gristle
noun
gris·tle
ˈgris-əl 
: tough chewy matter in meat served as food that is composed usually of cartilage
gristly
adjective
ˈgris-(ə-)lē
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