GRISTLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does gristle mean? 

• GRISTLE (noun)
  The noun GRISTLE has 1 sense:

1. tough elastic tissue; mostly converted to bone in adults

  Familiarity information: GRISTLE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GRISTLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Tough elastic tissue; mostly converted to bone in adults

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

cartilage; gristle

Hypernyms ("gristle" is a kind of...):

animal tissue (the tissue in the bodies of animals)

Meronyms (parts of "gristle"):

ground substance; intercellular substance; matrix (the body substance in which tissue cells are embedded)

Meronyms (substance of "gristle"):

collagen (a fibrous scleroprotein in bone and cartilage and tendon and other connective tissue; yields gelatin on boiling)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "gristle"):

meniscus; semilunar cartilage ((anatomy) a disk of cartilage that serves as a cushion between the ends of bones that meet at a joint)

fibrocartilage (cartilage that is largely composed of fibers like those in ordinary connective tissue)

hyaline cartilage (translucent cartilage that is common in joints and the respiratory passages; forms most of the fetal skeleton)

arytaenoid; arytenoid; arytenoid cartilage (either of two small cartilages at the back of the larynx to which the vocal folds are attached)

Adam's apple; thyroid cartilage (the largest cartilage of the larynx)

Holonyms ("gristle" is a substance of...):

cartilaginous structure (body structure given shape by cartilage)

Derivation:

gristly (difficult to chew)

 Context examples 

He’s more a sparrer than a fighter just at present, but when his gristle sets he’ll take on anything on the list.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He was but sixteen, with his gristle not yet all set into bone, when he fought and beat Gipsy Lee, of Burgess Hill, who called himself the “Cock of the South Downs.”

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)