gruel


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gru·el

 (gro͞o′əl)
n.
1. A thin watery porridge.
2. Chiefly British Severe punishment.

[Middle English, from Old French, of Germanic origin.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

gruel

(ˈɡruːəl)
n
(Cookery) a drink or thin porridge, made by boiling meal, esp oatmeal, in water or milk
[C14: from Old French, of Germanic origin; see grout]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

gru•el

(ˈgru əl)

n.
a thin cooked cereal made by boiling meal, esp. oatmeal, in water or milk.
[1275–1325; Middle English < Middle French, Old French, =gru- (< Germanic; see grout) + -el diminutive suffix]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.gruel - a thin porridge (usually oatmeal or cornmeal)gruel - a thin porridge (usually oatmeal or cornmeal)
congee, jook - a Chinese rice gruel eaten for breakfast
skilly - a thin porridge or soup (usually oatmeal and water flavored with meat)
porridge - soft food made by boiling oatmeal or other meal or legumes in water or milk until thick
loblolly - thick gruel
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations

gruel

[grʊəl] Ngachas fpl
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

gruel

[ˈgruːəl] ngruau m
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

gruel

nHaferschleim m, → Schleimsuppe f
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

gruel

[ˈgruːəl] npappa d'avena
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
References in classic literature ?
I will have such and such a dish," while all the time the poor man will have nothing to eat that day but gruel. There are men, too--wretched busybodies--who walk about merely to see if they can find some wretched tchinovnik or broken-down official who has got toes projecting from his boots or his hair uncut!
Give it a little gruel if it is.' He put on his hat, and, pausing by the bed-side on his way to the door, added, 'She was a good-looking girl, too; where did she come from?'
I could not tell him how I felt, but he seemed to know it all; he covered me up with two or three warm cloths, and then ran to the house for some hot water; he made me some warm gruel, which I drank, and then I think I went to sleep.
Such another small basin of thin gruel as his own was all that he could, with thorough selfapprobation, recommend; though he might constrain himself, while the ladies were comfortably clearing the nicer things, to say:
Hannah had brought me some gruel and dry toast, about, as I supposed, the dinner-hour.
Glegg carried something else up-stairs with her, which, together with the "Saints' Rest" and the gruel, may have had some influence in gradually calming her feelings, and making it possible for her to endure existence on the ground-floor, shortly before tea-time.
But you've caught cold: I saw you shivering, and you must have some gruel to drive it out.'
Such gruel sustains life here, I thought; so, shutting my eyes, and excluding the motes by a skilfully directed undercurrent, I drank to genuine hospitality the heartiest draught I could.
Nobody under the table, nobody under the sofa; a small fire in the grate; spoon and basin ready; and the little saucepan of gruel (Scrooge had a cold in his head) upon the hob.
March gave the mother tea and gruel, and comforted her with promises of help, while she dressed the little baby as tenderly as if it had been her own.
In the morning Friar Tuck awoke disposed to be surly, but was speedily mollified by the sight of the Black Knight, who had already risen gay as a lark, washed his face and hands, and was now stirring a hot gruel over the fire.
The seed thus collected is winnowed and parched, and ground between two stones into a kind of meal or flour; which, when mixed with water, forms a very palatable paste or gruel.