gristle

Noun

tough elastic tissue; mostly converted to bone in adults
Cartilage; now especially: cartilage present, as a tough substance, in meat.
Bone not yet hardened by age and hard work.
pl. -S the tough part of meat

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English gristel, grystyl, from Old English gristel (“gristle, cartilage”), Proto-West Germanic *gristl, of obscure origin; possibly from a pre-Germanic substrate language. Seemingly equivalent to a diminutive of Old English grist (“a grinding”), equivalent to modern English grist + -le; possibly related to Proto-Germanic *gredaną (“to crunch”). Cognate with Old Frisian gristel, gerstel (“gristle, cartilage”), Middle Low German gristel (“gristle”).

Synonyms

cartilage

Scrabble Score: 8

gristle: valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
gristle: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
gristle: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 10

gristle is a valid Words With Friends word