gritted

Gritted is the past tense and past participle of the verb grit. The most common sense in everyday language is the idiom to grit one's teeth, meaning to press the teeth together tightly, usually in response to pain, strain, or determination. In this use, gritted describes a completed action or state, as in, She gritted her teeth and finished the climb.

A second sense comes from grit as a noun for coarse particles such as sand, gravel, or rock salt. As a verb, gritted can mean to apply or spread such material to a surface to improve traction or reduce slipperiness, especially on icy roads or sidewalks: The roads were gritted overnight. The term can also occur in passive constructions, as in the steps were gritted with salt.

Gritted may appear in various contexts beyond dental or winter maintenance, including literal grinding of materials or figurative uses implying perseverance or roughness, depending on context. The meaning is typically clear from surrounding words, with the dental sense relating to clenched teeth and the maintenance sense relating to the application of abrasive material.

See also: grit, gritted teeth, gritty.