English · Idiom Attested

grist to the mill

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Sense 1

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Something used to an advantage.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Điều gì đó được sử dụng để đạt lợi thế

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

Whatever the bodyservant picks up may be grist to his master's mill.

Then, as now, works such as Rachmaninov's Third Concerto, Balakirev's Islamey and Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit were all grist to the virtuoso mill.

British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).

Sense 2

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

money to the pocket, food to the family; anything which is supposed to add to a man’s immediate prospects, to his income, or to his benefit in any way, is said to "bring GRIST TO THE MILL."

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

bất cứ điều gì mang lại lợi ích hoặc thu nhập

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)

Where it’s used: Origin British & Irish English

Sources & notes

Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.

Topics: Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “grist to the mill” mean?

Something used to an advantage.

Is “grist to the mill” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.