grist for the mill

alternative grist to the mill · alternative grist to one's mill

1. idiomaticuncountableSomething that is useful or that creates a favorable opportunity.

   In 1951, Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean, two gay double-agents working in British intelligence, fled to the Soviet Union. This was grist for the mill, linking homosexuality with communist "treason."

   2005 March 2, Leslie Feinberg, “Even McCarthy was gay baited”, in Workers World

   2 more examples

   The Lesbian Primer does not profess to cover every conceivable aspect of lesbianism. But for someone trying to get or expand knowledge of the subject, this book provides much good grist for the mill.

   1979 August 4, Lisa Nussbaum, “Lesbianism 101”, in Gay Community News, page 15

   They were sitting across from each other at the bar as Lionel described his odyssey across the country in a Trailways bus, gathering material, as he put it. It was all grist for the mill, life real and raw out there west of New Jersey.

   2003, Peter Lefcourt, The deal: a novel of Hollywood

   Synonyms: grist