Meanings
present singular third person grits one's teeth · participle present gritting one's teeth · participle past gritted one's teeth · past gritted one's teeth
- To clench one's teeth together tightly because of pain, anger, frustration, or self-assurance.
[Shield Knight] LOOKED WITH DREAD THROUGH THE EYES OF THE ENCHANTRESS. SHE WAS TRAPPED AGAIN! SHIELD KNIGHT GRIT HER TEETH. SHOVEL KNIGHT WOULDN'T GIVE UP, AND NEITHER WOULD SHE.
2019 December 10, Yacht Club Games, "Story" (Shield Knight), in Shovel Knight Showdown (version 4.1), Nintendo Switch, scene: ending - idiomaticTo face up to a difficult or disagreeable situation and deal with it.
There's a storm coming, so I grit my teeth and start rowing with all my might.
1 more example
Japan's revolutionary New Tokaido Line, the 310-mile, 150 m.p.h. route between Tokyo and Osaka that is due to open for passenger traffic in October, has run into the same kind of budgetary trouble that held up our own LMR electrification, though the Japanese Government, unlike our own, has apparently gritted its teeth and allowed the project to go ahead to planned completion.
1964 July, “Tokaido line trouble”, in Modern Railways, page 52Synonyms: face up to, bite the bullet, grin and bear it, suck it up
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo face up to a difficult or disagreeable situation and deal with it.
Translations
Arabic صَرَّ أَسْنَانَهُ
- صَرَّ أَسْنَانَهُ (ṣarra ʔasnānahu)clench one's teeth together
Chinese Mandarin 咬牙, 咬緊牙關 /咬紧牙关
- 咬牙 (yǎoyá)clench one's teeth together
- 咬緊牙關 /咬紧牙关 (yǎojǐnyáguān)face up to a difficult or disagreeable situation, and deal with it
Dutch knarsetanden, door de zure appel heen bijten
- knarsetandenclench one's teeth together
- door de zure appel heen bijtenface up to a difficult or disagreeable situation, and deal with it
Finnish kiristellä hampaitaan, kiristellä hampaita
- kiristellä hampaitaanclench one's teeth together
- kiristellä hampaitaclench one's teeth together
- purra hammastaclench one's teeth together
- purra hammastaface up to a difficult or disagreeable situation, and deal with it
French serrer les dents, serrer les dents
- serrer les dentsclench one's teeth together
- serrer les dentsface up to a difficult or disagreeable situation, and deal with it
German die Zähne zusammenbeißen, die Zähne zusammenbeißen
- die Zähne zusammenbeißenclench one's teeth together
- die Zähne zusammenbeißenface up to a difficult or disagreeable situation, and deal with it
- in den sauren Apfel beißenface up to a difficult or disagreeable situation, and deal with it
Greek σφίγγω τα δόντια, σφίγγω τα δόντια
- σφίγγω τα δόντια (sfíngo ta dóntia)clench one's teeth together
- σφίγγω τα δόντια (sfíngo ta dóntia)face up to a difficult or disagreeable situation, and deal with it
Hebrew חָרַק שִׁנַּיִם
- חָרַק שִׁנַּיִם (ẖaráq shináyim)clench one's teeth together
Italian digrignare i denti, stringere i denti
- digrignare i denticlench one's teeth together
- stringere i denticlench one's teeth together
- stringere i dentiface up to a difficult or disagreeable situation, and deal with it
Japanese 歯を食いしばる, 歯を食いしばる
- 歯を食いしばる (ha o kuishibaru)clench one's teeth together
- 歯を食いしばる (ha o kuishibaru)face up to a difficult or disagreeable situation, and deal with it
- 歯軋りする (hagishiri suru)face up to a difficult or disagreeable situation, and deal with it
Korean 이를 악물다, 이를 악물다
- 이를 악물다 (i-reul angmulda)clench one's teeth together
- 이를 악물다 (i-reul angmulda)face up to a difficult or disagreeable situation, and deal with it
Norwegian Bokmål bite tennene sammen, bite tennene sammen
- bite tennene sammenclench one's teeth together
- bite tennene sammenface up to a difficult or disagreeable situation, and deal with it
Polish zaciskać zęby, zacisnąć zęby
- zaciskać zębyclench one's teeth together
- zacisnąć zębyclench one's teeth together
- zaciskać zębyface up to a difficult or disagreeable situation, and deal with it
- zacisnąć zębyface up to a difficult or disagreeable situation, and deal with it
Portuguese ranger os dentes
- ranger os dentesclench one's teeth together
Russian сти́скивать зу́бы, сти́снуть зу́бы
- сти́скивать зу́бы (stískivatʹ zúby)clench one's teeth together
- сти́снуть зу́бы (stísnutʹ zúby)clench one's teeth together
- скрежета́ть зуба́ми (skrežetátʹ zubámi)clench one's teeth together
- скрипе́ть зуба́ми (skripétʹ zubámi)clench one's teeth together
- сти́скивать зу́бы (stískivatʹ zúby)face up to a difficult or disagreeable situation, and deal with it
- сти́снуть зу́бы (stísnutʹ zúby)face up to a difficult or disagreeable situation, and deal with it
Spanish apretar los dientes, dentellar
- apretar los dientesclench one's teeth together
- dentellarclench one's teeth together
- castañetearclench one's teeth together
- castañearclench one's teeth together
- carraquearclench one's teeth together
Swedish bita ihop (tänderna), gnissla tänder
- bita ihop (tänderna)clench one's teeth together
- gnissla tänderclench one's teeth together
- bita ihopface up to a difficult or disagreeable situation, and deal with it
Tagalog pagngalatin, lumangutngot
- pagngalatinclench one's teeth together
- lumangutngotclench one's teeth together
Thai กัดฟัน, ขบฟัน
- กัดฟันclench one's teeth together
- ขบฟันclench one's teeth together
- บดฟันclench one's teeth together
- กัดฟันface up to a difficult or disagreeable situation, and deal with it
Ukrainian зці́плювати зу́би, зці́пити зу́би
- зці́плювати зу́би (zcípljuvaty zúby)clench one's teeth together
- зці́пити зу́би (zcípyty zúby)clench one's teeth together
- сти́снути зу́би (stýsnuty zúby)clench one's teeth together
- зці́плювати зу́би (zcípljuvaty zúby)face up to a difficult or disagreeable situation, and deal with it
- зці́пити зу́би (zcípyty zúby)face up to a difficult or disagreeable situation, and deal with it
- сти́снути зу́би (stýsnuty zúby)face up to a difficult or disagreeable situation, and deal with it
Cite this entry
grit one's teeth. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grit%20one's%20teeth
“grit one's teeth.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grit%20one's%20teeth. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “grit one's teeth,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grit%20one's%20teeth.
Source: grit one's teeth on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.