grit

Grit is tiny hard particles — the stuff spread on icy roads, or the speck that gets in your eye.

The literal sense is sand and crushed stone, and a gritter is the lorry that spreads it in winter. The figurative sense is one of the warmest words in English for character: having grit means carrying on through difficulty, and it is admiration rather than praise for talent. The verb is separate again, since to grit your teeth is to clamp them and endure, which is the same idea in the body.

Phrases it lives in

• grit your teeth — brace yourself and endure something unpleasant