Gist

/d͡ʒɪst/ · noun

Meaning

(countable) The main idea or substance, or the most essential part, of a longer or more complicated matter; the crux, the heart, the pith..

Definitions by Sense

1. (countable) The main idea or substance, or the most essential part, of a longer or more complicated matter; the crux, the heart, the pith.
2. (countable, law, dated) The essential ground for action in a lawsuit, without which there is no cause of action; the gravamen.
3. (uncountable, Nigeria) Gossip, rumour; (countable) an instance of this.
4. (programming) A sharable snippet of source code, especially on the version controlled pastebin-hosting site GitHub Gist.
5. (transitive) To extract and present the main ideas or substance, or the most essential parts of (a document, piece of writing, etc.); to abridge, to summarize.
6. (intransitive, Nigeria) To talk idly; chat; also, to gossip.
7. (obsolete) A stop for lodging or rest in a journey, or the place where this happens; a rest.

Example Sentences

I don't wanna belabor my point; I'm sure you get the gist.

Should they live and build their church in the American wilderness, their worst dangers would rise in and among themselves rather than outside. That was the gist of the lesson from their pastor and "wellwiller" John Robinson.

He was handing her something in an envelope, and she was saying “Oh, Jeeves, you've saved a human life,” and he was saying “Not at all, miss.” The gist, of course, escaped me, but I had no leisure to probe into gists.

The gists of the reports, however, their logic, their structural coherence, are molded by a concern to reconstruct the past, by antiquarian interest.

And the work was going very well. I was really just vomiting images like spoiled sushi (that may be an ill-considered metaphor, but you get my gist).

I don't remember his exact words, but the gist of it was that he wanted it all for nothing, as quickly as possible, without any effort.

There's evidence that even our unconscious efficiently only stores the gists of memories and that to fill in details our conscious fabricates them.

[T]heſe charges, of a traiterous or felonious intent, are the points and very giſt of the indictment, and muſt be anſvvered directly, by the general negative, not guilty; […]

Synonyms for gist

Antonyms for gist

Related Words

Word Forms

• gists
• gisting
• gisted
• gest

Usage Notes

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