gruel
noun
gru·el ˈgrü-əl 
1
: a thin porridge
2
[from to get one's gruel to accept punishment] chiefly British : punishment
3
: something that lacks substance or significance
the argument was thin gruel
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web The options for startups forced to raise money in down markets are so much thin gruel. 
Kevin Kelleher, Fortune, 24 May 2022 Hazan, meanwhile, only knew how to make gruel for pigs. Mayukh Sen, The New Yorker, 15 Nov. 2021 And if this is the strongest stuff that Durham has, that's pretty thin gruel. Chris Cillizza, CNN, 17 Sep. 2021 The result, at worst, is work that reinforces reactionary ideologies, and, at best, is a kind of tasteless gruel that leaves no real impression behind. Reid Mccarter, Wired, 4 Sep. 2021 Their entire lives, these students had been fed the thin gruel of schooling without substance and readings without meaning in a system intended to train working cogs instead of designed to form decent and spirited people. Jeremy Tate, National Review, 6 May 2021 Seavey asked of a white dog who ate its pile of meat-gruel with exceptional neatness, leaving nothing but a tidy stain on the snow. Zachariah Hughes, Anchorage Daily News, 10 Mar. 2021 That’s pretty thin gruel compared with the Nasdaq initiative, suggesting that the exchange may have to fall into line now that Nasdaq has set the pace. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 1 Dec. 2020 Guards beat and sometimes killed their captives, who lived on a rice gruel that occasionally included bits of fish. Sig Christenson, ExpressNews.com, 25 May 2020 See More
Kevin Kelleher, Fortune, 24 May 2022 Hazan, meanwhile, only knew how to make gruel for pigs. Mayukh Sen, The New Yorker, 15 Nov. 2021 And if this is the strongest stuff that Durham has, that's pretty thin gruel. Chris Cillizza, CNN, 17 Sep. 2021 The result, at worst, is work that reinforces reactionary ideologies, and, at best, is a kind of tasteless gruel that leaves no real impression behind. Reid Mccarter, Wired, 4 Sep. 2021 Their entire lives, these students had been fed the thin gruel of schooling without substance and readings without meaning in a system intended to train working cogs instead of designed to form decent and spirited people. Jeremy Tate, National Review, 6 May 2021 Seavey asked of a white dog who ate its pile of meat-gruel with exceptional neatness, leaving nothing but a tidy stain on the snow. Zachariah Hughes, Anchorage Daily News, 10 Mar. 2021 That’s pretty thin gruel compared with the Nasdaq initiative, suggesting that the exchange may have to fall into line now that Nasdaq has set the pace. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 1 Dec. 2020 Guards beat and sometimes killed their captives, who lived on a rice gruel that occasionally included bits of fish. Sig Christenson, ExpressNews.com, 25 May 2020 See More Word History
Etymology
Middle English grewel, from Anglo-French gruel, of Germanic origin; akin to Old English grūt grout
First Known Use
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Kids Definition
gruel
noun
gru·el ˈgrü-əl
: a thin porridge