gruel
/ˈɡrʊəl
/noun [mass noun]
A thin liquid food of oatmeal or other meal boiled in milk or water.Their only recompense is thin gruel and some bread at the end of the day....
- Twice a day inmates receive two pieces of dry bread and weak tea; at midday they are handed a portion of soup or thin gruel.
- It was a gourmet meal compared to the thin gruel we had been living off of mostly.
Origin
Middle English: from Old French, of Germanic origin.