To grind them.
1797. Mr. Adams, who, gritting his teeth, said, “damn ’em, damn ’em, damn ’em, you see that an elective government will not do.”—Thomas Jefferson, ‘The Anas,’ Dec. 26.
1823. The harmony arising from the filing of a saw, or the gritting of teeth.—Mass. Spy, April 30.
1847. To my utter astonishment, however, instead of demolishing me upon the spot, he turned sharply round, and gritting his teeth with a noise like a millstone, walked abruptly out of the room.—Yale Lit. Mag., xii. 200 (March).
1848.
| Just conceive how much harder your teeth you ’d have gritted, | |
| An ’t were not for the dulness I ’ve kindly omitted. | |
J. R. Lowell, ‘A Fable for Critics’ (N.E.D.) |
1850. Instead of fainting, Lucy uttered a stifled shriek, and gritting her teeth dragged me into the house, the door of which stood invitingly open.—H. C. Lewis (‘Madison Tensas’), ‘Odd Leaves,’ p. 136 (Phila.).
1852. She grits her teeth (!) even now whenever she thinks of him!—Knick. Mag., xl. 178 (Aug.).
1878. He could no longer stand behind the door and grit his teeth when the troubles of polygamy pressed upon him.—J. H. Beadle, ‘Western Wilds,’ p. 364.
