gist
Other forms: gists
When you need a quick summary of the essentials, rather than the whole story or a thorough explanation, you're looking for the gist.
The word gist has had a variety of meanings in English, but most of them have become obsolete. The surviving sense of the word entered the language by way of the law: The gist of any legal action is the factor on which the action depends — that is, an alleged assault might be the gist of an indictment. The meaning of gist has evolved, though, and now it can be used to describe the core component of any matter, as in, "He watched the trailer, but he still didn't get the gist of the movie." Or, "She was having trouble writing a headline that conveyed the gist of her article."
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the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work
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the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience“the gist of the prosecutor's argument”synonyms: center, centre, core, essence, heart, heart and soul, inwardness, kernel, marrow, meat, nitty-gritty, nub, pith, substance, sumtypes:bare bones(plural) the most basic facts or elementshypostasis(metaphysics) essential nature or underlying realityhaecceity, quidditythe essence that makes something the kind of thing it is and makes it different from any otherstuffa critically important or characteristic componenttype of:cognitive content, content, mental objectthe sum or range of what has been perceived, discovered, or learned
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Vocabulary lists containing gist
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This memoir recounts Noah's childhood in South Africa during the last years of apartheid.