the gist

noun

: the general or basic meaning of something said or written : the main points

—usually + of

The gist of her argument was that the law was unfair.

I didn't read the whole article, but I got the gist of it.

Examples of the gist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

The science is detailed and complicated, but the gist is that evaporative cooling, or sweating, eventually fails to counter internal heating. —

Outside Online, 23 Oct. 2024 This nearly flies under the radar and few catch onto the gist that these are jobs that are intended to gradually and inevitably do away with the need for human programmers. —

Lance Eliot, Forbes, 23 Oct. 2024 There essentially wasn’t time to go further back and explore the origin of Rio and Agatha’s relationship, but the gist of it is that Agatha killed a lot of people and kept attracting her attention. —

Paul Tassi, Forbes, 2 Nov. 2024 Here, presented with intercutting flashbacks, the gist of his story doesn’t lose its power, but the words somehow do. —

Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 13 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for the gist