Is this your crossword clue?
"grit" is also used as a crossword clue. If that's what you saw, the answer is often toughness (9 letters).
Definitions
Courage and determination, or small hard particles of stone or sand.
Word origin
With early modern vowel shortening, from Middle English grete, griet, from Old English grēot, from Proto-West Germanic *greut, from Proto-Germanic *greutą. Compare grist.
Used in a sentence
“The flower beds were white with grit from sand blasting the flagstone walkways.”
“These cookies seem to have grit from nutshells in them.”
“I need a sheet of 100 grit sandpaper.”
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
Used as a crossword answer1 curated clues
01“Determination”4 letters
Not quite right?
"Search similar patterns."
G___