1. a thin liquid food made by boiling oatmeal or another cereal in water or milk

1. to exhaust or punish severely
Usage: often used with ‘out’

Examples

• The sick patient could only manage a few spoonfuls of gruel.
• Oliver Twist famously asked for more gruel in the workhouse.
• The thin gruel provided little nourishment for the hungry children.
• The marathon grueled the runners in the intense heat.
• She was grueled by the demanding work schedule.
• The difficult hike grueled out even the experienced climbers.