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DictionarygruelThin porridge
noun

gruel

GROO-ul/ˈɡruːəl/

A thin porridge made by boiling grain or meal in water or milk.

Thin gruel drains from the tilted spoon into the bowl of watery grain.

A close view of a plain bowl of watery cooked grain, with sparse softened grain particles visible beneath the liquid and a tilted spoon draining a thin stream back into the bowl.
Etymology
gruelOld Frenchfine meal

Old French gruel named fine meal, and English first used it for meal or flour. The name then passed from the ingredient to the thin porridge or soup made from it.

In context

HISTORICAL SURVIVAL7:53
The main constituent of the workhouse diet was bread. At breakfast, it was supplemented by gruel or porridge, both made from water and oatmeal.
Historical Survival | A Victorian Poorhouse in 1867 — Where the Old Went to Die

More examples

  • He boils oats in water to make gruel.
  • The cook adds milk to the gruel to make it richer.
  • Breakfast consists of a bowl of gruel and some bread.

Forms

gruel

Similar words

porridge
Porridge is usually thicker and more substantial than gruel.
oatmeal
Oatmeal is made specifically from oats and is usually thicker.