From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishgistgist /dʒɪst/ noun → the gist
Examples from the Corpus
gist• She had not misread the general gist of his words, imprecise though they were.• Read the article once through to get the gist of it.• Students are encouraged to read the text, getting the gist, then go deeper into the meaning.• The whole thing had to be repeated three or four times before Sandison got the gist.• I don't know the whole story but this is the gist of it.• They had understood the gist but needed help.• She would not, was the gist of what she communicated first.• The gist of all this is that life is an interactive phenomenon of planetary and biospheric scale.• The gist of the section is that the product must be safe but the Act has no application if it is useless.Origin gist (1700-1800) Anglo-French “it lies, it can be presented in a court of law”, from Old French gesir “to lie” 