0 the most important pieces of information about something, or general information without details: --
That was the gist of what he said.
I think I got (= understood) the gist of what she was saying.
1 the main subject, without details, of a piece of information: --
We can complete it step by step however long the road is and it can't be completed however short the road is if you don't even mark your footprint.
Vi kan slutföra det steg för steg hur lång vägen än är och den kan inte slutföras hur kort vägen än är om du inte ens markerar ditt fotavtryck.