G

1. G is the seventh letter of the English alphabet, and a vocal consonant. It has two sounds; one simple, as in gave, go, gull; the other compound (like that of j), as in gem, gin, dingy. See Guide to Pronunciation, §§ 231-6, 155, 176, 178, 179, 196, 211, 246.

Note: The form of G is from the Latin, in the alphabet which it first appeared as a modified form of C. The name is also from the Latin, and probably comes to us through the French. Etymologically it is most closely related to a c hard, k y, and w; as in corn, grain, kernel; kin L. genus, Gr. garden, yard; drag, draw; also to ch and h; as in get, prehensile; guest, host (an army); gall, choler; gust, choose. See C.

2. (Mus.)

Defn: G is the name of the fifth tone of the natural or model scale; — called also sol by the Italians and French. It was also originally used as the treble clef, and has gradually changed into the character represented in the margin. See Clef. G# (G sharp) is a tone intermediate between G and A.

GAB Gab, n. Etym: [Cf. Gaff.] (Steam Engine)

Defn: The hook on the end of an eccentric rod opposite the strap. See. Illust. of Eccentric.

GAB Gab, n. Etym: [OE. gabbe gabble, mocking, fr. Icel. gabb mocking, mockery, or OF. gab, gabe; perh. akin to E. gape, or gob. Cf. Gab, v. i., Gibber.]

Defn: The mouth; hence, idle prate; chatter; unmeaning talk; loquaciousness. [Colloq.] Gift of gab, facility of expression. [Colloq.]

GAB Gab, v. i. Etym: [OE. gabben to jest, lie, mock, deceive, fr. Icel. gabba to mock, or OF. gaber. See 2d Gab, and cf. Gabble.]

1. To deceive; to lie. [Obs.] Chaucer.

2. To talk idly; to prate; to chatter. Holinshed.

GABARAGE Gab"ar*age, n.

Defn: A kind of coarse cloth for packing goods. [Obs.]

GABARDINE; GABERDINE Gab`ar*dine", Gab`er*dine" (, n. Etym: [Sp. gabardina; cf. It. gavardina, OF. galvardine, calvardine, gavardine, galeverdine; perh. akin to Sp. & OF. gaban a sort of cloak or coat for rainy weather, F. caban great coat with a hood and sleeves, It. gabbano and perh. to E. cabin.]

Defn: A coarse frock or loose upper garment formerly worn by Jews; a mean dress. Shak.

GABBER Gab"ber, n.

1. A liar; a deceiver. [Obs.]

2. One addicted to idle talk.

GABBLE Gab"ble, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Gabbled; p. pr. & vb. n. Gabbling.] Etym: [Freq. of gab. See Gab, v. i.]

1. To talk fast, or to talk without meaning; to prate; to jabber. Shak.

2. To utter inarticulate sounds with rapidity; as, gabbling fowls. Dryden.

GABBLE Gab"ble, n.

1. Loud or rapid talk without meaning. Forthwith a hideous gabble rises loud Among the builders. Milton.

2. Inarticulate sounds rapidly uttered; as of fowls.

GABBLER Gab"bler, n.

Defn: One who gabbles; a prater.

GABBRO Gab"bro, n. Etym: [It.] (Geol.)

Defn: A name originally given by the Italians to a kind of serpentine, later to the rock called euphotide, and now generally used for a coarsely crystalline, igneous rock consisting of lamellar pyroxene (diallage) and labradorite, with sometimes chrysolite (olivine gabbro).

GABEL Ga"bel, n. Etym: [F. gabelle, LL. gabella, gabulum, gablum; of uncertain origin. Cf.Gavel tribute.] (O. Eng. Law)

Defn: A rent, service, tribute, custom, tax, impost, or duty; an excise. Burrill. He enables St. Peter to pay his gabel by the ministry of a fish. Jer. Taylor.

GABELER Ga"bel*er, n. (O. Eng. Law)

Defn: A collector of gabels or taxes.

GABELLE Ga`belle", n. Etym: [F. See Gabel.]

Defn: A tax, especially on salt. [France] Brande & C.

GABELLEMAN Ga*belle"man, n.

Defn: A gabeler. Carlyle.

GABERDINE Gab`er*dine", n.

Defn: See Gabardine.

GABER-LUNZIE Gab"er-lun`zie, n. Etym: [Gael. gabair talker + lunndair idler.]

Defn: A beggar with a wallet; a licensed beggar. [Scot.] Sir W. Scott.

GABERT Gab"ert, n. Etym: [Cf.F.gabare, Arm. kobar, gobar.]

Defn: A lighter, or vessel for inland navigation. [Scot.] Jamieson.

GABION Ga"bi*on, n.Etym: [F., from It. gabbione a large cage, gabion, from gabbia cage, L. cavea. See Cage.]

1. (Fort.)

Defn: A hollow cylinder of wickerwork, like a basket without a bottom. Gabions are made of various sizes, and filled with earth in building fieldworks to shelter men from an enemy's fire.

2. (Hydraul. Engin.)

Defn: An openwork frame, as of poles, filled with stones and sunk, to assist in forming a bar dyke, etc., as in harbor improvement.

GABIONADE Ga`bi*on*ade", n. Etym: [F. gabionnade.]

1. (Fort.)

Defn: A traverse made with gabions between guns or on their flanks, protecting them from enfilading fire.

2. A structure of gabions sunk in lines, as a core for a sand bar in harbor improvements.

GABIONAGE Ga"bi*on*age, n. Etym: [F. gabionnage.] (Mil.)

Defn: The part of a fortification built of gabions.

GABIONED Ga"bi*oned, p. a.

Defn: Furnished with gabions.

GABIONNADE Ga`bion`nade", n.

Defn: See Gabionade.

GABLE Ga"ble, n.

Defn: A cable. [Archaic] Chapman.

GABLE Ga"ble, n. Etym: [OE. gable, gabil, F. gable, fr. LL. gabalum front of a building, prob. of German or Scand. origin; cf. OHG. gibil, G. giebel gable, Icel. gafl, Goth. gibla pinnacle; perh. akin to Gr. cephalic, or to G. gabel fork, AS. geafl, E. gaffle, L. gabalus a kind of gallows.] (Arch.) (a) The vertical triangular portion of the end of a building, from the level of the cornice or eaves to the ridge of the roof. Also, a similar end when not triangular in shape, as of a gambrel roof and the like. Hence: (b) The end wall of a building, as distinguished from the front or rear side. (c) A decorative member having the shape of a triangular gable, such as that above a Gothic arch in a doorway. Bell gable. See under Bell. — Gable roof, a double sloping roof which forms a gable at each end. — Gable wall. Same as Gable (b). — Gable window, a window in a gable.

GABLET Ga"blet, n. (Arch.)

Defn: A small gable, or gable-shaped canopy, formed over a tabernacle, niche, etc.

GABLOCK Gab"lock, n. Etym: [See Gavelock.]

Defn: A false spur or gaff, fitted on the heel of a gamecock. Wright.

GABY Ga"by, n. Etym: [Icel. gapi a rash, reckless man. Cf. Gafe.]

Defn: A simpleton; a dunce; a lout. [Colloq.]

GAD Gad, n. Etym: [OE. gad, Icel. gaddr goad, sting; akin to Sw. gadd sting, Goth. gazds, G. gerte switch. See Yard a measure.]

1. The point of a spear, or an arrowhead.

2. A pointed or wedge-shaped instrument of metal, as a steel wedge used in mining, etc. I will go get a leaf of brass, And with a gad of steel will write these words. Shak.

3. A sharp-pointed rod; a goad.

4. A spike on a gauntlet; a gadling. Fairholt.

5. A wedge-shaped billet of iron or steel. [Obs.] Flemish steel . . . some in bars and some in gads. Moxon.

6. A rod or stick, as a fishing rod, a measuring rod, or a rod used to drive cattle with. [Prov. Eng. Local, U.S.] Halliwell. Bartlett. Upon the gad, upon the spur of the moment; hastily. [Obs.] "All this done upon the gad!" Shak.

GAD Gad, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Gadded; p. pr. & vb. n. Gadding.] Etym: [Prob. fr. gad, n., and orig. meaning to drive about.]

Defn: To walk about; to rove or go about, without purpose; hence, to run wild; to be uncontrolled. "The gadding vine." Milton. Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way Jer. ii. 36.

GADABOUT Gad"a*bout`, n.

Defn: A gadder [Colloq.]

GADBEE Gad"bee`, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The gadfly.

GADDER Gad"der, n.

Defn: One who roves about idly, a rambling gossip.

GADDING Gad"ding, a. & n.

Defn: Going about much, needlessly or without purpose. Envy is a gadding passion, and walketh the streets. Bacon. The good nuns would check her gadding tongue. Tennyson. Gadding car, in quarrying, a car which carries a drilling machine so arranged as to drill a line of holes.

GADDINGLY Gad"ding*ly, adv.

Defn: In a roving, idle manner.

GADDISH Gad"dish, a.

Defn: Disposed to gad. — Gad"dish*nes, n. "Gaddishness and folly." Abp. Leighton.

GADE Gade, n. Etym: [Cf. Cod the fish.] (Zoöl.) (a) A small British fish (Motella argenteola) of the Cod family. (b) A pike, so called at Moray Firth; — called also gead. [Prov. Eng.]

GADERE; GADRE Gad"er*e, Gad"re (, v. t. & i.

Defn: To gather. [Obs.] Chaucer.

GADFLY Gad"fly`, n.; pl. Gadflies. Etym: [Gad + fly.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: Any dipterous insect of the genus Oestrus, and allied genera of botflies.

Note: The sheep gadfly (Oestrus ovis) deposits its young in the nostrils of sheep, and the larvæ develop in the frontal sinuses. The common species which infests cattle (Hypoderma bovis) deposits its eggs upon or in the skin where the larvæ or bots live and produce sores called wormels. The gadflies of the horse produce the intestinal parasites called bots. See Botfly, and Bots. The true horseflies are often erroneously called gadflies, and the true gadflies are sometimes incorrectly called breeze flies. Gadfly petrel (Zoöl.), one of several small petrels of the genus Oestrelata.

GADHELIC Gadhel"ic (gal"îk), a. Etym: [See Gaelic.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to that division of the Celtic languages, which includes the Irish, Gaelic, and Manx. J. Peile.

GADIC Gad"ic, a. (Chem.)

Defn: Pertaining to, or derived from, the cod (Gadus); — applied to an acid obtained from cod-liver oil, viz., gadic acid.

GADITANIAN Gad`i*ta`ni*an, a. Etym: [L. Gaditanus, fr. Gades Cadiz.]

Defn: Of or relating to Cadiz, in Spain. — n.

Defn: A native or inhabitant of Cadiz.

GADLING Gad"ling, n. Etym: [Gad, n. + -ling.] (Mediæval Armor) [R.]

Defn: See Gad, n., 4.

GADLING Gad"ling, a. Etym: [See Gad, v. i.]

Defn: Gadding about. [Obs.]

GADLING Gad"ling, n.

Defn: A roving vagabond. [Obs.] Rom. of R.

GADMAN Gadman, n.

Defn: A gadsman.

GADOID Ga"doid, a. Etym: [NL. gadus cod + -oid: cf. F. gadoïde gadoid, Gr. gade.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to the family of fishes (Gadidæ) which includes the cod, haddock, and hake. — n.

Defn: One of the Gadidæ. [Written also gadid.]

GADOLINIA Gad`o*lin"i*a, n. Etym: [NL. See Gadolinite.] (Chem.)

Defn: A rare earth, regarded by some as an oxide of the supposed element gadolinium, by others as only a mixture of the oxides of yttrium, erbium, ytterbium, etc.

GADOLINIC Gad`o*lin"ic, a. (Chem.)

Defn: Pertaining to or containing gadolinium.

GADOLINITE Gad"o*lin*ite, n. Etym: [Named after Gadolin, a Russian chemist.] (Min.)

Defn: A mineral of a nearly black color and vitreous luster, and consisting principally of the silicates of yttrium, cerium, and iron.

GADOLINIUM Gad`o*lin"i*um, n. Etym: [NL. See Gadolinite.] (Chem.)

Defn: A supposed rare metallic element, with a characteristic spectrum, found associated with yttrium and other rare metals. Its individuality and properties have not yet been determined.

GADSMAN Gads"man, n.

Defn: One who uses a gad or goad in driving.

GADUIN Gad"u*in, n.Etym: [NL. gadus codfish.] (Chem.)

Defn: A yellow or brown amorphous substance, of indifferent nature, found in cod-liver oil.

GADWALL Gad"wall, n. Etym: [Gad to walk about + well.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A large duck (Anas strepera), valued as a game bird, found in the northern parts of Europe and America; — called also gray duck. [Written also gaddwell.]

GAEKWAR Gaek"war, n. [Also Gaikwar, Guicowar.] [Marathi gaekwar, prop., a cowherd.]

Defn: The title of the ruling Prince of Baroda, in Gujarat, in Bombay, India.

GAEL Gael, n.sing. & pl. Etym: [See Gaelic.] (Ethnol.)

Defn: A Celt or the Celts of the Scotch Highlands or of Ireland; now esp., a Scotch Highlander of Celtic origin.

GAELIC Gael"ic, a. Etym: [Gael. Gàidhealach, Gaelach, from Gàidheal, Gael, a Scotch Highlander.] (Ethnol.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to the Gael, esp. to the Celtic Highlanders of Scotland; as, the Gaelic language.

GAELIC Gael"ic, n. Etym: [Gael. Gaelig, Gàilig.]

Defn: The language of the Gaels, esp. of the Highlanders of Scotland. It is a branch of the Celtic.

GAFF Gaff, n. Etym: [OE. gaffe, F. gaffe an iron hook with which seamen pull great fishes into their ships; cf. Ir. gaf, gafa hook; perh. akin to G. gabel fork, Skr. gabhasti. CF. Gaffle, Gable.]

1. A barbed spear or a hook with a handle, used by fishermen in securing heavy fish.

2. (Naut.)

Defn: The spar upon which the upper edge of a fore-and-aft sail is extended.

3. Same as Gaffle, 1. Wright.

GAFF Gaff, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Gaffed; p. pr. & vb. n. Gaffing.]

Defn: To strike with a gaff or barbed spear; to secure by means of a gaff; as, to gaff a salmon.

GAFFER Gaf"fer, n. Etym: [Possibly contr. fr. godfather; but prob. fr. gramfer for grandfather. Cf. Gammer.]

1. An old fellow; an aged rustic. Go to each gaffer and each goody. Fawkes.

Note: Gaffer was originally a respectful title, now degenerated into a term of familiarity or contempt when addressed to an aged man in humble life.

2. A foreman or overseer of a gang of laborers. [Prov. Eng.]

GAFFLE Gaf"fle, n. Etym: [Cf. AS. geafl fork, LG., D., Sw., & Dan. gaffel, G. gabel, W. gafl, Ir. & Gael. gabhal. Cf. Gaff.]

1. An artificial spur or gaff for gamecocks.

2. A lever to bend crossbows.

GAFF-TOPSAIL Gaff`-top"sail, n. (Naut.)

Defn: A small triangular sail having its foot extended upon the gaff and its luff upon the topmast.

GAG Gag, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Gagged; p. pr. & vb. n. Gagging.] Etym: [Prob. fr. W. cegio to choke or strangle, fr. ceg mouth, opening, entrance.]

1. To stop the mouth of, by thrusting sometimes in, so as to hinder speaking; hence, to silence by authority or by violence; not to allow freedom of speech to. Marvell. The time was not yet come when eloquence was to be gagged, and reason to be hood winked. Maccaulay.

2. To pry or hold open by means of a gag. Mouths gagged to such a wideness. Fortescue (Transl. ).

3. To cause to heave with nausea.

GAG Gag, v. i.

1. To heave with nausea; to retch.

2. To introduce gags or interpolations. See Gag, n., 3. [Slang] Cornill Mag.

GAG Gag, n.

1. Sometimes thrust into the mouth or throat to hinder speaking.

2. A mouthful that makes one retch; a choking bit; as, a gag of mutton fat. Lamb.

3. A speech or phrase interpolated offhand by an actor on the stage in his part as written, usually consisting of some seasonable or local allusion. [Slang] Gag rein (Harness), a rein for drawing the bit upward in the horse's mouth. — Gag runner (Harness), a loop on the throat latch guiding the gag rein.

GAGATE Gag"ate (; 48), n. Etym: [L. gagates. See Jet a black mineral.]

Defn: Agate. [Obs.] Fuller.

GAGE Gage, n. Etym: [F. gage, LL. gadium, wadium; of German origin; cf. Goth. wadi, OHG. wetti, weti, akin to E. wed. See Wed, and cf. Wage, n.]

1. A pledge or pawn; something laid down or given as a security for the performance of some act by the person depositing it, and forfeited by nonperformance; security. Nor without gages to the needy lend. Sandys.

2. A glove, cap, or the like, cast on the ground as a challenge to combat, and to be taken up by the accepter of the challenge; a challenge; a defiance. "There I throw my gage." Shak.

GAGE Gage, n. Etym: [So called because an English family named Gage imported the greengage from France, in the last century.]

Defn: A variety of plum; as, the greengage; also, the blue gage, frost gage, golden gage, etc., having more or less likeness to the greengage. See Greengage.

GAGE Gage, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Gaged; p. pr & vb. n. Gaging.] Etym: [Cf. F. gager. See Gage, n., a pledge.]

1. To give or deposit as a pledge or security for some act; to wage or wager; to pawn or pledge. [Obs.] A moiety competent Was gaged by our king. Shak.

2. To bind by pledge, or security; to engage. Great debts Wherein my time, sometimes too prodigal, Hath left me gaged. Shak.

GAGE Gage, n.

Defn: A measure or standart. See Gauge, n.

GAGE Gage, v. t.

Defn: To measure. See Gauge, v. t. You shall not gage me By what we do to-night. Shak.

GAGER Ga"ger, n.

Defn: A measurer. See Gauger.

GAGGER Gag"ger, n.

1. One who gags.

2. (Founding)

Defn: A piece of iron imbedded in the sand of a mold to keep the sand in place.

GAGGLE Gag"gle, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Gaggled; p. pr. & vb. n. Gaggling.] Etym: [Of imitative origin; cf. D. gaggelen, gagelen, G. gackeln, gackern, MHG. g, E. giggle, cackle.]

Defn: To make a noise like a goose; to cackle. Bacon.

GAGGLE Gag"gle, n. Etym: [Cf. Gaggle v. i.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A flock of wild geese. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.

GAG LAW Gag law. (Parliamentary Law)

Defn: A law or ruling prohibiting proper or free debate, as in closure. [Colloq. or Cant]

GAGTOOTH Gag"tooth`, n.; pl. Gagteeth (.

Defn: A projecting tooth. [Obs.]

GAG-TOOTHED Gag"-toothed", a.

Defn: Having gagteeth. [Obs.]

GAHNITE Gahn"ite, n. Etym: [Named after Gahn, a Swedish chemist.] (Min.)

Defn: Zinc spinel; automolite.

GAIDIC Ga*id"ic, a. Etym: [Gr. (Chem.)

Defn: Pertaining to hypogeic acid; — applied to an acid obtained from hypogeic acid.

GAIETY Gai"e*ty, n.

Defn: Same as Gayety.

GAILER Gail"er, n.

Defn: A jailer. [Obs.] Chaucer.

GAILLARD Gail`lard", a. Etym: [F. See Galliard.]

Defn: Gay; brisk; merry; galliard. Chaucer.

GAILLIARDE Gail*liarde", n. Etym: [See Galliard a dance.]

Defn: A lively French and Italian dance.

GAILY Gai"ly, adv. Etym: [From Gay.]

Defn: Merrily; showily. See gaily.

GAIN Gain, n. Etym: [Cf. W. gan a mortise.] (Arch.)

Defn: A square or beveled notch cut out of a girder, binding joist, or other timber which supports a floor beam, so as to receive the end of the floor beam.

GAIN Gain, a. Etym: [OE. gein, gain, good, near, quick; cf. Icel. gegn ready, serviceable, and gegn, adv., against, opposite. CF. Ahain.]

Defn: Convenient; suitable; direct; near; handy; dexterous; easy; profitable; cheap; respectable. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]

GAIN Gain, n. Etym: [OE. gain, gein, ga, gain, advantage, Icel. gagn; akin to Sw. gagn, Dan. gavn, cf. Goth. gageigan to gain. The word was prob. influenced by F. gain gain, OF. gaain. Cf. Gain, v. t.]

1. That which is gained, obtained, or acquired, as increase, profit, advantage, or benefit; — opposed to loss. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Phil. iii. 7. Godliness with contentment is great gain. 1 Tim. vi. 6. Every one shall share in the gains. Shak.

2. The obtaining or amassing of profit or valuable possessions; acquisition; accumulation. "The lust of gain." Tennyson.

GAIN Gain, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Gained; p. pr. & vb. n. Gaining.] Etym: [From gain, n. but. prob. influenced by F. gagner to earn, gain, OF. gaaignier to cultivate, OHG. weidin, weidinen to pasture, hunt, fr. weida pasturage, G. weide, akin to Icel. vei hunting, AS. wa, cf. L. venari to hunt, E. venison. See Gain, n., profit.]

1. To get, as profit or advantage; to obtain or acquire by effort or labor; as, to gain a good living. What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul Matt. xvi. 26. To gain dominion, or to keep it gained. Milton. For fame with toil we gain, but lose with ease. Pope.

2. To come off winner or victor in; to be successful in; to obtain by competition; as, to gain a battle; to gain a case at law; to gain a prize.

3. To draw into any interest or party; to win to one's side; to conciliate. If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. Matt. xviii. 15. To gratify the queen, and gained the court. Dryden.

4. To reach; to attain to; to arrive at; as, to gain the top of a mountain; to gain a good harbor. Forded Usk and gained the wood. Tennyson.

5. To get, incur, or receive, as loss, harm, or damage. [Obs. or Ironical] Ye should . . . not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. Acts xxvii. 21. Gained day, the calendar day gained in sailing eastward around the earth. — To gain ground, to make progress; to advance in any undertaking; to prevail; to acquire strength or extent. — To gain over, to draw to one's party or interest; to win over. — To gain the wind (Naut.), to reach the windward side of another ship.

Syn. — To obtain; acquire; get; procure; win; earn; attain; achieve. See Obtain. — To Gain, Win. Gain implies only that we get something by exertion; win, that we do it in competition with others. A person gains knowledge, or gains a prize, simply by striving for it; he wins a victory, or wins a prize, by taking it in a struggle with others.

GAIN Gain, v. i.

Defn: To have or receive advantage or profit; to acquire gain; to grow rich; to advance in interest, health, or happiness; to make progress; as, the sick man gains daily. Thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by extortion. Ezek. xxii. 12. Gaining twist, in rifled firearms, a twist of the grooves, which increases regularly from the breech to the muzzle. To gain on or upon. (a) To encroach on; as, the ocean gains on the land. (b) To obtain influence with. (c) To win ground upon; to move faster than, as in a race or contest. (d) To get the better of; to have the advantage of. The English have not only gained upon the Venetians in the Levant, but have their cloth in Venice itself. Addison. My good behavior had so far gained on the emperor, that I began to conceive hopes of liberty. Swift.

GAINABLE Gain"a*ble, a. Etym: [CF. F. gagnable. See Gain, v. t.]

Defn: Capable of being obtained or reached. Sherwood.

GAINAGE Gain"age (, 48), n. Etym: [OF. gaignage pasturage, crop, F. gaignage pasturage. See Gain, v. t.] (O. Eng. Law) (a) The horses, oxen, plows, wains or wagons and implements for carrying on tillage. (b) The profit made by tillage; also, the land itself. Bouvier.

GAINER Gain"er, n.

Defn: One who gains. Shak.

GAINFUL Gain"ful, a.

Defn: Profitable; advantageous; lucrative. "A gainful speculation." Macaulay. — Gain"ful*ly, adv. — Gain"ful*ness, n.

GAINGIVING Gain"giv`ing, n. Etym: [See Again, and Give.]

Defn: A misgiving. [Obs.]

GAINLESS Gain"less, a.

Defn: Not producing gain; unprofitable. Hammond. — Gain"less/ness, n.

GAINLY Gain"ly, adv. Etym: [See Gain, a.]

Defn: Handily; readily; dexterously; advantageously. [Obs.] Dr. H. More.

GAINPAIN Gain"pain`, n.Etym: [F. gagner to gain + pain bread.]

Defn: Bread-gainer; — a term applied in the Middle Ages to the sword of a hired soldier.

GAINSAY Gain`say" ( or ; 277), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Gainsaid ( or ); p. pr. & vb. n. Gainsaying.] Etym: [OE. geinseien, ageinseien. See Again, and Say to utter.]

Defn: To contradict; to deny; to controvert; to dispute; to forbid. I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. Luke xxi. 15. The just gods gainsay That any drop thou borrow'dst from thy mother, My sacred aunt, should by my mortal sword Be drained. Shak.

GAINSAYER Gain`say"er, n.

Defn: One who gainsays, contradicts, or denies. "To convince the gainsayers." Tit. i. 9.

GAINSBOROUGH HAT Gains"borough hat.

Defn: A woman's broad-brimmed hat of a form thought to resemble those shown in portraits by Thomas Gainsborough, the English artist (1727- 88).

GAINSOME Gain"some, a.

1. Gainful.

2. Prepossessing; well-favored. [Obs.] Massinger.

'GAINST; GAINST Gainst, prep.

Defn: A contraction of Against.

GAINSTAND Gain"stand`, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Gainstood; p. pr. & vb. n. gainstanding.] Etym: [See Again, and Stand.]

Defn: To withstand; to resist. [Obs.] Durst . . . gainstand the force of so many enraged desires. Sir P. Sidney.

GAINSTRIVE Gain"strive`, v. t. & i. Etym: [See Again, and Strive.]

Defn: To strive or struggle against; to withstand. [Obs.] Spenser.

GAIRFOWL Gair"fowl`, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: See Garefowl.

GAIRISH; GAIRISHLY; GAIRISHNESS Gair"ish, a., Gair"ish*ly, adv., Gair"ishness, n.

Defn: Same as Garish, Garishly, Garishness.

GAIT Gait, n. Etym: [See Gate a way.]

1. A going; a walk; a march; a way. Good gentleman, go your gait, and let poor folks pass. Shak.

2. Manner of walking or stepping; bearing or carriage while moving. 'T is Cinna; I do know him by his gait. Shak.

GAITED Gait"ed, a.

Defn: Having (such) a gait; — used in composition; as, slow-gaited; heavy-gaited.

GAITER Gait"er, n. Etym: [F. guêtre, cf. Armor. gweltren; or perh. of German origin, and akin to E. wear, v.]

1. A covering of cloth or leather for the ankle and instep, or for the whole leg from the knee to the instep, fitting down upon the shoe.

2. A kind of shoe, consisting of cloth, and covering the ankle.

GAITER Gai"ter, v. t.

Defn: To dress with gaiters.

GAITRE; GAYTRE Gai"tre, Gay"tre (, n. Etym: [OE. Cf. Gatten tree.]

Defn: The dogwood tree. [Obs.] Chaucer.

GALA Ga"la, n. Etym: [F. gala show, pomp, fr. It. gala finery, gala; of German origin. See Gallant.]

Defn: Pomp, show, or festivity. Macaulay. Gala day, a day of mirth and festivity; a holiday.

GALACTA-GOGUE Ga*lac"ta-gogue, n. Etym: [Gr. (Med.)

Defn: An agent exciting secretion of milk.

GALACTIC Ga*lac"tic, a. Etym: [Gr. Galaxy, and cf. Lactic.]

1. Of or pertaining to milk; got from milk; as, galactic acid.

2. Of or pertaining to the galaxy or Milky Way. Galactic circle (Astron.), the great circle of the heavens, to which the course of the galaxy most nearly conforms. Herschel. — Galactic poles, the poles of the galactic circle.

GALACTIN Ga*lac"tin, n. Etym: [Gr. Lactin.] (Chem.) (a) An amorphous, gelatinous substance containing nitrogen, found in milk and other animal fluids. It resembles peptone, and is variously regarded as a coagulating or emulsifying agent. (b) A white waxy substance found in the sap of the South American cow tree (Galactodendron). (c) An amorphous, gummy carbohydrate resembling gelose, found in the seeds of leguminous plants, and yielding on decomposition several sugars, including galactose.

GALACTODENSIMETER Ga*lac`to*den*sim"e*ter, n. Etym: [Gr. densimeter.]

Defn: Same as Galactometer.

GALACTOMETER Gal`ac*tom"e*ter, n. Etym: [Gr. -meter: cf. F. galactomètre. Cf. Lactometer.]

Defn: An instrument for ascertaining the quality of milk (i.e., its richness in cream) by determining its specific gravity; a lactometer.

GALACTOPHAGIST Gal`ac*toph"a*gist, n. Etym: [Gr.

Defn: One who eats, or subsists on, milk.

GALACTOPHAGOUS Gal`ac*toph"a*gous, a. Etym: [Gr. galactophade.]

Defn: Feeding on milk.

GALACTOPHOROUS Gal`ac*toph"o*rous, a. Etym: [Gr. galactophore. Cf. Lactiferous.] (Anat.)

Defn: Milk-carrying; lactiferous; — applied to the ducts of mammary glands.

GALACTOPOIETIC Ga*lac`to*poi*et"ic, a. Etym: [Gr. (Med.)

Defn: Increasing the flow of milk; milk-producing. — n. A galactopoietic substance.

GALACTOSE Ga*lac"tose, n. (Chem.)

Defn: A white, crystalline sugar, C6H12O6, isomeric with dextrose, obtained by the decomposition of milk sugar, and also from certain gums. When oxidized it forms mucic acid. Called also lactose (though it is not lactose proper).

GALAGE Ga*lage", n. (Obs.)

Defn: See Galoche. Spenser.

GALAGO Ga*la"go, n.; pl. Galagos. Etym: [Native name.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A genus of African lemurs, including numerous species.

Note: The grand galago (Galago crassicaudata) is about the size of a cat; the mouse galago (G. murinus)is about the size of a mouse.

GALANGA; GALANGAL Ga*lan"ga, Ga*lan"gal, n.Etym: [OE. galingale, OF. galingal, garingal, F. galanga (cf. Sp. galanga), prob. fr. Ar. khalanj. ]

Defn: The pungent aromatic rhizome or tuber of certain East Indian or Chinese species of Alpinia (A. Galanga and A. officinarum) and of the Kæmpferia Galanga), — all of the Ginger family.

GALANTINE Gal"an*tine ( or ), n. Etym: [F. galantine.]

Defn: A dish of veal, chickens, or other white meat, freed from bones, tied up, boiled, and served cold. Smart.

GALAPEE TREE Gal"a*pee` tree", (Bot.)

Defn: The West Indian Sciadophyllum Brownei, a tree with very large digitate leaves.

GALATEA Gal`a*te"a, n. [After Galatea, a British man-of-war, the material being used for children's sailor suits.]

Defn: A kind of striped cotton fabric, usually of superior quality and striped with blue or red on white.

GALATIAN Ga*la"tian, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to Galatia or its inhabitants. — A native or inhabitant of Galatia, in Asia Minor; a descendant of the Gauls who settled in Asia Minor.

GALAXY Gal"ax*y, n.; pl. Galaxies. Etym: [F. galaxie, L. galaxias, fr. Gr. lac. CF. Lacteal.]

1. (Astron.)

Defn: The Milky Way; that luminous tract, or belt, which is seen at night stretching across the heavens, and which is composed of innumerable stars, so distant and blended as to be distinguishable only with the telescope. The term has recently been used for remote clusters of stars. Nichol.

2. A splendid assemblage of persons or things.

GALBAN; GALBANUM Gal"ban, Gal"ba*num, n. Etym: [L. galbanum, Gr. klekb'n: cf. F. galbanum.]

Defn: A gum resin exuding from the stems of certain Asiatic umbelliferous plants, mostly species of Ferula. The Bubon Galbanum of South Africa furnishes an inferior kind of galbanum. It has an acrid, bitter taste, a strong, unpleasant smell, and is used for medical purposes, also in the arts, as in the manufacture of varnish.

GALBE Galbe, n. [F.; OF. garbe, fr. It. garbo grace, gracefulness. See Garb dress.] (Art)

Defn: The general outward form of any solid object, as of a column or a vase.

GALE Gale, n. Etym: [Prob. of Scand.. origin; cf. Dan. gal furious, Icel. galinn, cf. Icel. gala to sing, AS. galan to sing, Icel. galdr song, witchcraft, AS. galdor charm, sorcery, E. nightingale; also, Icel. gjla gust of wind, gola breeze. Cf. Yell.]

1. A strong current of air; a wind between a stiff breeze and a hurricane. The most violent gales are called tempests.

Note: Gales have a velocity of from about eighteen ("moderate") to about eighty ("very heavy") miles an our. Sir. W. S. Harris.

2. A moderate current of air; a breeze. A little gale will soon disperse that cloud. Shak. And winds of gentlest gale Arabian odors fanned From their soft wings. Milton.

3. A state of excitement, passion, or hilarity. The ladies, laughing heartily, were fast getting into what, in New England, is sometimes called a gale. Brooke (Eastford). Topgallant gale (Naut.), one in which a ship may carry her topgallant sails.

GALE Gale, v. i. (Naut.)

Defn: To sale, or sail fast.

GALE Gale, n Etym: [OE. gal. See Gale wind.]

Defn: A song or story. [Obs.] Toone.

GALE Gale, v. i. Etym: [AS. galan. See 1st Gale.]

Defn: To sing. [Obs.] "Can he cry and gale." Court of Love.

GALE Gale, n Etym: [AS. gagel, akin to D. gagel.] (Bot.)

Defn: A plant of the genus Myrica, growing in wet places, and strongly resembling the bayberry. The sweet gale (Myrica Gale) is found both in Europe and in America.

GALE Gale, n. Etym: [Cf. Gabel.]

Defn: The payment of a rent or annuity. [Eng.] Mozley & W. Gale day, the day on which rent or interest is due.

GALEA Ga"le*a, n.Etym: [L., a helmet. ]

1. (Bot.)

Defn: The upper lip or helmet-shaped part of a labiate flower.

2. (Surg.)

Defn: A kind of bandage for the head.

3. (Pathol.)

Defn: Headache extending all over the head.

4. (Paleon.)

Defn: A genus of fossil echini, having a vaulted, helmet-shaped shell.

5. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The anterior, outer process of the second joint of the maxillae in certain insects.

GALEAS Gal"e*as, n.

Defn: See Galleass.

GALEATE; GALEATED Ga"le*ate, Ga"le*a`ted, a. Etym: [L. galeatus, p.p. of galeare helmet.]

1. Wearing a helmet; protected by a helmet; covered, as with a helmet.

2. (Biol.)

Defn: Helmeted; having a helmetlike part, as a crest, a flower, etc.; helmet-shaped.

GALEI Ga"le*i, n. pl. Etym: [NL., fr. Galeus, name of one genus, fr. Gr. (Zoöl.)

Defn: That division of elasmobranch fishes which includes the sharks.

GALENA Ga*le"na, n.Etym: [L. galena lead ore, dross that remains after melting lead: cf. F. galène sulphide of lead ore, antidote to prison, stillness of the sea, calm, tranquility.]

1. (Med.)

Defn: A remedy or antidose for poison; theriaca. [Obs.] Parr.

2. (Min.)

Defn: Lead sulphide; the principal ore of lead. It is of a bluish gray color and metallic luster, and is cubic in crystallization and cleavage. False galena. See Blende.

GALENIC; GALENICAL Ga*len"ic, Ga*len"ic*al (, a.

Defn: Pertaining to, or containing, galena.

GALENIC; GALENICAL Ga*len"ic, Ga*len"ic*al, an. Etym: [From Galen, the physician.]

Defn: Relating to Galen or to his principles and method of treating diseases. Dunglison. Galenic pharmacy, that branch of pharmacy which relates to the preparation of medicines by infusion, decoction, etc., as distinguished from those which are chemically prepared.

GALENISM Ga"len*ism, n.

Defn: The doctrines of Galen.

GALENIST Ga*len*ist, n.

Defn: A follower of Galen.

GALENITE Ga*le"nite, n. (Min.)

Defn: Galena; lead ore.

GALEOPITHECUS Ga`le`o*pi*the"cus, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A genus of flying Insectivora, formerly called flying lemurs. See Colugo.

GALERICULATE Gal`er*ic"u*late, a. Etym: [L. galericulum, dim. of galerum a hat or cap, fr. galea helmet.]

Defn: Covered as with a hat or cap. Smart.

GALERITE Gal"er*ite, n. Etym: [L. galerum a hat, cap: cf. F. galérite.] (Paleon.)

Defn: A cretaceous fossil sea urchin of the genus Galerites.

GALICIAN Ga*li"cian, a. Etym: [Cf. Sp. Galiciano, Gallego, fr. L. Gallaecus, Gallaicus, fr. Gallaeci a people in Western Spain.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to Galicia, in Spain, or to Galicia, the kingdom of Austrian Poland. — n.

Defn: A native of Galicia in Spain; — called also Gallegan.

GALILEAN Gal`i*le"an, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to Galileo; as, the Galilean telescope. See Telescope.

GALILEAN Gal`i*le"an, a. Etym: [L. Galilaeus, fr. Galilaea Galilee, Gr. galiléen.]

Defn: Of or relating to Galilee.

GALILEAN Gal`i*le"an, n.

1. A native or inhabitant of Galilee, the northern province of Palestine under the Romans.

2. (Jewish Hist.)

Defn: One of the party among the Jews, who opposed the payment of tribute to the Romans; — called also Gaulonite.

3. A Christian in general; — used as a term of reproach by Mohammedans and Pagans. Byron.

GALILEE Gal"i*lee, n. Etym: [Supposed to have been so termed in allusion to the scriptural "Galilee of the Gentiles." cf. OF. galilée.] (Arch.)

Defn: A porch or waiting room, usually at the west end of an abbey church, where the monks collected on returning from processions, where bodies were laid previous to interment, and where women were allowed to see the monks to whom they were related, or to hear divine service. Also, frequently applied to the porch of a church, as at Ely and Durham cathedrals. Gwilt.

GALIMATIAS Gal`i*ma"tias, n. Etym: [F.]

Defn: Nonsense; gibberish; confused and unmeaning talk; confused mixture. Her dress, like her talk, is a galimatias of several countries. Walpole.

GALINGALE Gal"in*gale, n. Etym: [See Galangal.] (Bot.)

Defn: A plant of the Sedge family (Cyperus longus) having aromatic roots; also, any plant of the same genus. Chaucer. Meadow, set with slender galingale. Tennyson.

GALIOT Gal"i*ot, n. Etym: [OE. galiote, F. galiote. See Galley.] (Naut.) (a) A small galley, formerly used in the Mediterranean, built mainly for speed. It was moved both by sails and oars, having one mast, and sixteen or twenty seats for rowers. (b) A strong, light-draft, Dutch merchant vessel, carrying a mainmast and a mizzenmast, and a large gaff mainsail.

GALIPOT Gal"i*pot, n. Etym: [F. galipot; cf. OF. garipot the wild pine or pitch tree.]

Defn: An impure resin of turpentine, hardened on the outside of pine trees by the spontaneous evaporation of its essential oil. When purified, it is called yellow pitch, white pitch, or Burgundy pitch.

GALL Gall, n.Etym: [OE. galle, gal, AS. gealla; akin to D. gal, OS. & OHG. galla, Icel. gall, SW. galla, Dan. galde, L. fel, Gr. yellow. Yellow, and cf. Choler]

1. (Physiol.)

Defn: The bitter, alkaline, viscid fluid found in the gall bladder, beneath the liver. It consists of the secretion of the liver, or bile, mixed with that of the mucous membrane of the gall bladder.

2. The gall bladder.

3. Anything extremely bitter; bitterness; rancor. He hath . . . compassed me with gall and travail. Lam. iii. 5. Comedy diverted without gall. Dryden.

4. Impudence; brazen assurance. [Slang] Gall bladder (Anat.), the membranous sac, in which the bile, or gall, is stored up, as secreted by the liver; the cholecystis. See Illust. of Digestive apparatus. — Gall duct, a duct which conveys bile, as the cystic duct, or the hepatic duct. — Gall sickness, a remitting bilious fever in the Netherlands. Dunglison. — Gall of the earth (Bot.), an herbaceous composite plant with variously lobed and cleft leaves, usually the Prenanthes serpentaria.

GALL Gall, n. Etym: [F. galle, noix de galle, fr. L. galla.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: An excrescence of any form produced on any part of a plant by insects or their larvae. They are most commonly caused by small Hymenoptera and Diptera which puncture the bark and lay their eggs in the wounds. The larvae live within the galls. Some galls are due to aphids, mites, etc. See Gallnut.

Note: The galls, or gallnuts, of commerce are produced by insects of the genus Cynips, chiefly on an oak (Quercus infectoria or Lusitanica) of Western Asia and Southern Europe. They contain much tannin, and are used in the manufacture of that article and for making ink and a black dye, as well as in medicine. Gall insect (Zoöl.), any insect that produces galls. — Gall midge (Zoöl.), any small dipterous insect that produces galls. — Gall oak, the oak (Quercus infectoria) which yields the galls of commerce. — Gall of glass, the neutral salt skimmed off from the surface of melted crown glass;- called also glass gall and sandiver. Ure.— Gall wasp. (Zoöl.) See Gallfly.

GALL Gall, v. t. (Dyeing)

Defn: To impregnate with a decoction of gallnuts. Ure.

GALL Gall, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Galled; p. pr. & vb. n. Galling.] Etym: [OE. gallen; cf. F. galer to scratch, rub, gale scurf, scab, G. galle a disease in horses' feet, an excrescence under the tongue of horses; of uncertain origin. Cf. Gall gallnut.]

1. To fret and wear away by friction; to hurt or break the skin of by rubbing; to chafe; to injure the surface of by attrition; as, a saddle galls the back of a horse; to gall a mast or a cable. I am loth to gall a new-healed wound. Shak.

2. To fret; to vex; as, to be galled by sarcasm. They that are most galled with my folly, They most must laugh. Shak.

3. To injure; to harass; to annoy; as, the troops were galled by the shot of the enemy. In our wars against the French of old, we used to gall them with our longbows, at a greater distance than they could shoot their arrows. Addison.

GALL Gall, v. i.

Defn: To scoff; to jeer. [R.] Shak.

GALL Gall, n.

Defn: A wound in the skin made by rubbing.

GALLANT Gal"lant, a. Etym: [F. gallant, prop. p. pr. of OF. galer to rejoice, akin to OF. gale amusement, It. gala ornament; of German origin; cf. OHG. geil merry, luxuriant, wanton, G. geil lascivious, akin to AS. g wanton, wicked, OS. g merry, Goth. gailjan to make to rejoice, or perh. akin to E. weal. See Gala, Galloon.]

1. Showy; splendid; magnificent; gay; well-dressed. The town is built in a very gallant place. Evelyn. Our royal, good and gallant ship. Shak.

2. Noble in bearing or spirit; brave; high-spirited; courageous; heroic; magnanimous; as, a gallant youth; a gallant officer. That gallant spirit hath aspired the clouds. Shak. The gay, the wise, the gallant, and the grave. Waller.

Syn. — Gallant, Courageous, Brave. Courageous is generic, denoting an inward spirit which rises above fear; brave is more outward, marking a spirit which braves or defies danger; gallant rises still higher, denoting bravery on extraordinary occasions in a spirit of adventure. A courageous man is ready for battle; a brave man courts it; a gallant man dashes into the midst of the conflict.

GALLANT Gal*lant", a.

Defn: Polite and attentive to ladies; courteous to women; chivalrous.

GALLANT Gal*lant", n.

1. A man of mettle or spirit; a gay; fashionable man; a young blood. Shak.

2. One fond of paying attention to ladies.

3. One who wooes; a lover; a suitor; in a bad sense, a seducer. Addison.

Note: In the first sense it is by some orthoëpists (as in Shakespeare) accented on the first syllable.

GALLANT Gal*lant", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Gallanted; p. pr. & vb. n. Gallanting.]

1. To attend or wait on, as a lady; as, to gallant ladies to the play.

2. To handle with grace or in a modish manner; as, to gallant a fan. [Obs.] Addison.

GALLANTLY Gal*lant"ly, adv.

Defn: In a polite or courtly manner; like a gallant or wooer.

GALLANTLY Gal"lant*ly, adv.

Defn: In a gallant manner.

GALLANTNESS Gal"lant*ness, n.

Defn: The quality of being gallant.

GALLANTRY Gal"lant*ry, n.; pl. Gallantries. Etym: [F. galanterie.]

1. Splendor of appearance; ostentatious finery. [Archaic] Guess the gallantry of our church by this . . . when the desk whereon the priest read was inlaid with plates of silver. Fuller.

2. Bravery; intrepidity; as, the troops behaved with great gallantry.

3. Civility or polite attention to ladies; in a bed sense, attention or courtesy designed to win criminal favors from a female; freedom of principle or practice with respect to female virtue; intrigue.

4. Gallant persons, collectively. [R.] Helenus, Antenor, and all the gallantry of Troy. Shak.

Syn. — See Courage, and Heroism.

GALLATE Gal"late, n. Etym: [Cf. F. gallate. See Gall gallnut.] (Chem.)

Defn: A salt of gallic acid.

GALLATURE Gal"la*ture, n. Etym: [From L. gallus a cock.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: The tread, treadle, or chalasa of an egg.

GALLEASS Gal"le*ass, n. Etym: [F. galéasse, galéace; cf. It. galeazza, Sp. galeaza; LL. galea a galley. See Galley.] (Naut.)

Defn: A large galley, having some features of the galleon, as broadside guns; esp., such a vessel used by the southern nations of Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. See Galleon, and Galley. [Written variously galeas, gallias, etc.]

Note: "The galleasses . . . were a third larger than the ordinary galley, and rowed each by three hundred galley slaves. They consisted of an enormous towering structure at the stern, a castellated structure almost equally massive in front, with seats for the rowers amidships." Motley.

GALLEGAN; GALLEGO Gal*le"gan, Gal*le"go ( or ), n. Etym: [Sp. Gallego.]

Defn: A native or inhabitant of Galicia, in Spain; a Galician.

GALLEIN Gal"le*ïn, n. Etym: [Pyrogallol + phthaleïn.] (Chem.)

Defn: A red crystalline dyestuff, obtained by heating together pyrogallic and phthalic acids.

GALLEON Gal"le*on, n. Etym: [Sp. galeon, cf. F. galion; fr. LL. galeo, galio. See Galley.] (Naut.)

Defn: A sailing vessel of the 15th and following centuries, often having three or four decks, and used for war or commerce. The term is often rather indiscriminately applied to any large sailing vessel. The gallens . . . were huge, round-stemmed, clumsy vessels, with bulwarks three or four feet thick, and built up at stem and stern, like castels. Motley.

GALLEOT Gal"le*ot, n. (Naut.)

Defn: See Galiot.

GALLERY Gal"ler*y, n.; pl Galleries. Etym: [F. galerie, It. galleria, fr. LL. galeria gallery, perh. orig., a festal hall, banquetting hall; cf. OF. galerie a rejoicing, fr. galer to rejoice. Cf. Gallant, a.]

1. A long and narrow corridor, or place for walking; a connecting passageway, as between one room and another; also, a long hole or passage excavated by a boring or burrowing animal.

2. A room for the exhibition of works of art; as, a picture gallery; hence, also, a large or important collection of paintings, sculptures, etc.

3. A long and narrow platform attached to one or more sides of public hall or the interior of a church, and supported by brackets or columns; — sometimes intended to be occupied by musicians or spectators, sometimes designed merely to increase the capacity of the hall.

4. (Naut.)

Defn: A frame, like a balcony, projecting from the stern or quarter of a ship, and hence called stern galery or quarter gallry, — seldom found in vessels built since 1850.

5. (Fort.)

Defn: Any communication which is covered overhead as well as at the sides. When prepared for defense, it is a defensive galery.

6. (Mining)

Defn: A working drift or level. Whispering gallery. See under Whispering.

GALLETYLE Gal"le*tyle, n. Etym: [OE. gallytile. Cf. Gallipot.]

Defn: A little tile of glazed earthenware. [Obs.] "The substance of galletyle." Bacon.

GALLEY Gal"ley, n.; pl. Galleys. Etym: [OE. gale, galeie (cf. OF. galie, galée, LL. galea, LGr.

1. (Naut.)

Defn: A vessel propelled by oars, whether having masts and sails or not; as: (a) A large vessel for war and national purposes; — common in the Middle Ages, and down to the 17th century. (b) A name given by analogy to the Greek, Roman, and other ancient vessels propelled by oars. (c) A light, open boat used on the Thames by customhouse officers, press gangs, and also for pleasure. (d) One of the small boats carried by a man-of-war.

Note: The typical galley of the Mediterranean was from one hundred to two hundred feet long, often having twenty oars on each side. It had two or three masts rigged with lateen sails, carried guns at prow and stern, and a complement of one thousand to twelve hundred men, and was very efficient in mediaeval walfare. Galleons, galliots, galleasses, half galleys, and quarter galleys were all modifications of this type.

2. The cookroom or kitchen and cooking apparatus of a vessel; — sometimes on merchant vessels called the caboose.

3. (Chem.)

Defn: An oblong oven or muffle with a battery of retorts; a gallery furnace.

4. Etym: [F. galée; the same word as E. galley a vessel.] (Print.) (a) An oblong tray of wood or brass, with upright sides, for holding type which has been set, or is to be made up, etc. (b) A proof sheet taken from type while on a galley; a galley proof. Galley slave, a person condemned, often as a punishment for crime, to work at the oar on board a galley. "To toil like a galley slave." Macaulay.— Galley slice (Print.), a sliding false bottom to a large galley. Knight.

GALLEY-BIRD Gal"ley-bird`, n. Etym: [Etymol. uncertain.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: The European green woodpecker; also, the spotted woodpecker. [Prov. Eng.]

GALLEY-WORM Gal"ley-worm`, n. Etym: [Prob. so called because the numerous legs along the sides move rhythmically like the oars of a galley.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A chilognath myriapod of the genus Iulus, and allied genera, having numerous short legs along the sides; a milliped or "thousand legs." See Chilognatha.

GALLFLY Gall"fly`, n.; pl. Gallflies (. (Zoöl.)

Defn: An insect that deposits its eggs in plants, and occasions galls, esp. any small hymenopteran of the genus Cynips and allied genera. See Illust. of Gall.

GALLIAMBIC Gal`li*am"bic, a. Etym: [L. galliambus a song used by the priests of Cybele; Gallus (a name applied to these priests) + iambus] (Pros.)

Defn: Consisting of two iambic dimeters catalectic, the last of which lacks the final syllable; — said of a kind of verse.

GALLIAN Gal"li*an, a. Etym: [See Gallic.]

Defn: Gallic; French. [Obs.] Shak.

GALLIARD Gal"liard, a. Etym: [OE., fr. F. gaillard, perh. of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. & Gael. galach valiant, or AS. gagol, geagl, wanton, lascivious.]

Defn: Gay; brisk; active. [Obs.]

GALLIARD Gal"liard, n.

Defn: A brisk, gay man. [Obs.] Selden is a galliard by himself. Cleveland.

GALLIARD Gal"liard, n. Etym: [F. gaillarde, cf. Sp. gallarda. See Galliard, a.]

Defn: A gay, lively dance. Cf. Gailliarde. Never a hall such a galliard did grace. Sir. W. Scott.

GALLIARDISE Gal`liard*ise, n. Etym: [F. gaillardise. See Galliard, a.]

Defn: Excessive gayety; merriment. [Obs.] The mirth and galliardise of company. Sir. T. Browne.

GALLIARDNESS Gal"liard*ness, n.

Defn: Gayety. [Obs.] Gayton.

GALLIASS Gal"li*ass, n.

Defn: Same as Galleass.

GALLIC Gal"lic, a. Etym: [From Gallium.] (Chem.)

Defn: Pertaining to, or containing, gallium.

GALLIC Gal"lic (277), a. Etym: [From Gall the excrescence.]

Defn: Pertaining to, or derived from, galls, nutgalls, and the like. Gallic acid (Chem.), an organic acid, very widely distributed in the vegetable kingdom, being found in the free state in galls, tea, etc., and produced artificially. It is a white, crystalline substance, C6H2(HO)3.CO2H, with an astringent taste, and is a strong reducing agent, as employed in photography. It is usually prepared from tannin, and both give a dark color with iron salts, forming tannate and gallate of iron, which are the essential ingredients of common black ink.

GALLIC Gal"lic, a. Etym: [L. Gallicus belonging to the Gauls, fr. Galli the Gauls, Gallia Gaul, now France: cf. F. gallique.]

Defn: Pertaining to Gaul or France; Gallican.

GALLICAN Gal"li*can, a. Etym: [L. Gallicanus: cf. F. gallican.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to Gaul or France; Gallic; French; as, the Gallican church or clergy.

GALLICAN Gal"li*can, n.

Defn: An adherent to, and supporter of, Gallicanism. Shipley.

GALLICANISM Gal"li*can*ism, n.

Defn: The principles, tendencies, or action of those, within the Roman Catholic Church in France, who (esp. in 1682) sought to restrict the papal authority in that country and increase the power of the national church. Schaff-Herzog Encyc.

GALLICISM Gal"li*cism, n. Etym: [F. gallicisme.]

Defn: A mode of speech peculiar to the French; a French idiom; also, in general, a French mode or custom.

GALLICIZE Gal"li*cize, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Gallicized; p. pr. & vb. n. Gallicizing.]

Defn: To conform to the French mode or idiom.

GALLIED Gal"lied, p. p. & a. (Naut.)

Defn: Worried; flurried; frightened. Ham. Nav. Encyc.

GALLIFORM Gal"li*form, a. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Like the Gallinae (or Galliformes) in structure.

GALLIGASKINS Gal`li*gas"kins, n. pl. Etym: [Prob. corrupted fr. It. Grechesco Grecian, a name which seems to have been given in Venice, and to have been afterwards confused with Gascony, as if they came from Gascony.]

Defn: Loose hose or breeches; leather leg quards. The word is used loosely and often in a jocose sense.

GALLIMATIA Gal`li*ma"ti*a ( or ), n.

Defn: Senseless talk. [Obs. or R.] See Galimatias.

GALLIMAUFRY Gal`li*mau"fry, n.; pl. Gallimaufries. Etym: [F. galimafrée a sort of ragout or mixed hash of different meats.]

1. A hash of various kinds of meats, a ragout. Delighting in hodge-podge, gallimaufries, forced meat. King.

2. Any absurd medley; a hotchpotch. The Mahometan religion, which, being a gallimaufry made up of many, partakes much of the Jewish. South.

GALLIN Gal"lin, n. (Chem.)

Defn: A substance obtained by the reduction of galleïn.

GALLINACEAE Gal"li*nace*ae, n. pl. Etym: [NL. See Gallinaceous.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: Same as Gallinae.

GALLINACEAN Gal`li*na"cean, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: One of the Gallinae or gallinaceous birds.

GALLINACEOUS Gal`li*na"ceous, a.Etym: [L. gallinaceus, fr. gallina hen, fr. gallus cock.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: Resembling the domestic fowls and pheasants; of or pertaining to the Gallinae.

GALLINAE Gal*li"nae, n.; pl. Etym: [NL., fr. L. gallina a hen, gallus a cock.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: An order of birds, including the common domestic fowls, pheasants, grouse, quails, and allied forms; — sometimes called Rasores.

GALLING Gall"ing, a.

Defn: Fitted to gall or chafe; vexing; harassing; irritating. — Gall"ing*ly, adv.

GALLINIPPER Gal"li*nip`per, n.

Defn: A large mosquito.

GALLINULE Gal"li*nule, n. Etym: [L. gallinula chicken, dim. of gallina hen: cf. F. gallinule.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: One of several wading birds, having long, webless toes, and a frontal shield, belonging to the family Rallidae. They are remarkable for running rapidly over marshes and on floating plants. The purple gallinule of America is Ionornis Martinica, that of the Old World is Porphyrio porphyrio. The common European gallinule (Gallinula chloropus) is also called moor hen, water hen, water rail, moor coot, night bird, and erroneously dabchick. Closely related to it is the Florida gallinule (Gallinula galeata).

Note: The purple gallinule of Southern Europe and Asia was formerly believed to be able to detect and report adultery, and for that reason, chiefly, it was commonly domesticated by the ancients.

GALLIOT Gal"li*ot, n.

Defn: See Galiot.

GALLIPOLI OIL Gal*lip"o*li oil`.

Defn: An inferior kind of olive oil, brought from Gallipoli, in Italy.

GALLIPOT Gal"li*pot, n. Etym: [Prob. fr. OD. gleypot, the first part of which is possibly akin to E. glad. See Glad, and Pot.]

Defn: A glazed earthen pot or vessel, used by druggists and apothecaries for containing medicines, etc.

GALLIUM Gal"li*um, n. Etym: [NL., fr. L. Gallia France.] (Chem.)

Defn: A rare metallic element, found in certain zinc ores. It is white, hard, and malleable, resembling aluminium, and remarcable for its low melting point (86

Note: The element was predicted with most of its properties, under the name ekaluminium, by the Russian chemist Mendelejeff, on the basis of the Periodic law. This prediction was verified in its discovery by the French chemist Lecoq de Boisbaudran by its characteristic spectrum (two violet lines), in an examination of a zinc blende from the Pyrenees.

GALLIVANT Gal"li*vant, v. i. Etym: [From Gallant.]

Defn: To play the beau; to wait upon the ladies; also, to roam about for pleasure without any definite plan. [Slang] Dickens.

GALLIVAT Gal"li*vat, n.Etym: [Prob. fr. Pg. galeota; cf. E. galiot, galley.] (Naut.)

Defn: A small armed vessel, with sails and oars, — used on the Malabar coast. A. Chalmers.

GALLIWASP Gal"li*wasp`, n. Etym: [Etymol. uncertain.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A West Indian lizard (Celestus occiduus), about a foot long, imagined by the natives to be venomous.

GALLIZE Gal"lize, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Gallized; p. pr. & vb. n. Gallizing.] [After Dr. L. Gall, a French chemist, who invented the process.]

Defn: In wine making, to add water and sugar to (unfermented grape juice) so as to increase the quantity of wine produced. — Gal`li*za"tion (#), n.

GALLNUT Gall"nut`, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A round gall produced on the leaves and shoots of various species of the oak tree. See Gall, and Nutgall.

GALLOMANIA Gal`lo*ma"ni*a, n. Etym: [L. Galli Gauls + mania madness.]

Defn: An excessive admiration of what is French. — Gal`lo*ma"ni*ac, n.

GALLON Gal"lon, n. Etym: [OF galon, jalon, LL. galo, galona, fr. galum a liquid measure; cf. F. jale large bowl. Cf. Gill a measure.]

Defn: A measure of capacity, containing four quarts; — used, for the most part, in liquid measure, but sometimes in dry measure.

Note: The standart gallon of the Unites States contains 231 cubic inches, or 8.3389 pounds avoirdupois of distilled water at its maximum density, and with the barometer at 30 inches. This is almost exactly equivalent to a cylinder of seven inches in diameter and six inches in height, and is the same as the old English wine gallon. The beer gallon, now little used in the United States, contains 282 cubic inches. The English imperial gallon contains 10 pounds avoirdupois of distilled water at 62

GALLOON Gal*loon", n. Etym: [From F. or Sp. galon. See Gala. ]

1. A narrow tapelike fabric used for binding hats, shoes, etc., — sometimes made ornamental.

2. A similar bordering or binding of rich material, such as gold lace. Silver and gold galloons, with the like glittering gewgaws. Addison.

GALLOONED Gal*looned`, a.

Defn: Furnished or adorned with galloon.

GALLOP Gal"lop, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Galloped; p. pr. & vb. n. Galloping.] Etym: [OE. galopen, F. galoper, of German origin; cf. assumed Goth. ga-hlaupan to run, OHG. giloufen, AS. gehleápan to leap, dance, fr. root of E. leap, and a prefix; or cf. OFlem. walop a gallop. See Leap, and cf. 1st Wallop.]

1. To move or run in the mode called a gallop; as a horse; to go at a gallop; to run or move with speed. But gallop lively down the western hill. Donne.

2. To ride a horse at a gallop.

3. Fig.: To go rapidly or carelessly, as in making a hasty examination. Such superficial ideas he may collect in galloping over it. Locke.

GALLOP Gal"lop, v. t.

Defn: To cause to gallop.

GALLOP Gal"lop, n. Etym: [Cf. F. galop. See Gallop, v. i., and cf. Galop.]

Defn: A mode of running by a quadruped, particularly by a horse, by lifting alternately the fore feet and the hind feet, in successive leaps or bounds. Hand gallop, a slow or gentle gallop.

GALLOPADE Gal"lo*pade`, n. Etym: [F. galopade. See Gallop, n.]

1. I horsemanship, a sidelong or curveting kind of gallop.

2. A kind of dance; also, music to the dance; a galop.

GALLOPADE Gal`lo*pade", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Gallopaded; p. pr. & vb. n. Gallopading.]

1. To gallop, as on horseback.

2. To perform the dance called gallopade.

GALLOPER Gal"lop*er, n.

1. One who, or that which, gallops.

2.

(Mil.)

Defn: A carriage on which very small guns were formerly mounted, the gun resting on the shafts, without a limber. Farrow. Galloper gun, a light gun, supported on a galloper, — formerly attached to British infantry regiments.

GALLOPIN Gal"lo*pin, n.Etym: [F. galopin. See Gallop, v. i.]

Defn: An under servant for the kitchen; a scullion; a cook's errand boy. [Obs.] Halliwell.

GALLOPING Gal"lop*ing, a.

Defn: Going at a gallop; progressing rapidly; as, a galloping horse.

GALLOTANNIC Gal`lo*tan"nic, a. Etym: [Gall nutgall + tannic.] (Chem.)

Defn: Pertaining to the tannin or nutgalls. Gallotannic acid. See Tannic acid, under Tannic.

GALLOW Gal"low, v. t. Etym: [Cf. AS. agelwan to stupefy.]

Defn: To fright or terrify. See Gally, v. t. [Obs.] Shak.

GALLOWAY Gal"lo*way, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A small horse of a breed raised at Galloway, Scotland; — called also garran, and garron.

GALLOWGLASS Gal"low*glass`, n. Etym: [Ir. galloglach. Cf. Gillie.]

Defn: A heavy-armed foot soldier from Ireland and the Western Isles in the time of Edward Shak.

GALLOWS Gal"lows, n. sing.; pl. Gallowses or Gallows. Etym: [OE. galwes, pl., AS. galga, gealga, gallows, cross; akin to D. galg gallows, OS. & OHG. galgo, G. galgen, Icel. galgi, Sw. & Dan. galge, Goth. galga a cross. Etymologically and historically considered, gallows is a noun in the plural number, but it is used as a singular, and hence is preceded by a; as, a gallows.]

1. A frame from which is suspended the rope with which criminals are executed by hanging, usually consisting of two upright posts and a crossbeam on the top; also, a like frame for suspending anything. So they hanged Haman on the gallows. Esther vii. 10. If I hang, I'll make a fat pair of gallows. Shak. O, there were desolation of gaolers and gallowses Shak.

2. A wretch who deserves the gallows. [R.] Shak.

3. (Print.)

Defn: The rest for the tympan when raised.

4. pl.

Defn: A pair of suspenders or braces. [Colloq.] Gallows bird, a person who deserves the gallows. [Colloq.] — Gallows bitts (Naut.), one of two or more frames amidships on deck for supporting spare spars; — called also gallows, gallows top, gallows frame, etc. — Gallows frame. (a) The frame supporting the beam of an engine. (b) (Naut.) Gallows bitts. — Gallows, or Gallow tree, the gallows. At length him nailéd on a gallow tree. Spenser.

GALLSTONE Gall"stone`, n.

Defn: A concretion, or calculus, formed in the gall bladder or biliary passages. See Calculus, n., 1.

GALLY Gal"ly, v. t. Etym: [See Gallow, v. t.]

Defn: To frighten; to worry. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] T. Brown.

GALLY Gall"y, a.

Defn: Like gall; bitter as gall. Cranmer.

GALLY Gal"ly, n.

Defn: See Galley, n., 4.

GALLYGASKINS Gal`ly*gas"kins, n. pl.

Defn: See Galligaskins.

GALOCHE; GALOSHE Ga*loche", Ga*loshe" (, Etym: [OE. galoche, galache, galage, shoe, F. galoche galoche, perh. altered fr. L. gallica a Gallic shoe, or fr. LL. calopedia wooden shoe, or shoe with a wooden sole, Gr.

1. A clog or patten. [Obs.] Nor were worthy [to] unbuckle his galoche. Chaucer.

2. Hence: An overshoe worn in wet weather.

3. A gaiter, or legging, covering the upper part of the shoe and part of the leg.

GALOOT Ga*loot", n.

Defn: A noisy, swaggering, or worthless fellow; a rowdy. [Slang, U. S.]

GALOP Gal"op, n. Etym: [F.] (Mus.)

Defn: A kind of lively dance, in 2-4 time; also, the music to the dance.

GALORE Ga*lore", n. & a. Etym: [Scot. gelore, gilore, galore, fr. Gael. gu leòr, enough; gu- to, also an adverbial prefix + leòr, leòir, enough; or fr. Ir. goleor, the same word.]

Defn: Plenty; abundance; in abundance.

GALOSH Ga*losh", n.

1. Same as Galoche, Galoshe.

2. A strip of material, as leather, running around a shoe at and above the sole, as for protection or ornament.

GALOSHE Ga*loshe", n.

Defn: Same as Galoche.

GALPE Galpe, v. i.

Defn: To gape,; to yawn. [Obs.] Chaucer.

GALSOME Gal"some, a. Etym: [Gall bitterness + some.]

Defn: Angry; malignant. [Obs.] Bp. Morton.

GALT Galt, n Etym: [See Gault.]

Defn: Same as Gault.

GALVANIC Gal*van"ic, a. Etym: [From Galvani, a professor of physiology at Bologna, on account of his connection (about 1780) with the discovery of dynamical or current electricity: cf. F. galvanique.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to, or exhibiting the phenomena of, galvanism; employing or producing electrical currents. Galvanic battery (Elec.), an apparatus for generating electrical currents by the mutual action of certain liquids and metals; — now usually called voltaic battery. See Battery. — Galvanic circuit or circle. (Elec.) See under Circuit. — Galvanic pile (Elec.), the voltaic pile. See under Voltaic.

GALVANISM Gal"va*nism, n Etym: [From Galvani: cf. F. galvanisme. See Galvanic.] (Physics) (a) Electricity excited by the mutual action of certain liquids and metals; dynamical electricity. (b) The branch of physical science which treats of dynamical elecricity, or the properties and effects of electrical currents.

Note: The words galvanism and galvanic, formerly in very general use, are now rarely employed. For the latter, voltaic, from the name of Volta, is commonly used.

GALVANIST Gal"va*nist, n.

Defn: One versed in galvanism.

GALVANIZATION Gal"va*niza`tion, n.

Defn: The act of process of galvanizing.

GALVANIZE Gal"va*nize, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Galvanized; p pr. & vb. n. Galvanizing.] Etym: [Cf. F. galvaniser.]

1. To affect with galvanism; to subject to the action of electrical currents.

2. To plate, as with gold, silver, etc., by means of electricity.

3. To restore to consciousness by galvanic action (as from a state of suspended animation); hence, to stimulate or excite to a factitious animation or activity.

4. To coat, as iron, with zinc. See Galvanized iron. Galvanized iron, formerly, iron coated with zink by electrical deposition; now more commonly, iron coated with zink by plunging into a bath of melted zink, after its surface has been cleaned by friction with the aid of dilute acid.

GALVANIZER Gal"va*ni`zer, n.

Defn: One who, or that which, galvanize.

GALVANOCAUSTIC Gal*van`o*caus"tic, a. Etym: [Galvanic + caustic.]

Defn: Relating to the use of galvanic heat as a caustic, especially in medicine.

GALVANOCAUTERY Gal*van`o*cau"ter*y, n. (Med.)

Defn: Cautery effected by a knife or needle heated by the passage of a galvanic current.

GALVANOGLYPHY Gal`va*nog"ly*phy, n. Etym: [Galvanic + Gr.

Defn: Same as Glyphography.

GALVANOGRAPH Gal*van"o*graph, n. Etym: [Galvanic + -graph.] (Engraving)

Defn: A copperplate produced by the method of galvanography; also, a picture printed from such a plate.

GALVANOGRAPHIC Gal*van`o*graph"ic, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to galvanography.

GALVANOGRAPHY Gal`va*nog"ra*phy, n. Etym: [Galvanic + -graphy.]

1. The art or process of depositing metals by electricity; electrotypy.

2. A method of producing by means of electrotyping process (without etching) copperplates which can be printed from in the same manner as engraved plates.

GALVANOLOGIST Gal`va*nol"o*gist, n.

Defn: One who describes the phenomena of galvanism; a writer on galvanism.

GALVANOLOGY Gal`va*nol"o*gy n. Etym: [Galvanic + -logy.]

Defn: A treatise on galvanism, or a description of its phenomena.

GALVANOMETER Gal`va*nom"e*ter, n. Etym: [Galvanic + -meter: cf. F. galvanomètre.] (Elec.)

Defn: An instrument or apparatus for measuring the intensity of an electric current, usually by the deflection of a magnetic needle. Differential galvanometer. See under Differental, a. — Sine galvanometer, Cosine galvanometer, Tangent galvanometer (Elec.), a galvanometer in which the sine, cosine, or tangent respectively, of the angle through which the needle is deflected, is proportional to the strength of the current passed through the instrument.

GALVANOMETRIC Gal*van`o*met"ric, a.

Defn: Of, pertaining to, or measured by, a galvanometer.

GALVANOMETRY Gal`va*nom"e*try, n.

Defn: The art or process of measuring the force of electric currents.

GALVANOPLASTIC Gal*van`o*plas"tic, a. Etym: [Galvanic + -plastic.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to the art or process of electrotyping; employing, or produced by, the process of electolytic deposition; as, a galvano-plastic copy of a medal or the like.

GALVANOPLASTY Gal*van"o*plas`ty, n. Etym: [Cf. F. galanoplastie.]

Defn: The art or process of electrotypy.

GALVANOPUNCTURE Gal*van`o*punc"ture, n. (Med.)

Defn: Same as Electro-puncture.

GALVANOSCOPE Gal*van`o*scope, n. Etym: [Galvanic + -scope: cf. F. galvanoscope.] (Elec.)

Defn: An instrument or apparatus for detecting the presence of electrical currents, especially such as are of feeble intensity.

GALVANOSCOPIC Gal*van`o*scop"ic, a

Defn: Of or pertaining to a galvanoscope.

GALVANOSCOPY Gal`va*nos"co*py, n (Physiol.)

Defn: The use of galvanism in physiological experiments.

GALVANOTONUS Gal`va*not"o*nus, n. Etym: [NL., fr. E. galvanic + GR. (Physiol.)

Defn: Same as Electrotonus.

GALVANOTROPISM Gal`va*not"ro*pism, n. Etym: [Galvanic + Gr. (Bot.)

Defn: The tendency of a root to place its axis in the line of a galvanic current.

GALWES Gal"wes, n.

Defn: Gallows. [Obs.] Chaucer.

GAM Gam, n. [Orig. uncert.] (Naut.) (a) A herd, or school, of whales. (b) A visit between whalers at sea; a holding of social intercourse between those on different vessels at sea, or (Local U. S.) between persons ashore.

GAM Gam, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Gammed; p. pr. & vb. n. Gam"ming.] (Naut.) (a) To gather in a gam; — said of whales. (b) To engage in a gam, or (Local, U. S.) in social intercourse anywhere.

GAM Gam, v. t. (Naut.)

Defn: To have a gam with; to pay a visit to, esp. among whalers at sea.

GAMA GRASS Ga"ma grass`. Etym: [From Gama, a cluster of the Maldive Islands.] (Bot.)

Defn: A species of grass (Tripsacum dactyloides) tall, stout, and exceedingly productive; cultivated in the West Indies, Mexico, and the Southern States of North America as a forage grass; — called also sesame grass.

GAMASHES Ga*mash"es, n. pl. Etym: [F. gamaches.]

Defn: High boots or buskins; in Scotland, short spatterdashes or riding trousers, worn over the other clothing.

GAMBA Gam"ba, n.

Defn: A viola da gamba.

GAMBADOES Gam*ba"does, n. pl. Etym: [I. or Sp. gamba leg. See Gambol, n.]

Defn: Same as Gamashes. His thin legs tenanted a pair of gambadoes fastened at the side with rusty clasps. Sir W. Scott.

GAMBEER Gam*beer", v. t. [Cf. F. gambier a kind of hook.] (Fishing)

Defn: To gaff, as mackerel.

GAMBESON Gam"be*son, n.

Defn: Same as Gambison.

GAMBET Gam"bet, n. Etym: [Fr. gambette, or It. gambetta.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: Any bird of the genuis Totanus. See Tattler.

GAMBIER Gam"bier, n. Etym: [Malayan.] (a) The inspissated juice of a plant (Uncaria Gambir) growing in Malacca. It is a powerful astringent, and, under the name of Terra Japonica, is used for chewing with the Areca nut, and is exported for tanning and dyeing. (b) Catechu. [Written also gambeer and gambir.]

GAMBISON Gam"bi*son, n. Etym: [OF. gambeson, gambaison, fr. gambais, wambais, of German origin: cf. MHG. wambeis, G. wams doublet, fr. OHG. wamba, stomach. See Womb.]

Defn: A defensive garment formerly in use for the body, made of cloth stuffed and quilted.

GAMBIST Gam"bist, n. Etym: [It. gamba leg.] (Mus.)

Defn: A performer upon the viola di gamba. See under Viola.

GAMBIT Gam"bit, n. Etym: [F. gambit, cf. It. gambitto gambit, a tripping up. See Gambol, n.] (Chess Playing)

Defn: A mode of opening the game, in which a pawn is sacrificed to gain an attacking position.

GAMBLE Gam"ble, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Gambled; p. pr. & vb. n. Gambling.] Etym: [Dim. of game. See 2d Game.]

Defn: To play or game for money or other stake.

GAMBLE Gamble, v. t.

Defn: To lose or squander by gaming; — usually with away. "Bankrupts or sots who have gambled or slept away their estates." Ames.

GAMBLER Gam"bler, n.

Defn: One who gambles.

GAMBOGE Gam*boge", n.

Defn: A concrete juice, or gum resin, produced by several species of trees in Siam, Ceylon, and Malabar. It is brought in masses, or cylindrical rolls, from Cambodia, or Cambogia, — whence its name. The best kind is of a dense, compact texture, and of a beatiful reddish yellow. Taking internally, it is a strong and harsh cathartic ad emetic. [Written also camboge.]

Note: There are several kinds of gamboge, but all are derived from species of Garcinia, a genus of trees of the order Guttiferæ. The best Siam gamboge is thought to come from Garcinia Hanburii. Ceylon gamboge is from G. Morella. G. pictoria, of Western India, yields gamboge, and also a kind of oil called gamboge butter.

GAMBOGIAN; GAMBOGIC Gam*bo"gi*an, Gambogic, a.

Defn: Pertaining to, resembling, or containing, gamboge.

GAMBOL Gam"bol, n. Etym: [OE. gambolde, gambaulde, F. gambade, gambol, fr. It. gambata kick, fr. L. gamba leg, akin to F. jambe, OF. also, gambe, fr. L. gamba, hoof or perh. joint: cf. Gr. cam crooked; perh. akin to E. chamber: cf.F. gambiller to kick about. Cf. Jamb, n., Gammon ham, Gambadoes.]

Defn: A skipping or leaping about in frolic; a hop; a sportive prank. Dryden.

GAMBOL Gam"bol v. i. [imp. & p. p. Gamboled, or Gambolled; p. pr. & vb. n. Gamboling or Gambolling.]

Defn: To dance and skip about in sport; to frisk; to skip; to play in frolic, like boys or lambs.

GAMBREL Gam"brel, n Etym: [OF. gambe, jambe leg, F. jambe. Cf. Cambrel, Chambrel, and see Gambol. n.]

1. The hind leg of a horse.

2. A stick crooked like a horse's hind leg; — used by butchers in suspending slaughtered animals. Gambrel roof (Arch.), a curb roof having the same section in all parts, with a lower steeper slope and an upper and flatter one, so that each gable is pentagonal in form.

GAMBREL Gam"brel v. t.

Defn: To truss or hang up by means of a gambrel. Beau. & Fl.

GAMBROON Gam*broon", n.

Defn: A kind of twilled linen cloth for lining. Simmonds.

GAME Game, a. Etym: [Cf. W. cam crooked, and E. gambol, n.]

Defn: Crooked; lame; as, a game leg. [Colloq.]

GAME Game, n. Etym: [OE. game, gamen, AS. gamen, gomen, play, sport; akin to OS., OHG., & Icel. gaman, Dan. gammen mirth, merriment, OSw. gamman joy. Cf. Gammon a game, Backgammon, Gamble v. i.]

1. Sport of any kind; jest, frolic. We have had pastimes here, and pleasant game. Shak.

2. A contest, physical or mental, according to certain rules, for amusement, recreation, or for winning a stake; as, a game of chance; games of skill; field games, etc. But war's a game, which, were their subject wise, Kings would not play at. Cowper.

Note: Among the ancients, especially the Greeks and Romans, there were regularly recurring public exhibitions of strength, agility, and skill under the patronage of the government, usually accompanied with religious ceremonies. Such were the Olympic, the Pythian, the Nemean, and the Isthmian games.

3. The use or practice of such a game; a single match at play; a single contest; as, a game at cards. Talk the game o'er between the deal. Lloyd.

4. That which is gained, as the stake in a game; also, the number of points necessary to be scored in order to win a game; as, in short whist five points are game.

5. (Card Playing)

Defn: In some games, a point credited on the score to the player whose cards counts up the highest.

6. A scheme or art employed in the pursuit of an object or purpose; method of procedure; projected line of operations; plan; project. Your murderous game is nearly up. Blackw. Mag. It was obviously Lord Macaulay's game to blacken the greatest literary champion of the cause he had set himself to attack. Saintsbury.

7. Animals pursued and taken by sportsmen; wild meats designed for, or served at, table. Those species of animals . . . distinguished from the rest by the well-known appellation of game. Blackstone. Confidence game. See under Confidence. — To make game of, to make sport of; to mock. Milton.

GAME Game, a.

1. Having a resolute, unyielding spirit, like the gamecock; ready to fight to the last; plucky. I was game . . . .I felt that I could have fought even to the death. W. Irving.

2. Of or pertaining to such animals as are hunted for game, or to the act or practice of hunting. Game bag, a sportsman's bag for carrying small game captured; also, the whole quantity of game taken. — Game bird, any bird commonly shot for food, esp. grouse, partridges, quails, pheasants, wild turkeys, and the shore or wading birds, such as plovers, snipe, woodcock, curlew, and sandpipers. The term is sometimes arbitrarily restricted to birds hunted by sportsmen, with dogs and guns. — Game egg, an egg producing a gamecock. — Game laws, laws regulating the seasons and manner of taking game for food or for sport. — Game preserver, a land owner who regulates the killing of game on his estate with a view to its increase. [Eng.] — To be game. (a) To show a brave, unyielding spirit. (b) To be victor in a game. [Colloq.] — To die game, to maintain a bold, unyielding spirit to the last; to die fighting.

GAME Game, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Gamed; p. pr. & vb. n. Gaming.] Etym: [OE. gamen, game, to rejoice, AS. gamenian to play. See Game, n.]

1. To rejoice; to be pleased; — often used, in Old English, impersonally with dative. [Obs.] God loved he best with all his whole hearte At alle times, though him gamed or smarte. Chaucer.

2. To play at any sport or diversion.

3. To play for a stake or prize; to use cards, dice, billiards, or other instruments, according to certain rules, with a view to win money or other thing waged upon the issue of the contest; to gamble.

GAMECOCK Game"cock`, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The male game fowl.

GAME FOWL Game" fowl`. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A handsome breed of the common fowl, remarkable for the great courage and pugnacity of the males.

GAMEFUL Game"ful, a.

Defn: Full of game or games.

GAMEKEEPER Game"keep`er, n.

Defn: One who has the care of game, especially in a park or preserve. Blackstone.

GAMELESS Game"less, a.

Defn: Destitute of game.

GAMELY Game"ly, adv.

Defn: In a plucky manner; spiritedly.

GAMENESS Game"ness, n.

Defn: Endurance; pluck.

GAMESOME Game"some, a.

Defn: Gay; sportive; playful; frolicsome; merry. Shak. Gladness of the gamesome crowd. Byron. — Game"some*ly, adv. — Game"some*ness, n.

GAMESTER Game"ster, n. Etym: [Game + -ster.]

1. A merry, frolicsome person. [Obs.] Shak.

2. A person who plays at games; esp., one accustomed to play for a stake; a gambler; one skilled in games. When lenity and cruelty play for a kingdom, the gentlest gamester is the soonest winner. Shak.

3. A prostitute; a strumpet. [Obs.] Shak.

GAMETE Gam"ete (gam"et; ga*met"; the latter usually in compounds), n. [Gr. gameth` wife, or game`ths husband, fr. gamei^n to marry.] (Biol.)

Defn: A sexual cell or germ cell; a conjugating cell which unites with another of like or unlike character to form a new individual. In Bot., gamete designates esp. the similar sex cells of the lower thallophytes which unite by conjugation, forming a zygospore. The gametes of higher plants are of two sorts, sperm (male) and egg (female); their union is called fertilization, and the resulting zygote an oöspore. In Zoöl., gamete is most commonly used of the sexual cells of certain Protozoa, though also extended to the germ cells of higher forms.

GAMETOPHYTE Ga*me"to*phyte, n. [Gamete + Gr. fyto`n plant.] (Bot.)

Defn: In the alternation of generations in plants, that generation or phase which bears sex organs. In the lower plants, as the algæ, the gametophyte is the conspicuous part of the plant body; in mosses it is the so-called moss plant; in ferns it is reduced to a small, early perishing body; and in seed plants it is usually microscopic or rudimentary.

GAMIC Gam"ic, a. Etym: [Gr. (Biol.)

Defn: Pertaining to, or resulting from, sexual connection; formed by the union of the male and female elements.

GAMIN Gam"in, n. Etym: [F.]

Defn: A neglected and untrained city boy; a young street Arab. In Japan, the gamins run after you, and say, 'Look at the Chinaman.' L. Oliphant.

GAMING Gam"ing, n.

Defn: The act or practice of playing games for stakes or wagers; gambling.

GAMMA Gam"ma, n.

Defn: The third letter (G) of the Greek alphabet.

GAMMADION Gam*ma"di*on, n.

Defn: A cross formed of four capital gammas, formerly used as a mysterious ornament on ecclesiastical vestments, etc. See Fylfot.

GAMMA RAYS Gam"ma rays. (Physics)

Defn: Very penetrating rays not appreciably deflected by a magnetic or electric field, emitted by radioactive substances. The prevailing view is that they are non-periodic ether pulses differing from Röntgen rays only in being more penetrating.

GAMMER Gam"mer, n. Etym: [Possibly contr. fr. godmother; but prob. fr. grammer for grandmother. Cf. Gaffer.]

Defn: An old wife; an old woman; — correlative of gaffer, an old man.

GAMMON Gam"mon, n. Etym: [OF. gambon, F. jambon, fr. OF. gambe leg, F. jambe. See Gambol, n., and cf. Ham.]

Defn: The buttock or tight of a hog, salted and smoked or dried; the lower end of a flitch. Goldsmith.

GAMMON Gam"mon, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Gameed; p. pr. & vb. n. Gameing.]

Defn: To make bacon of; to salt and dry in smoke.

GAMMON Gam"mon, n. Etym: [See 2d Game.]

1. Backgammon.

2. An imposition or hoax; humbug. [Colloq.]

GAMMON Gam"mon, v. t.

1. To beat in the game of backgammon, before an antagonist has been able to get his "men" or counters home and withdraw any of them from the board; as, to gammon a person.

2. To impose on; to hoax; to cajole. [Colloq.] Hood.

GAMMON Gam"mon, v. t. Etym: [Etymol. unknown.] (Naut.)

Defn: To fasten (a bowsprit) to the stem of a vessel by lashings of rope or chain, or by a band of iron. Totten.

GAMMONING Gam"mon*ing, n. Etym: [From 5th Gammon.] (Naut.)

Defn: The lashing or iron band by which the bowsprit of a vessel is secured to the stem to opposite the lifting action of the forestays. Gammoning fashion, in the style of gammoning lashing, that is, having the turns of rope crossed. — Gammoning hole (Naut.), a hole cut through the knee of the head of a vessel for the purpose of gammoning the bowsprit.

GAMMONING Gam"mon*ing, n. Etym: [From 4th Gammon.]

Defn: The act of imposing upon or hoaxing a person. [Colloq.]

GAMOGENESIS Gam`o*gen"e*sis, n. Etym: [Gr. genesis.] (Biol.)

Defn: The production of offspring by the union of parents of different sexes; sexual reproduction; — the opposite of agamogenesis.

GAMOGENETIC Gam`o*ge*net"ic, a. (Biol.)

Defn: Relating to gamogenesis. — Gam`o*ge*net"ic*al*ly, adv.

GAMOMORPHISM Gam`o*mor"phism, n. Etym: [Gr. (Biol.)

Defn: That stage of growth or development in an organism, in which the reproductive elements are generated and matured in preparation for propagating the species.

GAMOPETALOUS Gam`o*pet"al*ous, a. Etym: [Gr. petalous: cf. F. gamopétale.] (Bot.)

Defn: Having the petals united or joined so as to form a tube or cup; monopetalous.

GAMOPHYLLOUS Ga*moph"yl*lous, a. Etym: [Gr. (Bot.)

Defn: Composed of leaves united by their edges (coalescent). Gray.

GAMOSEPALOUS Gam`o*sep"al*ous, a. Etym: [Gr. sepal.] (Bot.)

Defn: Formed of united sepals; monosepalous.

GAMP Gamp, n.

Defn: A large umbrella; —said to allude to Mrs. Gamp's umbrella, in Dickens's "Martin Chuzzlewit."

GAMUT Gam"ut, n. Etym: [F. gamme + ut the name of a musical note. F. gamme is fr. the name of the Greek letter Gamma, and Ut.] (Mus.)

Defn: The scale.

GAMY Gam"y, a.

1. (Cookery)

Defn: Having the flavor of game, esp. of game kept uncooked till near the condition of tainting; high-flavored.

2. (Sporting)

Defn: Showing an unyielding spirit to the last; plucky; furnishing sport; as, a gamy trout.

GAN Gan, imp. of Gin. Etym: [See Gin, v.]

Defn: Began; commenced.

Note: Gan was formerly used with the infinitive to form compound imperfects, as did is now employed. Gan regularly denotes the singular; the plural is usually denoted by gunne or gonne. This man gan fall (i.e., fell) in great suspicion. Chaucer. The little coines to their play gunne hie (i.e., hied). Chaucer.

Note: Later writers use gan both for singular and plural. Yet at her speech their rages gan relent. Spenser.

GANANCIAL Ga*nan"cial, a. [Sp., pertaining to gain, held in common, fr. ganancia gain.] (Law)

Defn: Designating, pertaining to, or held under, the Spanish system of law (called ganancial system) which controls the title and disposition of the property acquired during marriage by the husband or wife.

GANCH Ganch, v. t. Etym: [Cf. F. ganche, n., also Sp. & Pg. gancho hook, It. gancio.]

Defn: To drop from a high place upon sharp stakes or hooks, as the Turks dropped malefactors, by way of punishment. Ganching, which is to let fall from on high upon hooks, and there to hang until they die. Sandys.

GANDER Gan"der, n. Etym: [AS. gandra, ganra, akin to Prov. G. gander, ganter, and E. goose, gannet. See Goose.]

Defn: The male of any species of goose.

GANE Gane, v. i. Etym: [See Yawn.]

Defn: To yawn; to gape. [Obs.] Chaucer.

GANESA Ga*ne"sa, n. (Hind. Myth.)

Defn: The Hindoo god of wisdom or prudence.

Note: He is represented as a short, fat, red-colored man, with a large belly and the head of an elephant. Balfour.

GANG Gang, v. i. Etym: [AS. gangan, akin to OS. & OHG. gangan, Icel. ganga, Goth. gaggan; cf. Lith. to walk, Skr. ja leg. sq. root48. CF. Go.]

Defn: To go; to walk.

Note: Obsolete in English literature, but still used in the North of England, and also in Scotland.

GANG Gang, n. Etym: [Icel. gangr a going, gang, akin to AS., D., G., & Dan. gang a going, Goth. gaggs street, way. See Gang, v. i.]

1. A going; a course. [Obs.]

2. A number going in company; hence, a company, or a number of persons associated for a particular purpose; a group of laborers under one foreman; a squad; as, a gang of sailors; a chain gang; a gang of thieves.

3. A combination of similar implements arranged so as, by acting together, to save time or labor; a set; as, a gang of saws, or of plows.

4. (Naut.)

Defn: A set; all required for an outfit; as, a new gang of stays.

5. Etym: [Cf. Gangue.] (Mining)

Defn: The mineral substance which incloses a vein; a matrix; a gangue. Gang board, or Gang plank. (Naut.) (a) A board or plank, with cleats for steps, forming a bridge by which to enter or leave a vessel. (b) A plank within or without the bulwarks of a vessel's waist, for the sentinel to walk on. — Gang cask, a small cask in which to bring water aboard ships or in which it is kept on deck. — Gang cultivator, Gang plow, a cultivator or plow in which several shares are attached to one frame, so as to make two or more furrows at the same time. — Gang days, Rogation days; the time of perambulating parishes. See Gang week (below). — Gang drill, a drilling machine having a number of drills driven from a common shaft. — Gang master, a master or employer of a gang of workmen. — Gang plank. See Gang board (above). — Gang plow. See Gang cultivator (above). — Gang press, a press for operating upon a pile or row of objects separated by intervening plates. — Gang saw, a saw fitted to be one of a combination or gang of saws hung together in a frame or sash, and set at fixed distances apart. — Gang tide. See Gang week (below). — Gang tooth, a projecting tooth. [Obs.] Halliwell. — Gang week, Rogation week, when formerly processions were made to survey the bounds of parishes. Halliwell. — Live gang, or Round gang, the Western and the Eastern names, respectively, for a gang of saws for cutting the round log into boards at one operation. Knight. — Slabbing gang, an arrangement of saws which cuts slabs from two sides of a log, leaving the middle part as a thick beam.

GANGE Gange, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ganged; p. pr. & vb. n. Ganging.] [Of uncertain origin.]

1. To protect (the part of a line next a fishhook, or the hook itself) by winding it with wire.

2. To attach (a fishhook) to a line or snell, as by knotting the line around the shank of the hook.

GANGER Gang"er, n.

Defn: One who oversees a gang of workmen. [R.] Mayhew.

GANGETIC Gan*get"ic, a.

Defn: Pertaining to, or inhabiting, the Ganges; as, the Gangetic shark.

GANG-FLOWER Gang"-flow`er, n. (Bot.)

Defn: The common English milkwort (Polygala vulgaris), so called from blossoming in gang week. Dr. Prior.

GANGION Gan"gion, n. Etym: [Etymol. uncertain.]

Defn: A short line attached to a trawl. See Trawl, n.

GANGLIAC; GANGLIAL Gan"gli*ac, Gan"gli*al, a. (Anat.)

Defn: Relating to a ganglion; ganglionic.

GANGLIATE; GANGLIATED Gan"gli*ate, Gan"gli*a`ted, a. (Anat.)

Defn: Furnished with ganglia; as, the gangliated cords of the sympathetic nervous system.

GANGLIFORM; GANGLIOFORM Gan"gli*form`, Gan"gli*o*form`, a. Etym: [Ganglion + -form.] (Anat.)

Defn: Having the form of a ganglion.

GANGLION Gan"gli*on, n.; pl. L. Ganglia, E. Ganglions. Etym: [L. ganglion a sort of swelling or excrescence, a tumor under the skin, Gr. ganglion.]

1. (Anat.) (a) A mass or knot of nervous matter, including nerve cells, usually forming an enlargement in the course of a nerve. (b) A node, or gland in the lymphatic system; as, a lymphatic ganglion.

2. (Med.)

Defn: A globular, hard, indolent tumor, situated somewhere on a tendon, and commonly formed by the effusion of a viscid fluid into it; — called also weeping sinew. Ganglion cell, a nerve cell. See Illust. under Bipolar.

GANGLIONARY Gan"gli*on*a*ry, a. Etym: [Cf. F. ganglionnarie.] (Anat.)

Defn: Ganglionic.

GANGLIONIC Gan`gli*on"ic, a. Etym: [Cf. F. ganglionique.] (Anat.)

Defn: Pertaining to, containing, or consisting of, ganglia or ganglion cells; as, a ganglionic artery; the ganglionic columns of the spinal cord.

GANGREL Gan"grel, a. Etym: [Cf. Gang, v. i.]

Defn: Wandering; vagrant. [Scot.] Sir W. Scott.

GANGRENATE Gan"gre*nate, v. t.

Defn: To gangrene. [Obs.]

GANGRENE Gan"grene, n. Etym: [F. gangrène, L. gangraena, fr. Gr. gras, gar, to devour, and E. voracious, also canker, n., in sense 3.] (Med.)

Defn: A term formerly restricted to mortification of the soft tissues which has not advanced so far as to produce complete loss of vitality; but now applied to mortification of the soft parts in any stage.

GANGRENE Gan"grene, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Gangrened; p. pr. & vb. n. Gangrening.] Etym: [Cf. F. gangréner.]

Defn: To produce gangrene in; to be affected with gangrene.

GANGRENESCENT Gan`gre*nes"cent, a.

Defn: Tending to mortification or gangrene.

GANGRENOUS Gan"gre*nous, a. Etym: [Cf. F. gangréneux.]

Defn: Affected by, or produced by, gangrene; of the nature of gangrene.

GANGUE Gangue, n. Etym: [F. gangue, fr. G. gang a metallic vein, a passage. See Gang, n.] (Mining)

Defn: The mineral or earthy substance associated with metallic ore.

GANGWAY Gang"way`, n. Etym: [See Gang, v. i.]

1. A passage or way into or out of any inclosed place; esp., a temporary way of access formed of planks.

2. In the English House of Commons, a narrow aisle across the house, below which sit those who do not vote steadly either with the government or with the opposition.

3. (Naut.)

Defn: The opening through the bulwarks of a vessel by which persons enter or leave it.

4. (Naut.)

Defn: That part of the spar deck of a vessel on each side of the booms, from the quarter-deck to the forecastle; — more properly termed the waist. Totten. Gangway ladder, a ladder rigged on the side of a vessel at the gangway. — To bring to the gangway, to punish (a seaman) by flogging him at the gangway.

GANIL Gan"il, n. Etym: [F.]

Defn: A kind of brittle limestone. [Prov. Eng.] Kirwan.

GANISTER; GANNISTER Gan"is*ter, Gan"nis*ter, n. (Mech.)

Defn: A refractory material consisting of crushed or ground siliceous stone, mixed with fire clay; — used for lining Bessemer converters; also used for macadamizing roads.

GANJA Gan"ja, n. Etym: [Hind. ganjha.]

Defn: The dried hemp plant, used in India for smoking. It is extremely narcotic and intoxicating.

GANNET Gan"net, n. Etym: [OE. gant, AS. ganet, ganot, a sea fowl, a fen duck; akin to D. gent gander, OHG. ganazzo. See Gander, Goose.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: One of several species of sea birds of the genus Sula, allied to the pelicans.

Note: The common gannet of Europe and America (S. bassana), is also called solan goose, chandel goose, and gentleman. In Florida the wood ibis is commonly called gannet. Booby gannet. See Sula.

GANOCEPHALA Gan`o*ceph"a*la, n. pl. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Paleon.)

Defn: A group of fossil amphibians allied to the labyrinthodonts, having the head defended by bony, sculptured plates, as in some ganoid fishes.

GANOCEPHALOUS Gan`o*ceph"a*lous, a. (Paleon.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to the Ganocephala.

GANOID Ga"noid, a. Etym: [Gr. -oid.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to Ganoidei. — n. One of the Ganoidei. Ganoid scale (Zoöl.), one kind of scales of the ganoid fishes, composed of an inner layer of bone, and an outer layer of shining enamel. They are often so arranged as to form a coat of mail.

GANOIDAL Ga*noid"al, a. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Ganoid.

GANOIDEI Ga*noi"de*i, n. pl. Etym: [NL. See Ganoid.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: One of the subclasses of fishes. They have an arterial cone and bulb, spiral intestinal valve, and the optic nerves united by a chiasma. Many of the species are covered with bony plates, or with ganoid scales; others have cycloid scales.

Note: They were numerous, and some of them of large size, in early geological periods; but they are represented by comparatively few living species, most of which inhabit fresh waters, as the bowfin, gar pike, bichir, Ceratodus, paddle fish, and sturgeon.

GANOIDIAN Ga*noid"i*an, a. & n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Ganoid.

GANOINE Ga"no*ine, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A peculiar bony tissue beneath the enamel of a ganoid scale.

GANSA Gan"sa, n.

Defn: Same as Ganza. Bp. Hall.

GANTLET Gant"let, n. [Gantlet is corrupted fr. gantlope; gantlope is for gatelope, Sw. gatlopp, orig., a running down a lane; gata street, lane + lopp course, career, akin to löpa to run. See Gate a way, and Leap.]

Defn: A military punishment formerly in use, wherein the offender was made to run between two files of men facing one another, who struck him as he passed. To run the gantlet, to suffer the punishment of the gantlet; hence, to go through the ordeal of severe criticism or controversy, or ill-treatment at many hands. Winthrop ran the gantlet of daily slights. Palfrey.

Note: Written also, but less properly, gauntlet.

GANTLET Gant"let, n.

Defn: A glove. See Gauntlet.

GANTLINE Gant"line`, n.

Defn: A line rigged to a mast; — used in hoisting rigging; a girtline.

GANTLOPE Gant"lope`, n.

Defn: See Gantlet. [Obs.]

GANTRY Gan"try, n.

Defn: See Gauntree.

GANZA Gan"za, n. Etym: [Sp. gansa, ganso, goose; of Gothic origin. See Gannet, Goose.]

Defn: A kind of wild goose, by a flock of which a virtuoso was fabled to be carried to the lunar world. [Also gansa.] Johnson.

GANZ SYSTEM Ganz system

Defn: A haulage system for canal boats, in which an electric locomotive running on a monorail has its adhesion materially increased by the pull of the tow rope on a series of inclined gripping wheels.

GAOL Gaol, n. Etym: [See Jail.]

Defn: A place of confinement, especially for minor offenses or provisional imprisonment; a jail. [Preferably, and in the United States usually, written jail.] Commission of general gaol delivery, an authority conferred upon judges and others included in it, for trying and delivering every prisoner in jail when the judges, upon their circuit, arrive at the place for holding court, and for discharging any whom the grand jury fail to indict. [Eng.] — Gaol delivery. (Law) See Jail delivery, under Jail.

GAOLER Gaol"er, n.

Defn: The keeper of a jail. See Jailer.

GAP Gap, n. Etym: [OE. gap; cf. Icel. gap an empty space, Sw. gap mouth, breach, abyss, Dan. gab mouth, opening, AS. geap expanse; as adj., wide, spacious. See Gape.]

Defn: An opening in anything made by breaking or parting; as, a gap in a fence; an opening for a passage or entrance; an opening which implies a breach or defect; a vacant space or time; a hiatus; a mountain pass. Miseries ensued by the opening of that gap. Knolles. It would make a great gap in your own honor. Shak. Gap lathe (Mach.), a turning lathe with a deep notch in the bed to admit of turning a short object of large diameter. — To stand in the gap, to expose one's self for the protection of something; to make defense against any assailing danger; to take the place of a fallen defender or supporter. — To stop a gap, to secure a weak point; to repair a defect.

GAP Gap, v. t.

1. To notch, as a sword or knife.

2. To make an opening in; to breach. Their masses are gapp'd with our grape. Tennyson.

GAPE Gape (; in Eng, commonly ; 277), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Gaped ( or ); p. pr. & vb. n. Gaping] Etym: [OE. gapen, AS. geapan to open; akin to D. gapen to gape, G. gaffen, Icel. & Sw. gapa, Dan. gabe; cf. Skr. jabh to snap at, open the mouth. Cf. Gaby, Gap.]

1. To open the mouth wide; as: (a) Expressing a desire for food; as, young birds gape. Dryden. (b) Indicating sleepiness or indifference; to yawn. She stretches, gapes, unglues her eyes, And asks if it be time to rise. Swift. (c) Showing self-forgetfulness in surprise, astonishment, expectation, etc. With gaping wonderment had stared aghast. Byron. (d) Manifesting a desire to injure, devour, or overcome. They have gaped upon me with their mouth. Job xvi. 10.

2. To pen or part widely; to exhibit a gap, fissure, or hiatus. May that ground gape and swallow me alive! Shak.

3. To long, wait eagerly, or cry aloud for something; — with for, after, or at. The hungry grave for her due tribute gapes. Denham.

Syn. — To gaze; stare; yawn. See Gaze.

GAPE Gape, n.

1. The act of gaping; a yawn. Addison.

2. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The width of the mouth when opened, as of birds, fishes, etc. GAPES; THE GAPES The gapes. (a) A fit of yawning. (b) A disease of young poultry and other birds, attended with much gaping. It is caused by a parasitic nematode worm (Syngamus trachealis), in the windpipe, which obstructs the breathing. See Gapeworm.

GAPER Gap"er, n.

1. One who gapes.

2. (Zoöl.) (a) A European fish. See 4th Comber. (b) A large edible clam (Schizothærus Nuttalli), of the Pacific coast; — called also gaper clam. (c) An East Indian bird of the genus Cymbirhynchus, related to the broadbills.

GAPESEED Gape"seed`, n.

Defn: Any strange sight. Wright.

GAPESING Gapes"ing ( or ), n.

Defn: Act of gazing about; sightseeing. [Prov. Eng.]

GAPEWORM Gape"worm` ( or ), n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The parasitic worm that causes the gapes in birds. See Illustration in Appendix.

GAPINGSTOCK Gap"ing*stock` ( or ), n.

Defn: One who is an object of open-mouthed wonder. I was to be a gapingstock and a scorn to the young volunteers. Godwin.

GAP-TOOTHED Gap"-toothed`, a.

Defn: Having interstices between the teeth. Dryden.

GAR Gar, n. Etym: [Prob. AS. gar dart, spear, lance. The name is applied to the fish on account of its long and slender body and pointed head. Cf. Goad, Gore, v.] (Zoöl.) (a) Any slender marine fish of the genera Belone and Tylosurus. See Garfish. (b) The gar pike. See Alligator gar (under Alligator), and Gar pike. Gar pike, or Garpike (Zoöl.), a large, elongated ganoid fish of the genus Lepidosteus, of several species, inhabiting the lakes and rivers of temperate and tropical America.