Gingerly Gin"ger·ly adverb [ Prov. English ginger brittle, tender; confer dial. Swedish gingla , gängla , to go gently, totter, akin to English gang .] Cautiously; timidly; fastidiously; daintily.

What is't that you took up so gingerly ?

Shak.

Gingerness Gin"ger·ness noun Cautiousness; tenderness.

Gingham Ging"ham noun [ French guingan ; confer Jav. ginggang ; or perh . fr . Guingamp , in France.] A kind of cotton or linen cloth, usually in stripes or checks, the yarn of which is dyed before it is woven; -- distinguished from printed cotton or prints.

Ginging Ging"ing noun (Mining) The lining of a mine shaft with stones or bricks to prevent caving.

Gingival Gin"gi·val adjective [ Latin gingiva the gum.] Of or pertaining to the gums. Holder.

Gingle Gin"gle noun & v. [ Obsolete] See Jingle .

Ginglyform Gin"gly·form adjective (Anat.) Ginglymoid.

Ginglymodi Gin`gly·mo"di noun [ New Latin ; confer Greek ... ginglymoid. See Ginglymoid .] (Zoology) An order of ganoid fishes, including the modern gar pikes and many allied fossil forms. They have rhombic, ganoid scales, a heterocercal tail, paired fins without an axis, fulcra on the fins, and a bony skeleton, with the vertebræ convex in front and concave behind, forming a ball and socket joint. See Ganoidel .

Ginglymoid, Ginglymoidal Gin"gly·moid, Gin`gly·moid"al adjective [ Greek ...; ... ginglymus + ... form: confer French ginglymoide , ginglymoïdal .] (Anat.) Pertaining to, or resembling, a ginglymus, or hinge joint; ginglyform.

Ginglymus Gin"gly·mus noun ; plural Ginglymi . [ New Latin , from Greek ... a hingelike joint, a ball and socket joint.] (Anat.) A hinge joint; an articulation, admitting of flexion and extension, or motion in two directions only, as the elbow and the ankle.

Ginhouse Gin"house` noun A building where cotton is ginned.

Ginkgo Gink"go noun ; plural Ginkgoes . [ Chin., silver fruit.] (Botany) A large ornamental tree ( Ginkgo biloba ) from China and Japan, belonging to the Yew suborder of Coniferæ . Its leaves are so like those of some maidenhair ferns, that it is also called the maidenhair tree .

Ginnee Gin"nee noun ; plural Ginn See Jinnee .

Ginnet Gin"net noun See Genet , a horse.

Ginning Gin"ning noun [ See Gin , intransitive verb ] Beginning. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Ginny-carriage Gin"ny-car`riage noun A small, strong carriage for conveying materials on a railroad. [ Eng.]

Ginseng Gin"seng noun [ Chinese.] (Botany) A plant of the genus Aralia , the root of which is highly valued as a medicine among the Chinese. The Chinese plant ( Aralia Schinseng ) has become so rare that the American ( A. quinquefolia ) has largely taken its place, and its root is now an article of export from America to China. The root, when dry, is of a yellowish white color, with a sweetness in the taste somewhat resembling that of licorice, combined with a slight aromatic bitterness.

Ginshop Gin"shop` noun A shop or barroom where gin is sold as a beverage. [ Colloq.]

Gip Gip transitive verb To take out the entrails of (herrings).

Gip Gip noun A servant. See Gyp . Sir W. Scott.

Gipoun Gi·poun" noun [ See Jupon .] A short cassock. [ Written also gepoun , gypoun , jupon , juppon .] [ Obsolete]

Gipser, Gipsire Gip"ser, Gip"sire noun [ French gibecière a game pouch or game pocket. Confer Gibbier .] A kind of pouch formerly worn at the girdle. Ld. Lytton.

A gipser all of silk,
Hung at his girdle, white as morné milk.

Chaucer.

Gipsy Gip"sy (jĭp"sȳ) noun & adjective See Gypsy .

Gipsyism Gip"sy·ism noun See Gypsyism .

Giraffe Gi·raffe" noun [ French girafe , Spanish girafa , from Arabic zurāfa , zarāfa .] (Zoology) An African ruminant ( Camelopardalis giraffa ) related to the deers and antelopes, but placed in a family by itself; the camelopard. It is the tallest of animals, being sometimes twenty feet from the hoofs to the top of the head. Its neck is very long, and its fore legs are much longer than its hind legs.

Girandole Gir"an·dole noun [ French See Gyrate .]

1. An ornamental branched candlestick.

2. A flower stand, fountain, or the like, of branching form.

3. (Pyrotechny) A kind of revolving firework.

4. (Fort.) A series of chambers in defensive mines. Farrow.

Girasole, Girasol Gir"a·sole, Gir"a·sol noun [ Italian girasole , or French girasol , from Latin gyrare to turn around + sol sun.]

1. (Botany) See Heliotrope . [ Obsolete]

2. (Min.) A variety of opal which is usually milk white, bluish white, or sky blue; but in a bright light it reflects a reddish color.

Gird Gird (gẽrd) noun [ See Yard a measure.]

1. A stroke with a rod or switch; a severe spasm; a twinge; a pang.

Conscience . . . is freed from many fearful girds and twinges which the atheist feels.

Tillotson.

2. A cut; a sarcastic remark; a gibe; a sneer.

I thank thee for that gird , good Tranio.

Shak.

Gird Gird transitive verb [ See Gird , noun , and confer Girde , v. ]

1. To strike; to smite. [ Obsolete]

To slay him and to girden off his head.

Chaucer.

2. To sneer at; to mock; to gibe.

Being moved, he will not spare to gird the gods.

Shak.

Gird Gird intransitive verb To gibe; to sneer; to break a scornful jest; to utter severe sarcasms.

Men of all sorts take a pride to gird at me.

Shak.

Gird Gird (gẽrd) transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Girt or Girded ; present participle & verbal noun Girding .] [ Middle English girden , gurden , Anglo-Saxon gyrdan ; akin to Old Saxon gurdian , Dutch gorden , Old High German gurten , German gürten , Icelandic gyrða , Swedish gjorda , Danish giorde , Goth. bigaírdan to begird, and probably to English yard an inclosure. Confer Girth , noun & v. , Girt , transitive verb ] 1. To encircle or bind with any flexible band.

2. To make fast, as clothing, by binding with a cord, girdle, bandage, etc.

3. To surround; to encircle, or encompass.

That Nyseian isle,
Girt with the River Triton.

Milton.

4. To clothe; to swathe; to invest.

I girded thee about with fine linen.

Ezek. xvi. 10.

The Son . . . appeared
Girt with omnipotence.

Milton.

5. To prepare; to make ready; to equip; as, to gird one's self for a contest.

Thou hast girded me with strength.

Ps. xviii. 39.

To gird on , to put on; to fasten around or to one securely, like a girdle; as, to gird on armor or a sword.

Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.

1 Kings xx. 11.

-- To gird up , to bind tightly with a girdle; to support and strengthen, as with a girdle.

He girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab.

1 Kings xviii. 46.

Gird up the loins of your mind.

1 Pet. i. 13.

-- Girt up ; prepared or equipped, as for a journey or for work, in allusion to the ancient custom of gathering the long flowing garments into the girdle and tightening it before any exertion; hence, adjectively, eagerly or constantly active; strenuous; striving. "A severer, more girt-up way of living." J. C. Shairp.

Girder Gird"er noun [ From Gird to sneer at.] One who girds; a satirist.

Girder Gird"er noun [ From Gird to encircle.]

1. One who, or that which, girds.

2. (Arch. & Engin.) A main beam; a stright, horizontal beam to span an opening or carry weight, such as ends of floor beams, etc.; hence, a framed or built-up member discharging the same office, technically called a compound girder . See Illusts . of Frame , and Doubleframed floor , under Double .

Bowstring girder , Box girder , etc. See under Bowstring , Box , etc. -- Girder bridge . See under Bridge . -- Lattice girder , a girder consisting of longitudinal bars united by diagonal crossing bars. -- Half-lattice girder , a girder consisting of horizontal upper and lower bars connected by a series of diagonal bars sloping alternately in opposite directions so as to divide the space between the bars into a series of triangles. Knight. -- Sandwich girder , a girder consisting of two parallel wooden beams, between which is an iron plate, the whole clamped together by iron bolts.

Girding Gird"ing noun That with which one is girded; a girdle.

Instead of a stomacher, a girding of sackcloth.

Is. iii. 24.

Girdle Gir"dle noun A griddle. [ Scot. & Prov. Eng.]

Girdle Gir"dle noun [ Middle English gurdel , girdel , Anglo-Saxon gyrdel , from gyrdan ; akin to Dutch gordel , German gürtel , Icelandic gyr...ill . See Gird , transitive verb , to encircle, and confer Girth , noun ]

1. That which girds, encircles, or incloses; a circumference; a belt; esp., a belt, sash, or article of dress encircling the body usually at the waist; a cestus.

Within the girdle of these walls.

Shak.

Their breasts girded with golden girdles .

Rev. xv. 6.

2. The zodiac; also, the equator. [ Poetic] Bacon.

From the world's girdle to the frozen pole.

Cowper.

That gems the starry girdle of the year.

Campbell.

3. (Jewelry) The line ofgreatest circumference of a brilliant-cut diamond, at which it is grasped by the setting. See Illust. of Brilliant . Knight.

4. (Mining) A thin bed or stratum of stone. Raymond.

5. (Zoology) The clitellus of an earthworm.

Girdle bone (Anat.) , the sphenethmoid. See under Sphenethmoid . -- Girdle wheel , a spinning wheel. -- Sea girdle (Zoology) , a ctenophore. See Venus's girdle , under Venus . -- Shoulder , Pectoral , & Pelvic , girdle . (Anat.) See under Pectoral , and Pelvic . -- To have under the girdle , to have bound to one, that is, in subjection.

Girdle Gir"dle transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Girdled ; present participle & verbal noun Girdling .] 1. To bind with a belt or sash; to gird. Shak.

2. To inclose; to environ; to shut in.

Those sleeping stones,
That as a waist doth girdle you about.

Shak.

3. To make a cut or gnaw a groove around (a tree, etc.) through the bark and alburnum, thus killing it. [ U. S.]

Girdler Gir"dler noun 1. One who girdles.

2. A maker of girdles.

3. (Zoology) An American longicorn beetle ( Oncideres cingulatus ) which lays its eggs in the twigs of the hickory, and then girdles each branch by gnawing a groove around it, thus killing it to provide suitable food for the larvæ.

Girdlestead Gir"dle·stead noun [ Girdle + stead place.]

1. That part of the body where the girdle is worn. [ Obsolete]

Sheathed, beneath his girdlestead .

Chapman.

2. The lap. [ R.]

There fell a flower into her girdlestead .

Swinburne.

Gire Gire noun [ Obsolete] See Gyre .

Girkin Gir"kin noun [ Obsolete] See Gherkin .

Girl Girl noun [ Middle English girle , gerle , gurle , a girl (in sense 1): confer LG. gör child.]

1. A young person of either sex; a child. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

2. A female child, from birth to the age of puberty; a young maiden.

3. A female servant; a maidservant. [ U. S.]

4. (Zoology) A roebuck two years old. [ Prov. Eng.]

Girlhood Girl"hood noun State or time of being a girl.

Girlish Girl"ish adjective Like, or characteristic of, a girl; of or pertaining to girlhood; innocent; artless; immature; weak; as, girlish ways; girlish grief. -- Girl"ish*ly , adverb -- Girl"ish*ness , noun

Girlond Gir"lond noun [ See Garland , noun ] A garland; a prize. [ Obsolete] Chapman.

Girn Girn intransitive verb [ See Grin , noun ] To grin. [ Obsolete]

Girondist Gi·ron"dist noun [ French Girondiste .] A member of the moderate republican party formed in the French legislative assembly in 1791. The Girondists were so called because their leaders were deputies from the department of La Gironde.

Girondist Gi·ron"dist adjective Of or pertaining to the Girondists. [ Written also Girondin .]

Girrock Gir"rock noun [ Confer Prov. French chicarou .] (Zoology) A garfish. Johnson.

Girt Girt imperfect & past participle of Gird .

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