Gap noun [ Middle English gap ; confer Icelandic gap an empty space, Swedish gap mouth, breach, abyss, Danish gab mouth, opening, Anglo-Saxon geap expanse; as adj., wide, spacious. See Gape .] 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 (Machinery) , 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 transitive verb
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.

Gap noun (Aëronautics) The vertical distance between two superposed surfaces, esp. in a biplane.

Gap-toothed adjective Having interstices between the teeth. Dryden.

Gape intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Gaped (? or ?); present participle & verbal noun Gaping ] [ Middle English gapen , Anglo-Saxon geapan to open; akin to Dutch gapen to gape, German gaffen , Icelandic & Swedish gapa , Danish gabe ; confer Sanskrit jabh to snap at, open the mouth. Confer 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 noun
1. The act of gaping; a yawn. Addison.

2. (Zoology) The width of the mouth when opened, as of birds, fishes, etc.

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 noun
1. One who gapes.

2. (Zoology) (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 noun Any strange sight. Wright.

Gapeseed noun A person who looks or stares gapingly. -- To buy, or sow , gapeseed , to stare idly or in idle wonderment, instead of attending to business.

Gapesing noun Act of gazing about; sightseeing. [ Prov. Eng.]

Gapeworm noun (Zoology) The parasitic worm that causes the gapes in birds. See Illustration in Appendix.

Gapingstock noun One who is an object of open-mouthed wonder.

I was to be a gapingstock and a scorn to the young volunteers.

Godwin.

Gar noun [ Prob. Anglo-Saxon gār dart, spear, lance. The name is applied to the fish on account of its long and slender body and pointed head. Confer Goad , Gore , v. ] (Zoology) (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 (Zoology) , a large, elongated ganoid fish of the genus Lepidosteus , of several species, inhabiting the lakes and rivers of temperate and tropical America.

Gar transitive verb [ Of Scand. origin. See Gear , noun ] To cause; to make. [ Obsolete or Scot.] Spenser.

Gar pike, Garpike (Zoology) See under Gar .

Garage noun [ French]
1. A place for housing automobiles.

2. (Aëronautics) A shed for housing an airship or flying machine; a hangar.

3. A side way or space in a canal to enable vessels to pass each other; a siding.

» Garage is recent in English, and has as yet acquired no settled pronunciation.

Garage transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Garaged ; present participle & verbal noun Garaging .] To keep in a garage. [ Colloq.]

Garancin noun [ French garance madder, Late Latin garantia .] (Chemistry) An extract of madder by sulphuric acid. It consists essentially of alizarin.

Garb noun [ Old French garbe looks, countenance, grace, ornament, from Old High German garawī , garwī , ornament, dress. akin to English gear . See Gear , noun ]
1. (a) Clothing in general. (b) The whole dress or suit of clothes worn by any person, especially when indicating rank or office; as, the garb of a clergyman or a judge. (c) Costume; fashion; as, the garb of a gentleman in the 16th century.

2. External appearance, as expressive of the feelings or character; looks; fashion or manner, as of speech.

You thought, because he could not speak English in the native garb , he could not therefore handle an English cudgel.

Shak.

Garb noun [ French gerbe , Old French also garbe , Old High German garba , German garbe ; confer Sanskrit grbh to seize, English grab .] (Her.) A sheaf of grain (wheat, unless otherwise specified).

Garb transitive verb To clothe; array; deck.

These black dog-Dons
Garb themselves bravely.

Tennyson.

Garbage noun [ Middle English also garbash , perhaps orig., that which is purged or cleansed away; confer Old French garber to make fine, neat, Old High German garawan to make ready, prepare, akin to English garb dress; or perhaps for garbleage , from garble ; or confer Old French garbage tax on sheaves, English garb sheaf.] Offal, as the bowels of an animal or fish; refuse animal or vegetable matter from a kitchen; hence, anything worthless, disgusting, or loathsome. Grainger.

Garbage transitive verb To strip of the bowels; to clean. "Pilchards . . . are garbaged ." Holland.

Garbed adjective Dressed; habited; clad.

Garbel noun (Nautical) Same as Garboard .

Garbel noun [ Confer Garble , transitive verb ] Anything sifted, or from which the coarse parts have been taken. [ Obsolete]

Garble transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Garbled ; present participle & verbal noun Garbling .] [ Formerly, to pick out, sort, Old French grabeler , for garbeler to examine precisely, garble spices, from Late Latin garbellare to sift; confer Spanish garbillar to sift, garbillo a coarse sieve, Latin cribellum , dim. of cribrum sieve, akin to cernere to separate, sift (cf. English Discern ); or perhaps rather from Arabic gharbāl , gharbil , sieve.]
1. To sift or bolt, to separate the fine or valuable parts of from the coarse and useless parts, or from dros or dirt; as, to garble spices. [ Obsolete]

2. To pick out such parts of as may serve a purpose; to mutilate; to pervert; as, to garble a quotation; to garble an account.

Garble noun
1. Refuse; rubbish. [ Obsolete] Wolcott.

2. plural Impurities separated from spices, drugs, etc.; -- also called garblings .

Garbler noun One who garbles.

Garboard noun (Nautical) One of the planks next the keel on the outside, which form a garboard strake.

Garboard strake or streak , the first range or strake of planks laid on a ship's bottom next the keel. Totten.

Garboil noun [ Old French garbouil ; confer Spanish garbullo , Italian garbuglio ; of uncertain origin; the last part is perhaps from Latin bullire to boil, English boil .] Tumult; disturbance; disorder. [ Obsolete] Shak.

Garcinia noun [ New Latin ] (Botany) A genus of plants, including the mangosteen tree ( Garcinia Mangostana ), found in the islands of the Indian Archipelago; -- so called in honor of Dr. Garcin .

Garçon noun [ French] A boy; fellow; esp., a serving boy or man; a waiter; -- in Eng. chiefly applied to French waiters.

Gard noun [ See Garde , Yard ] Garden. [ Obsolete] "Trees of the gard ." F. Beaumont.

Gard v. & noun See Guard .

Gardant adjective [ French See Guardant .] (Her.) Turning the head towards the spectator, but not the body; -- said of a lion or other beast.

Garde civique [ French] See Army organization , above.

Garden (gär"d'n; 277) noun [ Middle English gardin , Old French gardin , jardin , French jardin , of German origin; confer Old High German garto , German garten ; akin to Anglo-Saxon geard . See Yard an inclosure.]
1. A piece of ground appropriated to the cultivation of herbs, fruits, flowers, or vegetables.

2. A rich, well-cultivated spot or tract of country.

I am arrived from fruitful Lombardy,
The pleasant garden of great Italy.

Shak.

» Garden is often used adjectively or in self- explaining compounds; as, garden flowers, garden tools, garden walk, garden wall, garden house or garden house.

Garden balsam , an ornamental plant ( Impatiens Balsamina ). -- Garden engine , a wheelbarrow tank and pump for watering gardens. -- Garden glass . (a) A bell glass for covering plants. (b) A globe of dark-colored glass, mounted on a pedestal, to reflect surrounding objects; -- much used as an ornament in gardens in Germany. -- Garden house (a) A summer house. Beau. & Fl. (b) A privy. [ Southern U.S.] -- Garden husbandry , the raising on a small scale of seeds, fruits, vegetables, etc., for sale. -- Garden mold or mould , rich, mellow earth which is fit for a garden. Mortimer. -- Garden nail , a cast nail used, for fastening vines to brick walls. Knight. -- Garden net , a net for covering fruits trees, vines, etc., to protect them from birds. -- Garden party , a social party held out of doors, within the grounds or garden attached to a private residence. -- Garden plot , a plot appropriated to a garden. Garden pot , a watering pot. -- Garden pump , a garden engine; a barrow pump. -- Garden shears , large shears, for clipping trees and hedges, pruning, etc. - - Garden spider , (Zoology) , the diadem spider ( Epeira diadema ), common in gardens, both in Europe and America. It spins a geometrical web. See Geometric spider , and Spider web . -- Garden stand , a stand for flower pots. -- Garden stuff , vegetables raised in a garden. [ Colloq.] -- Garden syringe , a syringe for watering plants, sprinkling them with solutions for destroying insects, etc. -- Garden truck , vegetables raised for the market. [ Colloq.] -- Garden ware , garden truck. [ Obsolete] Mortimer. -- Bear garden , Botanic garden , etc. See under Bear , etc. -- Hanging garden . See under Hanging . -- Kitchen garden , a garden where vegetables are cultivated for household use. -- Market garden , a piece of ground where vegetable are cultivated to be sold in the markets for table use.

Garden intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Gardened ; present participle & verbal noun Gardening .] To lay out or cultivate a garden; to labor in a garden; to practice horticulture.

Garden transitive verb To cultivate as a garden.

Gardener noun One who makes and tends a garden; a horticulturist.

Gardenia noun [ New Latin ] (Botany) A genus of plants, some species of which produce beautiful and fragrant flowers; Cape jasmine; -- so called in honor of Dr. Alexander Garden .

Gardening noun The art of occupation of laying out and cultivating gardens; horticulture.

Gardenless adjective Destitute of a garden. Shelley.

Gardenly adjective Like a garden. [ R.] W. Marshall.

Gardenship noun Horticulture. [ Obsolete]

Gardon noun [ F] (Zoology) A European cyprinoid fish; the id.

Gardyloo noun [ French gare l'eau beware of the water.] An old cry in throwing water, slops, etc., from the windows in Edingburgh. Sir. W. Scott.

Gare noun [ Confer Gear .] Coarse wool on the legs of sheep. Blount.

Garefowl noun (Zoology) The great auk; also, the razorbill. See Auk . [ Written also gairfowl , and gurfel .]

Garfish noun [ See Gar , noun ] (Zoology) (a) A European marine fish ( Belone vulgaris ); -- called also gar , gerrick , greenback , greenbone , gorebill , hornfish , longnose , mackerel guide , sea needle , and sea pike . (b) One of several species of similar fishes of the genus Tylosurus , of which one species ( T. marinus ) is common on the Atlantic coast. T. Caribbæus , a very large species, and T. crassus , are more southern; -- called also needlefish . Many of the common names of the European garfish are also applied to the American species.

Gargalize transitive verb [ Confer Gargle , Gargarize .] To gargle; to rinse. [ Obsolete] Marston.