5 entries under this word
n. [A-S. gealla, O. Sax. galla, Icel. gall, Dan. galæ, D. gal, O. H. Ger. gallā, kallā, N. H. Ger. & Sw. galle, allied to Gr. χολή, Lat. fel, for hel.]
n. [Lat., It., & O. Sp. galla, N. Sp. agalla, Fr. galle, noix de galle.] A vegetable excrescence produced by the deposit of the eggs of an insect in the bark or leaves of a plant, and constituting the food of the grub when hatched, as the oak-apple, and the like.
☞ The galls, or gall-nuts, of commerce are produced by a species of Cynips (C. gallæ-tinctorum) upon an oak (the Quercus infectoria), in the western part of Asia. They are largely composed of tannin, and are used in the manufacture of that article and for making ink.
v. t. [imp. & p. p. GALLED; p. pr. & vb. n. GALLING.] [Fr. galer, to scratch, rub, gale, scurf, scab; Ger. galle, a disease in horses' feet, an excrescence under the tongue of horses; It. galla, Sp. galla, agalla, gall-nut, wind-gall. See GALL, supra.] 1. To fret and wear away by friction; to excoriate; 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 tease; to fret; to vex; to chagrin; 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 long bows, at a greater distance than they could shoot their arrows. Addison. 4. (Dyeing.) To impregnate with a decoction of gall-nuts. Ure.
To fret; to be teased. [Obs. or R.] Shak.
A wound in the skin by rubbing.