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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Girdle

Gird'le, n.

noun

n. [A-S. gyrdel, from gyrdan, Sw. gördel, D. gordel, O. Fries. gerdel, O. H. Ger. gurtil, N. H. Ger. gürtel, Dan. gyrtel. See GIRD, v. t.] 1. That which girds or encircles; especially, a band which encircles the body, and binds together the clothing; an inclosure. Within the girdle of these walls. Shak.

  1. The zodiac. [Obs.] Bacon.
  2. A round iron plate for baking cakes over the fire; a griddle. [Scot. and Prov. Eng.] Jamieson.
  3. (Jewelry.) The line which encompasses the stone, parallel to the horizon.

Gird'le, v. t.

verbtransitive

[imp. & p. p. GIRDLED; p. pr. & vb. n. GIRDLING.]

  1. To bind with a belt or sash; to gird. Shak.
  2. To inclose; to environ; to shut in.

Those sleeping stones Which, like a waist, do girdle thee about. Shak. 3. To make a circular incision through, as through the bark and alburnum of a tree, to kill it.