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An American Dictionary of the English Language

Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)

Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865

Entries
95,912
Pages
1,538
Illustrations
2,133

Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.

  1. Gām'ut, n.p. 557(Mus.) The scale;—so called from the first tone of the model scale of Guido, which was represented by gamma.
  2. Gām'y, a.p. 557(Cookery.) Having the flavor or condition of dead game when kept uncooked until it verges on the state of being tainted, which is considered its highest excellence; as, gamy venison. 2. (Sporting.)…
  3. Gān, imp.p. 557of gin. Began; commenced. See GIN.
  4. Gānch, v. t.p. 557To drop from a high place on sharp stakes or hooks, as the Turks do malefactors, by way of punishment. Ganching, which is to let fall from on high upon hooks, and there to hang until they die. Sandys.
  5. Gān'der, n.p. 557The male of the goose.
  6. Gāng, v. i.p. 557To go; to walk. † Obsolete in English literature, but still used in the North of England, and also in Scotland.
  7. Gāng, n.p. 557A number going in company; hence, a company, or a number of persons associated for a particular purpose; a gang of sailors, &c.;—ordinarily used in respect to persons in low or servile positions; as…
  8. Gāng'-bōard, n.p. 557(Naut.) (a.) A board or plank, with cleats for steps, used for walking into or out of a boat. Falconer. (b.) A plank placed within or without the bulwarks of a vessel’s waist, for the sentinel to…
  9. Gāng'-cask, n.p. 557A small cask used for bringing water aboard ships in boats.
  10. Gāng'-dāys, n. pl.p. 557Rogation-days; the time of perambulating parishes. See GANG-WEEK.
  11. Gan-gēt'ic, a.p. 557(Geog.) Pertaining to the Ganges; living in or by the Ganges; as, the Gangetic crocodile.
  12. Gān'gli-ae or Gān'gli-al, a.p. 557Relating to a ganglion; ganglionic.
  13. Gān'gli-fōrm' or Gān'gli-o-fōrm', a.p. 557Having the form of a ganglion.
  14. Gān'gli-on, n.p. 557(Compar. Anat.) (a.) A collection of nerve cells from which nerve fibers are given off in one or more directions;—held to be the productive organ of action; as, the hemispherical ganglion; the optic…
  15. Gān'gli-on-a-ry, a.p. 557Composed, or consisting, of ganglions.
  16. Gān'gli-ōn'ic, a.p. 557Pertaining to a ganglion; as, the ganglionic nerves of the digestive organs, or the ganglionic nerves of common sensation. Prout.
  17. Găn'gre-nāte, v. t.p. 557To produce a gangrene in; to gangrene. [Obs.] Browne.
  18. Găn'grēne, n.p. 557(Med.) The first stage of mortification of living flesh;—so termed from its eating away the flesh. Hoblyn.
  19. Gān'grēne, v. t.p. 557To mortify.
  20. Gān'grēne, v. i.p. 557To become mortified or putrescent; to lose vitality.
  21. Gān'/gre-nēs'cent, a.p. 558Tending to mortification.
  22. Găng'gre-noŭs, a.p. 558Mortified; indicating mortification of living flesh.
  23. Gāng'-tīde, n.p. 558Rogation-week, or gang-week. See GANG-WEEK. Warner.
  24. Gāng'-tōōth, n.p. 558A projecting tooth. Halliwell.
  25. Gāngue, n.p. 558(Mining.) The mineral substance which incloses any metallic ore in the vein, without being combined with it. Ure.
  26. Gāng'wāy, n.p. 558A passage, way, or avenue, into or out of any inclosed place. 2. (Naut.) That part of the vessel on the spar-deck, on each side of the booms, from the quarter-deck to the forecastle; — more properly…
  27. Gāng'-week, n.p. 558Rogation-week, when processions were formerly made to survey the bounds of parishes. Halliwell.
  28. Gān'il, n.p. 558A kind of brittle limestone. [Prov. Eng.] Kirwan.
  29. Gān'net, n.p. 558(Ornith.) The Solan' goose, a sea-fowl allied to the pelican, of the genus Sula (S. Barsanus), with a straight bill and palmated feet. It frequents the northern regions of both continents in summer…
  30. Gā'noid or Ga-noid'i-an, n.p. 558(Ichth.) One of an order of fishes characterized by having shining bony scales or plates, the gills as in ordinary fishes, but the optic nerve not decussating. The ganoids were among the earliest of…
  31. Gā'no-ine, n.p. 558A peculiar kind of bony tissue beneath the enamel of the scale of a ganoid fish.
  32. Gānt'let or Gānt'lōpe, n.p. 558A military punishment inflicted on criminals for some heinous offense. The offender is made to run between two files of men facing one another, who strike him as he passes. To run the gantlet, to…
  33. Gan-tois’, n.p. 558(Geog.) A native or inhabitant of Ghent.
  34. Gān'try, n.p. 558See GAUNTREE.
  35. Găn'ză, n.p. 558A kind of wild goose, by a flock of which a virtuoso was fabled to be carried to the lunar world. Johnson. Hudibras.
  36. Gāol, n.p. 558A place of confinement or safe keeping of persons legally committed to it for crime, or of persons committed for trial or for failure to recognize in criminal cases, or for contempt of court, and of…
  37. Gāol or Gāol'-de-liv'er-y, v. t.p. 558To imprison; to confine in prison. Bacon. Gāol'-de-liv'er-y (jāl), n. (Law.) A clearing the gaol of persons confined in it for trial, by trying them; and of persons whom the grand jury fail to…
  38. Gāol'er, n.p. 558The keeper of a gaol or prisoner; a jailer. See JAILER.
  39. Gāp, n.p. 558An opening in any thing made by breaking or parting; as, a gap in a fence or wall; an opening for a passage or entrance; an opening which implies a breach, defect, flaw, or dishonor; an opening which…
  40. Gāpe, v. i.p. 558To open the mouth wide; as, (a.) Expressing a desire for food; as, young birds gape. Dryden. (b.) Indicating sleepiness, indifference, dullness; to yawn. She stretches, gapes, unglues her eyes, And…
  41. Gāpe, n.p. 558The act of gaping. Addison. 2. (Zoöl.) The width of the mouth when opened, as of birds, fishes, &c. The gapes, a disease of young poultry, attended with much gaping.
  42. Gāp'er, n.p. 558One who gapes in longing, weariness, astonishment, and the like. 2. (Ichth.) A fish with six or seven bands, and tail undivided. Pennant.
  43. Găp'-tōothed, a.p. 558Having interstices between the teeth. Dryden.
  44. Gār, n.p. 558(Ichth.) (a.) A fish of the pike or Esox family, of the genus Belone, having a long, pointed head, as the B. vulgaris, or sea-pike, of European shores, the B. truncata, or banded gar-fish, of the…
  45. Gār, v. t.p. 558To cause; to make. [Obs.] Spenser.
  46. Gār'an-çīne, n.p. 558(Chem.) An extract of madder by means of sulphuric acid. Ure.
  47. Gārb, n.p. 558Clothing; especially, official or appropriate dress; habit; as, the garb of a clergyman or judge. 2. Fashion, or mode of dress; hence, exterior appearance as expressive of the feelings or character…
  48. Gār'bage, n.p. 558The bowels of an animal; refuse parts of flesh; offal; hence, the refuse animal and vegetable matter from a kitchen.
  49. Gär'bağed, a.p. 558Stripped of the bowels. Sherwood.
  50. Gärbed, a.p. 558Dressed; habited; clad. [Rare.]
  51. Gār'bel, n.p. 558(Naut.) The plank next the keel of a ship. See GARBOARD. 2. Any thing sifted, or from which the coarse parts have been taken. Dalton.
  52. Gār'ble, v. t.p. 558(O. Fr. grabeler, for garbeler, to examine, to garble spices, &c., and hence, also, to examine precisely, look narrowly, L. Lat. & It. garbellare, to sift, clean, Sp. garbillar, to garble, to sift…
  53. Gār'bler, n.p. 558One who garbles, sifts, separates, or selects; as, a garbler of spices, or of quotations.
  54. Gār'bles, n. pl.p. 558The dust, soil, or filth, separated from good spices, drugs, &c.
  55. Gär'board, n.p. 558(Naut.) The first plank fastened on the keel on the outside.
  56. Garboard-streakp. 558the first range or streak of planks laid on a ship's bottom next the keel. Totten.
  57. Gär'boil, n.p. 558Tumult; uproar; disorder. [Obs.] Her garboils Made out of her impatience, I grieving grant, Did you too much disquiet. Shak.
  58. Gar-çĭn'ĭ-a, n.p. 558(Bot.) A genus of plants, including the mangosteen tree (G. mangostana), found in the islands of the Indian Archipelago;—so called in honor of Dr. Garcin. Baird.
  59. Gärd, n.p. 558Garden. [Obs.] “Trees of the gard.” Beau.
  60. Gärd, v. & n.p. 558See GUARD and WARD.