Emily Dickinson Lexicon

GILL'-HOUSE, n.

A place where gill is sold. Pope.

GIL'LI-AN, n.

A wanton girl. [Obs.] Beaum.

GILL'-LID, n.

The covering of the gills.

GILL'-O-PEN-ING, n.

The aperture of a fish or other animal, by which water is admitted to the gills. Ed; Encyc.

GIL'LY-FLOW-ER, n. [Fr. giroflee, giroflier. The corresponding word in Arm. is genofles or genoflen.]

The name of certain plants. The clove gill is of the genus Dianthus, or carnation pink; the stock gillyflower is the Cheiranthus; the queen's gill lower is the Hesperis. Fam. of Plants.

GILSE, n.

A young salmon.

GILT,

pp; of gild. Overlaid with gold leaf, or washed with gold; illuminated; adorned.

GILT, n.

1. Gold laid on the surface of a thing; gilding. Shak.
2. In England, a young female pig. Cyc.

GILT'HEAD, n. [gilt and head.]

1. In ichthyology, a fish or a from of fishes, the Sparus, of many spectes; so named from their color, or from a golden spot between he eyes. Encyc.
2. A bird. Hakewill.

GILT'TAIL, n.

A worm so called from its yellow tail. Johnson.

GIM, a. [contracted from gemmy.]

Neat; spruce; well dressed.

GIM'BAL, n.

A brass ring by which a sea compass is suspended in its box, by means of which the card is kept in a horizontal position, notwithstanding the rolling of the ship. Mar. Dict.

GIM'CRACK, n.

A trivial mechanism; a device; a to; a pretty thing. Prior. Arbuthnot.

GIM'LET, n. [Fr. gibelet; Arm. guymeled. Gimlet seems to be the same word as wimble, with the Celtic pronunciation, guimble, and if m is casual, and the primary word is gibelet or guibelet, the elements of the word coincide with wabble, quibble, and with the W. gwid, a serpentine motion, gwibiaw, to wander, to move in a circular direction gwiber, a serpent, a viper, and the primary sense is to turn.]

A borer; a small instrument with n pointed screw at the end, for boring holes in wood by turning. It is applied only to small instruments; a large instrument of the like kind is called an auger.

GIM'LET, v.t.

In seamen's language, to turn round an anchor by the stock; a motion resembling that of the turning of a gimlet. Mar. Dict.

GIM'LET-ING, ppr.

Turning as an anchor round the stock. [Used also as a noun.]

GIM'MAL, a. [L. gemellus, twins.]

Consisting of links. Shak.

GIM'MAL, n.

Some device or machinery. Shak.

GIM'MER,

n Movement or machinery. [Obs.] More.

GIMP, a. [W. gwymp.]

Smart; spruce; trim; nice. [Not in use.]

GIMP, n. [Fr. guiper, to cover or whip about with silk; Eng; to whip.]

A kind of silk twist or edging.

GIN, n.

A contraction of Geneva, a distilled spirit. [See Geneva.]

GIN, n. [A contraction of engine.]

1. A machine or instrument by which the mechanical powers are employed in aid of human strength; The word is applied to various engines, as a machine for driving piles, another for raising weights, &c.; and a machine for separating the seeds from cotton, invented by E. Whitney, is called a cotton-gin. It is also the name given to an engine of torture, and to a pump moved by rotary sails.
2. A trap; a snare. Milton; Shak.

GIN, v.i.

To begin; [Sax. gynnan.]

GIN, v.t.

1. To clear cotton of its seeds by a machine which separates them with expedition; Trans. of Society of Arts.
2. To catch in a trap.