Emily Dickinson Lexicon

GILL, n.¹ [Sw. gel; Sp. agalla, a gland in the throat; a gall-nut, a wind-gall on a horse, the beak of a shuttle, and the gill of a fish; Port. guelra or guerra. Hence it would seem that gill is a shoot or prominence, the fringe-like substance, not the aperture. In Danish, gilder signifies to geld, and to cut off the gills of herrings, and in Scot. gil or gul is a crack or fissure.]

1. The organ of respiration in fishes, consisting of a cartilaginous or bony arch, attached to the bones of the head, and furnished on the exterior convex side with a multitude of fleshy leaves, or fringed vascular fibrils, resembling plumes, and of a red color in a healthy state. The water as admitted by the gill-opening, and acts upon the blood as it circulates in the fibrils. Other animals also breathe by gills, as frogs in their tadpole state, lobsters, &c. Ed. Encyc. Fishes perform respiration under water by the gills. Ray.
2. The flap that hangs below the beak of a fowl. Bacon.
3. The flesh under the chin. Bacon. Swift.
4. In England, a pair of wheels and a frame on which timber is conveyed. [Local.]