Emily Dickinson Lexicon

GIRD, v.t. [gurd; pret. and pp. girded or girt. Sax. gyrdan; G. gürten; D. gorden; Sw. giorda, to gird or surround; Dan. gierder, to hedge, to inclose. See the Noun. It is probable, that garden, Ir. gort, is from the same root; originally an inclosed field, a piece of ground surrounded with poles, stakes and branches of trees. If the noun is the primary word, the sense of the root is to shoot, as a branch; if the verb is the root, the sense is to surround, or rather to bind or make fast. The former is the most probable.]

1. To bind by surrounding with any flexible substance, as with a twig, a cord, bandage or cloth; as, to gird the loins with sackcloth.
2. To make fast by binding; to put on; usually with on; as, to gird on a harness; to gird on a sword.
3. To invest; to surround. The Son appeared, / Girt with omnipotence. Milton.
4. To clothe; to dress; to habit. I girded thee about with fine linen. Ezek. xvi.
5. To furnish; to equip. Girded with snaky wiles. Milton.
6. To surround; to encircle; to inclose; to encompass. The Nyseian isle, / Girt with the river Triton. Milton.
7. To gibe; to reproach severely; to lash. Shak.