Emily Dickinson Lexicon
Dictionary: GILD – GIM'LET
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GILD, v.t. [pret. and pp. gilded or gilt. Sax. gildan, gyldan, geldan, to pay a debt, to gild, and gild, tribute, tax, toll; D. and G. geld, money; Dan. gield, a debt; Sw. gåld. To gild is to cover with gold; G. vergolden; D. vergulden; Dan. forgylder; Sw. förgylla; from gold, or its root, Dan. guul, Sw. gul, Sax. gealew, yellow, connected with Ir. geal, W. golau, light, bright. Class Gl, No. 6, 7.]
- To overlay with gold, either in leaf or powder, or in amalgam with quicksilver; to overspread with a thin covering of gold; as, the gilt frame of a mirror. Cyc. Her joy in gilded chariots when alive, / And love of ombre after death survive. Pope.
- To cover with any yellow matter. Shak.
- To adorn with luster; to render bright. No more the rising sun shall gild the morn. Pope.
- To illuminate; to brighten. South. Let oft good humor, mild and gay, / Gild the calm evening of your day. Trumbull.
- To give a fair and agreeable external appearance; to recommend to favor and reception by superficial decoration; as, to gild flattery or falsehood.
GILD'ED, pp.
Overlaid with gold leaf or liquid; illuminated.
GILD'ER, n.
- One who gilds; one whose occupation is to overlay things with gold.
- A Dutch coin of the value of 20 stivers, about 38 cents, or one shilling and ninepence sterling. It is usually written guilder.
GILD'ING, n.
- The art or practice of overlaying things with gold leaf or liquid.
- That which is laid on in overlaying with gold.
GILD'ING, ppr.
Overlaying with gold; giving a fair external appearance.
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.]
- 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.
- The flap that hangs below the beak of a fowl. Bacon.
- The flesh under the chin. Bacon. Swift.
- In England, a pair of wheels and a frame on which timber is conveyed. [Local.]
GILL, n.2 [Low L. gilla, gillo or gello, a drinking glass, a gill. This word has the same elementary letters as Gr. γαυλος, a pail or bucket, and Eng. gallon, probably from one of the roots in Gl, which signify to hold or contain.]
- A measure of capacity, containing the fourth part of a pint. It is said to be in some places in England, half a pint. Encyc.
- A measure among miners, equal to a pint. Carew.
GILL, n.3
- A plant, ground-ivy, of the genus Glechoma. Fam. of Plants.
- Malt liquor medicated with ground-ivy.
GILL, n.4 [In Sw. gilja signifies to woo.]
- In ludicrous language, a female; a wanton girl. Each Jack with his Gill. B. Jonson.
- A fissure in a hill; also, a place between steep banks and a rivulet flowing through it; a brook. Ray. Grose.
GILL'-BEAR-ING, a.
Producing gills.
GILL'FLAP, n.
A membrane attached to the posterior edge of the gill-lid, immediately closing the gill-opening.
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. giroflée, giroflier. The corresponding word in Arm. is genofles or genoflen.]
The name of certain plants. The clove gillyflower is of the genus Dianthus, or carnation pink; the stock gillyflower is the Cheiranthus; the queen's gillyflower is the Hesperis. Fam. of Plants.
GILSE, n.
A young salmon.
GILT, n.
- Gold laid on the surface of a thing; gilding. Shak.
- In England, a young female pig. Cyc.
GILT, pp. [of gild.]
Overlaid with gold leaf, or washed with gold; illuminated; adorned.
GILT'HEAD, n. [gilt and head.]
- In ichthyology, a fish or a genus of fishes, the Sparus, of many spectes; so named from their color, or from a golden spot between the eyes. Encyc.
- 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 toy; 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 a 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.