Generation – Gigantology

Generation

GENERA'TION, noun The act of begetting; procreation, as of animals.

1. Production; formation; as the generation of sounds or of curves or equations.

2. A single succession in natural descent, as the children of the same parents; hence, an age. Thus we say, the third, the fourth, or the tenth generation Genesis 15:16.

3. The people of the same period, or living at the same time.

O faithless and perverse generation Luke 9:41.

4. Genealogy; a series of children or descendants from the same stock.

This is the book of the generations of Adam. Genesis 5:1.

5. A family; a race.

6. Progeny; offspring.

Generative

GEN'ERATIVE, adjective Having the power of generating or propagating its own species.

1. Having the power of producing.

2. Prolific.

Generator

GEN'ERATOR, noun He or that which begets, causes or produces.

1. In music, the principal sound or sounds by which others are produced. Thus the lowest C for the treble of the harpsichord, besides its octave, will strike an attentive ear with its twelfth above, or G in alt., and with its seventeenth above, or E in alt. Hence C is called their generator the G and E its products or harmonics.

2. A vessel in which steam is generated.

Generic

GENER'IC

GENER'ICAL, adjective [Latin genus.] Pertaining to a genus or kind; comprehending the genus, as distinct from species, or from another genus. A generic description is a description of a genus; a generic difference is a difference in genus; a generic name is the denomination which comprehends all the species, as of animals, plants or fossils, which have certain essential and peculiar characters in common. Thus Canis is the generic name of animals of the dog kind; Felis, of the cat kind; Cervus, of the deer kind.

Generically

GENER'ICALLY, adverb With regard to genus; as an animal generically distinct from another, or two animals generically allied.

Generosity

GENEROS'ITY, noun [Latin generositas, from genus, race, kind, with reference to birth, blood, family.]

1. The quality of being generous; liberality in principle; a disposition to give liberally or to bestow favors; a quality of the heart or mind opposed to meanness or parsimony.

2. Liberality in act; bounty.

3. Nobleness of soul; magnanimity. [This is the primary sense, but is now little used.]

Generous

GEN'EROUS, adjective [Latin generosus. See Gender.]

1. Primarily, being of honorable birth or origin; hence, noble; honorable; magnanimous; applied to persons; as a generous foe; a generous critic.

2. Noble; honorable; applied to things; as a generous virtue; generous boldness. It is used also to denote like qualities in irrational animals; as a generous pack of hounds.

3. Liberal; bountiful; munificent; free to give; as a generous friend; a generous father.

4. Strong; full of spirit; as generous wine.

5. Full; overflowing; abundant; as a generous cup; a generous table.

6. Sprightly; courageous; as a generous steed.

Generously

GEN'EROUSLY, adverb Honorable; not meanly.

1. Nobly; magnanimously.

2. Liberally; munificently.

Generousness

GEN'EROUSNESS, noun The quality of being generous; magnanimity; nobleness of mind.

1. Liberality; munificence; generosity.

Genesis

GEN'ESIS, noun [See Gender.]

1. The first book of the sacred scriptures of the Old Testament, containing the history of the creation, of the apostasy of man, of the deluge, and of the first patriarchs, to the death of Joseph. In the original Hebrew, this book has no title; the present title was prefixed to it by those who translated it into Greek.

2. In geometry, the formation of a line, plane or solid, by the motion or flux of a point, line or surface.

Genet

GEN'ET, noun A small-sized, well-proportioned Spanish horse.

1. An animal of the weasel kind, less than the martin.

Genethliac

GENETH'LIAC , adjective [Gr. to be born.]

Pertaining to nativities as calculated by astrologers; showing the positions of the stars at the birth of any person. [Little used.]

Genethliacal

GENETHLI'ACAL

GENETH'LIACS, noun The science of calculating nativities or predicting the future events of life from the stars which preside at the birth of persons. [Little used.]

Genethliacs

GENETH'LIACS, n. The science of calculating nativities or predicting the future events of life from the stars which preside at the birth of persons. [Little used.]

Genethliatic

GENETHLIAT'IC, noun He who calculates nativities. [Little used.]

Geneva

GENE'VA, noun A spirit distilled from grain or malt, with the addition of juniper berries. But instead of these berries, the spirit is now flavored with the oil of turpentine. The word is usually contracted and pronounced gin.

Genevanism

GENE'VANISM, noun [from Geneva, where Calvin resided.] Calvinism.

Genevois

GENEVOIS, noun plural jeneva'y. People of Geneva.

Genial

GE'NIAL, adjective [Latin genialis, from geno, gigno, ]

1. Contributing to propagation or production; that causes to produce.

Creator, Venus, genial power of love.

2. Gay; merry.

3. Enlivening; contributing to life and cheerfulness; supporting life.

So much I feel my genial spirits droop.

4. Native; natural. [Not usual.]

The genial gods, in pagan antiquity, were supposed to preside over generation, as earth, air, fire and water.

Genially

GE'NIALLY, adverb By genius or nature; naturally. [Little used.]

1. Gayly; cheerfully.

Geniculated

GENIC'ULATED, adjective [Latin geniculatus, from geniculum, a knot or joint, from the root of genu, the knee. See Knee.]

Kneed; knee-jointed; having joints like the knee a little bent; as a geniculated stem or peduncle.

Geniculation

GENICULA'TION, noun Knottiness; the state of having knots or joints like a knee.

Genii

GE'NII, noun [Latin plural ] A sort of imaginary intermediate beings between men and angels; some good and some bad.

Genio

GE'NIO, noun [Latin genius.] A man of a particular turn of mind.

Genital

GEN'ITAL, adjective [Latin genitalis, from the root of gigno; Gr. to beget.]

Pertaining to generation or the act of begetting.

Genitals

GEN'ITALS, noun plural The parts of an animal which are the immediate instruments of generation.

Geniting

GEN'ITING, noun A species of apple that ripens very early.

Genitive

GEN'ITIVE, adjective [Latin genitivus, from the root of gender.]

In grammar, an epithet given to a case in the declension of nouns, expressing primarily the thing from which something else proceeds; as filius patris, the son of a father; aqua fontis, the water of a fountain. But by custom this case expresses other relations, particularly possession or ownership; as animi magnitudo, greatness of mind, greatness possessed by or inherent in the mind. This case often expresses also that which proceeds from something else; as pater septem filiorum, the father of seven sons.

Genitor

GEN'ITOR, noun One who procreates; a sire; a father.

Geniture

GEN'ITURE, noun Generation; procreation; birth.

Genius

GE'NIUS, noun [Latin from the root of gigno; Gr. to beget.]

1. Among the ancients, a good or evil spirit or demon supposed to preside over a man's destiny in life, that is, to direct his birth and actions and be his guard and guide; a tutelary deity; the ruling and protecting power of men, places or things. This seems to be merely a personification or deification of the particular structure or bent of mind which a man receives from nature, which is the primary signification of the word.

2. The peculiar structure of mind which is given by nature to an individual, or that disposition or bent of mind which is peculiar to every man, and which qualifies him for a particular employment; a particular natural talent or aptitude of mind for a particular study or course of life; as a genius for history, for poetry or painting.

3. Strength of mind; uncommon powers of intellect, particularly the power of invention. In this sense we say, Homer was a man of genius Hence,

4. A man endowed with uncommon vigor of mind; a man of superior intellectual faculties. Shakespeare was a rare-genius.

5. Mental powers or faculties. [See No.2.]

6. Nature; disposition; peculiar character; as the genius of the times.

Gent

GENT, adjective Elegant; pretty; gentle. [Not in use.]

Genteel

GENTEE'L, adjective [Latin gentilis, from gens, race, stock, family, and with the sense of noble or at least respectable birth, as we use birth and family.]

1. Polite; well bred; easy and graceful in manners or behavior; having the manners of well bred people; as genteel company; genteel guests.

2. Polite; easy and graceful; becoming well bred persons; as genteel manners or behavior; a genteel address.

3. Graceful in mein or form; elegant; as the lady has a genteel person.

4. Elegantly dressed.

5. Decorous; refined; free from any thing low or vulgar; as genteel comedy.

Genteelly

GENTEE'LLY, adverb Politely; gracefully; elegantly; in the manner of well bred people.

Genteelness

GENTEE'LNESS, adjective Gracefulness of manners or person; elegance; politeness. We speak of the genteelness of a person or of his deportment.

1. Qualities befitting a person of rank.

Gentian

GEN'TIAN, noun [Latin gentiana.] A genus of plants, of many species. The common gentian is a native of the mountainous parts of Germany. The root, the only part used, has a yellowish brown color and a very bitter taste, and is used as an ingredient in stomachic bitters. It is sometimes called felwort.

Gentil

GEN'TIL, noun A species of falcon or hawk.

Gentile

GEN'TILE, noun [Latin gentilis; from Latin gens, nation, race; applied to pagans.]

In the scriptures, a pagan; a worshipper of false gods; any person not a Jew or a christian; a heathen. The Hebrews included in the term goim or nations, all the tribes of men who had not received the true faith, and were not circumcised. The christians translated goim by the Latin gentes, and imitated the Jews in giving the name gentiles to all nations who were not Jews nor christians. In civil affairs, the denomination was given to all nations who were not Romans.

GEN'TILE, adjective Pertaining to pagans or heathens.

Gentilesse

GENTILESSE, noun Complaisance. [Not in use.]

Gentilish

GEN'TILISH, adjective Heathenish; pagan.

Gentilism

GEN'TILISM, noun Heathenism; paganism; the worship of false gods.

Gentilitious

GENTILI'TIOUS, adjective [Latin gentilitius, from gens.]

1. Peculiar to a people or nation; national.

2. Hereditary; entailed on a family.

Gentility

GENTIL'ITY, noun

1. Politeness of manners; easy, graceful behavior; the manners of well bred people; genteelness.

2. Good extraction; dignity of birth.

3. Gracefulness of mien.

4. Gentry. [Not in use.]

5. Paganism; heathenism. [Not in use.]

Gentilize

GEN'TILIZE, verb intransitive To live like a heathen.

Gentle

GEN'TLE, adjective [See Genteel.] Well born; of a good family or respectable birth, though not noble; as the studies of noble and gentle youth; gentle blood.

1. Mild; meek; soft; bland; not rough, harsh or severe; as a gentle nature, temper or disposition; a gentle manner; a gentle address; a gentle voice. 1 Thessalonians 2:7. 1 Thessalonians 2:7.

2. Tame; peaceable; not wild, turbulent or refractory; as a gentle horse or beast.

3. Soothing; pacific.

4. Treating with mildness; not violent.

A gentle hand may lead the elephant with a hair.

GEN'TLE, noun A gentleman.

1. A kind of worm.

GEN'TLE, verb transitive To make genteel; to raise from the vulgar.

Gentlefolk

GEN'TLEFOLK, noun [gentle and folk.] Persons of good breeding and family. It is now used only in the plural, gentlefolks, and this use is vulgar.

Gentleman

GEN'TLEMAN, adjective [gentle, that is, genteel, and man. See Genteel.]

1. In its most extensive sense, in Great Britain, every man above the rank of yeomen, comprehending noblemen. In a more limited sense, a man, who without a title, bears a coat of arms, or whose ancestors have been freemen. In this sense, gentlemen hold a middle rank between the nobility and yeomanry.

2. In the United States, where titles and distinctions of rank do not exist, the term is applied to men of education and of good breeding, of every occupation. Indeed this is also the popular practice in Great Britain. Hence,

3. A man of good breeding, politeness, and civil manners, as distinguished from the vulgar and clownish.

A plowman on his legs is higher than a gentleman on his knees.

4. A term of complaisance. In the plural, the appellation by which men are addressed in popular assemblies, whatever may be their condition or character.

5. In Great Britain, the servant of a man of rank, who attends his person.

Gentlemanlike

GEN'TLEMANLIKE

GEN'TLEMANLINESS, noun Behavior of a well bred man.

Gentlemanliness

GEN'TLEMANLINESS, n. Behavior of a well bred man.

Gentlemanly

GEN'TLEMANLY , adjective Pertaining to or becoming a gentleman, or a man of good family and breeding; polite; complaisant; as gentlemanly manners.

1. Like a man of birth and good breeding; as a gentlemanly officer.

Gentleness

GEN'TLENESS, noun [See Gentle.] Dignity of birth. [Little used.]

1. Genteel behavior.

2. Softness of manners; mildness of temper; sweetness of disposition; meekness.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness goodness, faith. Galatians 5:22.

3. Kindness; benevolence.

4. Tenderness; mild treatment.

Gentleship

GEN'TLESHIP, noun The deportment of a gentleman.

Gentlewoman

GEN'TLEWOMAN, noun [gentle and woman.] A woman of good family or of good breeding; a woman above the vulgar.

1. A woman who waits about the person of one of high rank.

2. A term of civility to a female, sometimes ironical.

Gently

GEN'TLY, adverb Softly; meekly; mildly; with tenderness.

My mistress gently chides the fault I made.

1. Without violence, roughness or asperity.

Gentoo

GENTOO', noun A native of India or Hindoostan; one who follows the religion of the Bramins.

Gentry

GEN'TRY, noun Birth; condition; rank by birth.

1. People of education and good breeding. In Great Britain, the classes of people between the nobility and the vulgar.

2. A term of civility; civility; complaisance.

Genuflection

GENUFLEC'TION, noun [Latin genu, the knee, and flectio, a bending.]

The act of bending the knee, particularly in worship.

Genuine

GEN'UINE, adjective [Latin genuinus, from enus, or its root. See Gender.]

Native; belonging to the original stock; hence, real; natural; true; pure; not spurious, false or adulterated. The Gaels are supposed to be genuine descendants of the Celts. Vices and crimes are the genuine effects of depravity, as virtue and piety are the genuine fruits of holiness. It is supposed we have the genuine text of Homer.

Genuinely

GEN'UINELY, adverb Without adulteration or foreign admixture; naturally.

Genuineness

GEN'UINENESS, noun The state of being native, or of the true original; hence, freedom from adulteration or foreign admixture; freedom from any thing false or counterfeit; purity; reality; as the genuineness of Livy's history; the genuineness of faith or repentance.

Genus

GE'NUS, noun plural genuses or genera. [Latin genus See Gender.]

1. In logic, that which has several species under it; a class of a greater extent than species; a universal which is predicable of several things of different species.

2. In natural history, an assemblage of species possessing certain characters in common, by which they are distinguished from all others. It is subordinate to class and order, and some arrangements, to tribe and family. A single species, possessing certain peculiar characters, which belong to no other species, may also constitute a genus; as the camelopard, and the flamingo.

3. In botany, a genus is a subdivision containing plants of the same class and order, which agree in their parts of fructification.

Geocentric

GEOCEN'TRIC, adjective [Gr. earth, and center.] Having the earth for its center, or the same center with the earth. The word is applied to a planet or its orbit.

Geode

GE'ODE, noun [Gr. earth.] In mineralogy, a round or roundish lump of agate or other mineral, or a mere incrustation. Its interior is sometimes empty, and in this case the sides of its cavity are lined with crystals, as in agate balls. Sometimes it contains a solid movable nucleus; and sometimes it is filled with an earthy matter different from the envelop.

Geodesy

GE'ODESY, noun [Gr. the earth, and to divide.] That part of geometry which respects the doctrine of measuring surfaces, and finding the contents of all plain figures.

Geodetic

GEODET'IC

GEODET'ICAL, adjective Pertaining to the art of measuring surfaces.

Geodiferous

GEODIFEROUS, adjective [Latin] Producing geodes.

Geognost

GE'OGNOST, noun [See Geognosy.] One versed in geognosy; a geologist.

Geognostic

GEOGNOS'TIC, adjective Pertaining to a knowledge of the structure of the earth; geological.

Geognosy

GE'OGNOSY, noun [Gr. the earth, and knowledge.] That part of natural history which treats of the structure of the earth. It is the science of the substances which compose the earth or its crust, their structure, position, relative situation, and properties.

[This word originated among the German mineralogists, and is nearly synonymous with geology. But some writers consider geognosy as only a branch of geology; including in the latter, hydrography, geogony, meteorology and even geography.]

Geogonic

GEOGONIC, adjective Pertaining to geogony, or the formation of the earth.

Geogony

GEOG'ONY, noun [Gr. the earth, and generation.] The doctrine of the formation of the earth.

Geographer

GEOG'RAPHER, noun [See Geography.] One who describes that part of this globe or earth, which is exhibited upon the surface, as the continents, isles, ocean, seas, lakes, rivers, mountains, countries, etc. One who is versed in geography, or one who compiles a treatise on the subject.

Geographic

GEOGRAPH'IC

GEOGRAPH'ICAL, adjective Relating to or containing a description of the terraqueous globe; pertaining to geography.

Geographical

GEOGRAPH'ICAL, a. Relating to or containing a description of the terraqueous globe; pertaining to geography.

Geographically

GEOGRAPH'ICALLY, adverb In a geographical manner; according to the usual practice of describing the surface of the earth.

Geography

GEOG'RAPHY, noun [Gr. the earth, and to write, to describe.]

1. Properly, a description of the earth or terrestrial globe, particularly of the divisions of its surface, natural and artificial, and of the position of the several countries, kingdoms, states, cities, etc. As a science, geography includes the doctrine or knowledge of the astronomical circles or divisions of the sphere, by which the relative position of places on the globe may be ascertained, and usually treatises of geography contain some account of the inhabitants of the earth, of their government, manners, etc., and an account of the principal animals, plants and minerals.

2. A book containing a description of the earth.

Geological

GEOLOG'ICAL, adjective [See Geology.] Pertaining to geology; relating to the science of the earth or terraqueous globe.

Geologist

GEOL'OGIST, noun One versed in the science of geology.

Geology

GEOL'OGY, noun [Gr. the earth, and discourse.]

The doctrine or science of the structure of the earth or terraqueous globe, and of the substances which compose it; or the science of the compound minerals or aggregate substances which compose the earth, the relations which the several constituent masses bear to each other, their formation, structure, position and direction: it extends also to the various alterations and decompositions to which minerals are subject.

Geomancer

GE'OMANCER, noun [See Geomancy.] One who foretells or divines, by means of lines, figures or points on the ground or on paper.

Geomancy

GE'OMANCY, noun [Gr. the earth, and divination.] A kind of divination by means of figures or lines, formed by little dots or points, originally on the earth and afterwards on paper.

Geomantic

GEOMAN'TIC, adjective Pertaining to geomancy.

Geometer

GEOM'ETER, noun [See Geometry.] One skilled in geometry. [See Geometrician, which is generally used.]

Geometral

GEOM'ETRAL, adjective Pertaining to geometry.

Geometric

GEOMET'RIC

GEOMET'RICAL, adjective [Gr.] Pertaining to geometry.

1. According to the rules or principles of geometry; done by geometry.

2. Disposed according to geometry.

Geometrical progression, is when the terms increase or decrease by equal ratios; as 2.4.8.16.32. or 32.16.8.4.2.

Geometrical

GEOMET'RICAL, a. [Gr.] Pertaining to geometry. 1. According to the rules or principles of geometry; done by geometry.2. Disposed according to geometry. Geometrical progression, is when the terms increase or decrease by equal ratios; as 2.4.8.16.32. or 32.16.8.4.2.

Geometrically

GEOMET'RICALLY, adverb According to the rules or laws of geometry.

Geometrician

GEOMETRI'CIAN, noun One skilled in geometry; a geometer.

Geometrize

GEOM'ETRIZE, verb transitive To act according to the laws of geometry; to perform geometrically.

Geometry

GEOM'ETRY, noun [Gr. the earth, and measure.] Originally and properly, the art of measuring the earth, or any distances or dimensions on it. But geometry now denotes the science of magnitude in general, comprehending the doctrine and relations of whatever is susceptible of augmentation and diminution; as the mensuration of lines, surfaces, solids, velocity, weight, etc., with their various relations.

Geoponic

GEOPON'IC, adjective [Gr. the earth, and labor.] Pertaining to tillage of the earth, or agriculture. [Not little used.]

Geoponics

GEOPON'ICS, noun The art or science of cultivating the earth.

Georama

GE'ORAMA, noun [Gr. the earth, and view.] An instrument or machine which exhibits a very complete view of the earth, lately invented in Paris. It is a hollow sphere of forty feet diameter, formed by thirty six bars of iron representing the parallels and meridians, and covered with a bluish cloth, intended to represent seas and lakes. The land, mountains and rivers are painted on paper and pasted on this cover.

George

GEORGE, noun A figure of St. george on horseback, worn by knights of the garter.

1. A brown loaf.

George-Noble

GEORGE-NOBLE, noun A gold coin in the time of Henry VIII of the value of 6s.8d. sterling.

Georgic

GEOR'GIC, noun [Gr. rustic; and labor.] A rural poem; a poetical composition on the subject of husbandry, containing rules for cultivating lands, in a poetical dress; as the Georgics of Virgil.

GEOR'GIC, adjective Relating to the doctrine of agriculture and rural affairs.

GEORGIUM SIDUS. [See Herschel.]

Geoscopy

GEOS'COPY, noun [Gr.] Knowledge of the earth, ground or soil, obtained by inspection.

Geranium

GERA'NIUM, noun [Latin from Gr. a crane.] Crane's-bill, a genus of plants, of numerous species, some of which are cultivated for their fragrance or the beauty of their flowers.

Gerent

GE'RENT, adjective [Latin gerens.] Bearing; used in Vicegerent.

Gerfalcon

GERFALCON. [See Gyrfalcon.]

Germ

GERM, noun [Latin germen.] In botany, the ovary or seed-bud of a plant, the rudiment of fruit yet in embryo. It is the base or lower part of the pistil, which, in the progress of vegetation, swells and becomes the seed-vessel.

1. Origin; first principle; that from which any thing springs; as the germ of civil liberty, or of prosperity.

German

GER'MAN, adjective [Latin germanus, a brother.]

1. Cousins german are the sons or daughters of brothers or sisters; first cousins.

2. Related.

GER'MAN, adjective Belonging to Germany.

GER'MAN, noun A native of Germany; and by ellipsis, the german language.

Germander

GERMAN'DER, noun A plant, or rather the name of several plants, as the rock germander of the genus Veronica, and the common and water germander of the genus Teucrium.

Germanic

GERMAN'IC, adjective Pertaining to Germany; as the germanic body or confederacy.

Germanism

GER'MANISM, noun An idiom of the German language.

Germen

GERM'EN, noun plural germens. Now contracted to germ, which see.

Germinal

GERM'INAL, adjective [from germen. See Germ.] Pertaining to a germ or seed-bud.

Germinant

GERM'INANT, adjective Sprouting.

Germinate

GERM'INATE, verb intransitive [Latin germino, from germen.] To sprout; to bud; to shoot; to begin to vegetate, as a plant or its seed.

GERM'INATE, verb transitive To cause to sprout. [Unusual.]

Germination

GERMINA'TION, noun The act of sprouting; the first beginning of vegetation in a seed or plant.

1. The time in which seeds vegetate, after being planted or sown.

Gerocomical

GEROCOM'ICAL, adjective Pertaining to gerocomy. [Little used.]

Gerocomy

GEROC'OMY, noun [Gr.] That part of medicine which treats of the proper regimen for old people.

Gerund

GER'UND, noun [Latin gerundium, from gero, to bear.] In the Latin grammar, a kind of verbal noun, partaking of the nature of a participle.

Gesling

GESLING, for gosling. [Not in use.]

Gest

GEST, noun [Latin gestum, from gero, to carry, to do.]

1. A deed, action or achievement.

2. Show; representation.

3. A state in travelling; so much of a journey as is made without resting; or properly, a rest; a stop.

4. A roll or journal of the several days and stages prefixed, in the journeys of the English kings, many of which are extant in the herald's office.

Gestation

GESTA'TION, noun [Latin gestatio, from gero, to carry.]

1. The act of carrying young in the womb from conception to delivery; pregnancy.

2. The act of wearing, as clothes or ornaments.

3. The act of carrying sick persons in carriages, as a salutary exercise, by which fevers have often been cured.

Gestatory

GES'TATORY, adjective That may be carried or worn.

Gestic

GES'TIC, adjective Pertaining to deeds; legendary.

Gesticulate

GESTIC'ULATE, verb intransitive [Latin gesticulor, from gestum, gero, to bear or carry, or gestio.]

To make gestures or motions, as in speaking; to use postures.

GESTIC'ULATE, verb transitive To imitate; to act.

Gesticulation

GESTICULA'TION, noun [Latin gesticulatio.]

1. The act of making gestures, to express passion or enforce sentiments.

2. Gesture; a motion of the body or limbs in speaking, or in representing action or passion, and enforcing arguments and sentiments.

3. Antic tricks or motions.

Gesticulator

GESTIC'ULATOR, noun One that shows postures, or makes gestures.

Gesticulatory

GESTIC'ULATORY, adjective Representing in gestures.

Gesture

GES'TURE, noun [Latin gestus, from gero, to bear, to do.]

1. A motion of the body or limbs, expressive of sentiment or passion; any action or posture intended to express an idea or a passion, or to enforce an argument or opinion. It consists chiefly in the actions or movements of the hands and face, and should be suited to the subject.

2. Movement of the body or limbs.

Grace was in all her steps, heaven in her eye,

In every gesture dignity and love.

GES'TURE, verb transitive To accompany with gesture or action.

Get

GET, verb transitive preterit tense got. [gat, obsolete ] participle passive got, gotten.

1. To procure; to obtain; to gain possession of, by almost any means. We get favor by kindness; we get wealth by industry and economy; we get land by purchase; we get praise by good conduct; and we get blame by doing injustice. The merchant should get a profit on his goods; the laborer should get a due reward for his labor; most men get what they can for their goods or for their services. get differs from acquire, as it does not always express permanence of possession, which is the appropriate sense of acquire. We get a book or a loaf of bread by borrowing, we do not acquire it; but we get or acquire an estate.

2. To have.

Thou hast got the face of a man.

This is a most common, but gross abuse of this word. We constantly hear it said, I have got no corn, I have got no money, she has got a fair complexion, when the person means only, I have no corn, I have no money, she has a fair complexion.

3. To beget; to procreate; to generate.

4. To learn; as, to get a lesson.

5. To prevail on; to induce; to persuade.

Though the king could not get him to engage in a life of business. [This is not elegant.]

6. To procure to be. We could not get the work done. [Not elegant.]

To get off, to put off; to take or pull off; as, to get off a garment: also, to remove; as, to get off a ship from shoals.

To sell; to dispose of; as, to get off goods.

To get on, to put on; to draw or pull on; as, to get on a coat; to get on boots.

To get in, to collect and shelter; to bring under cover; as, to get in corn.

To get out, to draw forth; as, to get out a secret.

To draw out; to disengage.

To get the day, to win; to conquer; to gain the victory.

To get together, to collect; to amass.

To get over, to surmount; to conquer; to pass without being obstructed; as, to get over difficulties: also, to recover; as, to get over sickness.

To get above, to surmount; to surpass.

To get up, to prepare and introduce upon the stage; to bring forward.

With a pronoun following, it signifies to betake; to remove; to go; as, get you to bed; get thee out of the land. But this mode of expression can hardly be deemed elegant.

GET, verb intransitive To arrive at any place or state; followed by some modifying word, and sometimes implying difficulty or labor; as,

To get away or away from, to depart; to quit; to leave; or to disengage one's self from.

To get among, to arrive in the midst of; to become one of a number.

To get before, to arrive in front, or more forward.

To get behind, to fall in the rear; to lag.

To get back, to arrive at the place from which one departed; to return.

To get clear, to disengage one's self; to be released, as from confinement, obligation or burden; also, to be freed from danger or embarrassment.

To get down, to descend; to come from an elevation.

To get home, to arrive at one's dwelling.

To get in or into, to arrive within an inclosure, or a mixed body; to pass in; to insinuate one's self.

To get loose or free, to disengage one's self; to be released from confinement.

To get off, to escape; to depart; to get clear; also, to alight; to descend from.

To get out, to depart from an inclosed place or from confinement; to escape; to free one's self from embarrassment.

To get along, to proceed; to advance.

To get rid of, to disengage one's self from; also, to shift off; to remove.

To get together, to meet; to assemble; to convene.

To get up, to arise; to rise from a bed or a seat; also, to ascend; to climb.

To get through, to pass through and reach a point beyond any thing; also, to finish; to accomplish.

To get quit of, to get rid of; to shift off, or to disengage one's self from.

To get forward, to proceed; to advance; also, to prosper; to advance in wealth.

To get near, to approach within a small distance.

To get ahead, to advance; to prosper.

To get on, to proceed; to advance.

To get a mile or other distance, to pass over it in traveling.

To get at, to reach; to make way to.

To get asleep, to fall asleep.

To get drunk, to become intoxicated.

To get between, to arrive between.

To get to, to reach; to arrive.

Getter

GET'TER, noun One who gets, gains, obtains or acquires.

1. One who begets or procreates.

Getting

GET'TING, participle present tense Obtaining; procuring; gaining; winning; begetting.

GET'TING, noun The act of obtaining, gaining or acquiring; acquisition.

Get wisdom; and with all thy getting get

understanding. Proverbs 4:7.

1. Gain; profit.

Gewgaw

GEW'GAW, noun A showy trifle; a pretty thing of little worth; a toy; a bauble; a splendid plaything.

A heavy gewgaw called a crown.

GEW'GAW, adjective Showy without value.

Ghastful

GH'ASTFUL, adjective [See Ghastly.] Dreary; dismal; fit for walking ghosts.

Ghastfully

GH'ASTFULLY, adverb Frightfully.

Ghastliness

GH'ASTLINESS, noun [from ghastly.] Horror of countenance; a deathlike look; resemblance of a ghost; paleness.

Ghastly

GH'ASTLY, adjective [Eng. gush, gust.]

1. Like a ghost in appearance; deathlike; pale; dismal; as a ghastly face; ghastly smiles.

2. Horrible; shocking; dreadful.

Mangled with ghastly wounds.

Ghastness

GH'ASTNESS, noun Ghastliness. [Not used.]

Gherkin

GHER'KIN, noun A small pickled cucumber.

Ghess

GHESS, for guess. [Not used.]

Ghost

GHOST, noun [See Ghastly.]

1. Spirit; the soul of man.

In this sense seldom used. But hence,

2. The soul of a deceased person; the soul or spirit separate from the body; an apparition.

The mighty ghosts of our great Harrys rose.

To give up the ghost is to die; to yield up the breath or spirit; to expire.

The Holy ghost is the third person in the adorable Trinity.

GHOST, verb intransitive To die; to expire.

GHOST, verb transitive To haunt with an apparition.

Ghostlike

GHOSTLIKE, adjective Withered; having sunken eyes; ghastly.

Ghostliness

GHOSTLINESS, noun Spiritual tendency. [Little used.]

Ghostly

GHOSTLY, adjective Spiritual; relating to the soul; not carnal or secular.

Save and defend us from our ghostly enemies.

1. Spiritual; having a character from religion; as a ghostly father.

2. Pertaining to apparitions.

Giallolino

GIALLOLINO, noun [Eng. yellow.] A fine yellow pigment much used under the name of Naples Yellow.

Giambeaux

GIAM'BEAUX, noun Greaves; armor for the legs.

Giant

GI'ANT, noun [Latin gigas; Gr. probably from the earth. The word originally signified earth-born, terrigena. The ancients believed the first inhabitants of the earth to be produced from the ground and to be of enormous size.]

1. A man of extraordinary bulk and stature.

Giants of mighty bone, and bold emprise.

2. A person of extraordinary strength or powers, bodily or intellectual. The judge is a giant in his profession.

Giants-causey, a vast collection of basaltic pillars in the county of Antrim, in Ireland.

GI'ANT, adjective Like a giant; extraordinary in size or strength; as giant brothers; a giant son.

Giant-Killing

GI'ANT-KILLING, adjective Killing or destroying giants.

Giantess

GI'ANTESS, noun A female giant; a female of extraordinary size and stature.

Giantize

GI'ANTIZE, verb intransitive To play the giant.

Giantlike

GI'ANTLIKE

GI'ANTLY , adjective Of unusual size; resembling a giant in bulk or stature; gigantic; huge.

[Giantly is not much used.]

Giantly

GI'ANTLY , a. Of unusual size; resembling a giant in bulk or stature; gigantic; huge. [Giantly is not much used.]

Giantry

GI'ANTRY, noun The race of giants. [Little used.]

Giantship

GI'ANTSHIP, noun The state, quality or character of a giant.

His giantship is gone somewhat crestfallen.

Gib

GIB, noun A cat. [Not in use.]

GIB, verb intransitive To act like a cat. [Not in use.]

Gibbe

GIBBE, noun An old worn-out animal. [Not used.]

Gibber

GIB'BER, verb intransitive [See Gabble. It is probably allied to gabble, and to jabber.] To speak rapidly and inarticulately. [Not used.]

Gibberish

GIB'BERISH, noun [from gibber.] Rapid and inarticulate talk; unintelligible language; unmeaning words.

GIB'BERISH, adjective Unmeaning, as words.

Gibbet

GIB'BET, noun A gallows; a post or machine in form of a gallows, on which notorious malefactors are hanged in chains, and on which their bodies are suffered to remain, as spectacles in terrorem.

1. Any traverse beam.

GIB'BET, verb transitive To hang and expose on a gibbet or gallows.

1. To hang or expose on anything going travers, as the beam of a gibbet

Gibbeted

GIB'BETED, participle passive Hanged and exposed on a gibbet.

Gibbeting

GIB'BETING, participle present tense Hanging and exposing on a gibbet.

Gibbier

GIB'BIER, noun Wild fowl; game. [Not used.]

Gibbosity

GIBBOS'ITY, noun [Latin gibbosus. See Gibbous.]

Protuberance; a round or swelling prominence; convexity.

Gibbous

GIB'BOUS, adjective [Latin gibbus; Gr. to bend.]

1. Swelling; protuberant; convex. The moon is gibbous between the quarters and the full moon; the enlightened part being then convex.

The bones will rise, and make a gibbous member.

2. Hunched; hump-backed; crook-backed.

Gibbously

GIB'BOUSLY, adverb In a gibbous or protuberant form.

Gibbousness

GIB'BOUSNESS, noun Protuberance; a round prominence; convexity. [This word is preferable to gibbosity.]

Gibbsite

GIBBS'ITE, noun A mineral found at Richmond, in Massachusetts, and named in honor of George Gibbs, Esq. It occurs in irregular stalactical masses, which present an aggregation of elongated, tuberous branches, parallel and united. Its structure is fibrous, the fibers radiating from an axis. Its colors are a dirty white, greenish white and grayish.

Gibcat

GIB'CAT, noun A he-cat, or an old worn-out cat.

Gibe

GIBE, verb intransitive To cast reproaches and sneering expressions; to rail at; to utter taunting, sarcastic words; to flout; to fleer; to scoff.

Fleer and gibe and laugh and flout.

GIBE, verb transitive To reproach with contemptuous words; to deride; to scoff at; to treat with sarcastic reflections; to taunt.

Draw the beasts as I describe them,

From their features, while I gibe them.

GIBE, noun An expression of censure mingled with contempt; a scoff; a railing; an expression of sarcastic scorn.

Mark the fleers, the gibes, and the notable scorns,

That dwell in every region of his face.

Gibeline

GIB'ELINE, noun The Gibelines were a faction in Italy, that opposed another faction called Guelfs, in the 13th century.

Giber

GI'BER, noun One who utters reproachful, censorious and contemptuous expressions, or who casts cutting, sarcastic reflections; one who derides; a scoffer.

Gibing

GI'BING, participle present tense Uttering reproachful, contemptuous and censorious words; scoffing.

Gibingly

GI'BINGLY, adverb With censorious, sarcastic and contemptuous expressions; scornfully.

Giblets

GIB'LETS, noun The entrails of a goose or other fowl, as the heart, liver, gizzard, etc.; a considerable article in cookery; as, to boil or stew giblets It is used only in the plural, except in composition; as a giblet-pie.

Gibstaff

GIB'STAFF, noun A staff to gauge water or to push a boat; formerly, a staff used in fighting beasts on the stage.

Giddily

GID'DILY, adverb [See Giddy.] With the head seeming to turn or reel.

1. Inconstantly; unsteadily; with various turnings; as, to roam about giddily

2. Carelessly; heedlessly; negligently.

Giddiness

GID'DINESS, noun The state of being giddy or vertiginous; vertigo; a sensation of reeling or whirling, when the body loses the power of preserving its balance or a steady attitude, or when objects at rest appear to reel, tremble or whirl; a swimming of the head.

1. Inconstancy; unsteadiness; mutability.

2. Frolic; wantonness; levity.

Giddy

GID'DY, adjective Vertiginous; reeling; whirling; having in the head a sensation of a circular motion or swimming; or having lost the power of preserving the balance of the body, and therefore wavering and inclined to fall, as in the case of some diseases and of drunkenness. In walking on timber aloft, or looking down a precipice, we are apt to be giddy

1. That renders giddy; that induces giddiness; as a giddy highth; a giddy precipice.

2. Rotary; whirling; running round with celerity.

The giddy motion of the whirling mill.

3. Inconstant; unstable; changeable.

You are as giddy and volatile as ever.

4. Heedless; thoughtless; wild; roving.

5. Tottering; unfixed.

As we have paced along

Upon the giddy footing of the hatches.

6. Intoxicated; elated to thoughtlessness; rendered wild by excitement or joy.

Art thou not giddy with the fashion too?

GID'DY, verb intransitive To turn quick.

GID'DY, verb transitive To make reeling or unsteady.

Giddy-Brained

GID'DY-BRAINED, adjective Careless; thoughtless; unsteady.

Giddy-Head

GID'DY-HEAD, noun A person without thought or judgment.

Giddy-Headed

GID'DY-HEADED, adjective Heedless; unsteady; volatile; incautious.

Giddy-Paced

GID'DY-PACED, adjective Moving irregularly.

Gie

GIE, a contraction of guide. [Not in use.]

Gier-Eagle

GIE'R-EAGLE, noun A fowl of the eagle kind, mentioned in Leviticus 2:1.

Gieseckite

GIE'SECKITE, noun A mineral of a rhomboidal form and compact texture, of a gray or brown color, and nearly as hard as calcarious spar.

Gif

GIF, verb transitive The old but true spelling of if.

Gift

GIFT, noun [from give.] A present; any thing given or bestowed; any thing, the property of which is voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation; a donation. It is applicable to any thing movable or immovable.

1. The act of giving or conferring.

2. The right or power of giving or bestowing. The prince has the gift of many lucrative offices.

3. An offering or oblation.

If thou bring thy gift to the altar. Matthew 5:23.

4. A reward.

Let thy gifts be to thyself. Daniel 5:17.

5. A bribe; any thing given to corrupt the judgment.

Neither take a gift; for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise. Deuteronomy 16:19.

6. Power; faculty; some quality or endowment conferred by the author of our nature; as the gift of wit; the gift of ridicule.

GIFT, verb transitive To endow with any power or faculty.

Gifted

GIFT'ED, participle passive or adjective Endowed by nature with any power or faculty; furnished with any particular talent.

Giftedness

GIFT'EDNESS, noun The state of being gifted.

Gifting

GIFT'ING, participle present tense Endowing with any power or faculty.

Gig

GIG, verb transitive [Latin gigno.] To engender. [Not in use.]

1. To fish with a gig or fishgig.

GIG, noun

1. Any little thing that is whirled round in play.

2. A light carriage with one pair of wheels, drawn by one horse; a chair or chaise.

3. A fiddle.

4. A dart or harpoon. [See Fishgig.]

5. A ship's boat.

6. A wanton girl.

Gigantean

GIGANTE'AN, adjective [Latin giganteus. See Giant.] Like a giant; mighty.

Gigantic

GIGAN'TIC, adjective [Latin giganticus.] Of extraordinary size; very large; huge; like a giant. A man of gigantic stature.

1. Enormous; very great or mighty; as gigantic deeds; gigantic wickedness.

Gigantical and gigantine, for gigantic rarely or never used.

Gigantology

GIGANTOL'OGY, noun [Gr. a giant, and discourse.] An account or description of giants.