gad-whip 
gad-whip (gad'hwip), n. Same as 
[Lincolnshire, Eng.] 
gadzookerst, inter/. Same as gadsooks. Buck- 
ingliiiiii, Ki'hear.sal. 
gadzookst (gad'ziiks'), inter/. [Appar. a corrup- 
tion of G o(F ts (that is, Christ's) hooks, with ref. 
to the nails with which Christ was fixed to the 
cross, and which often appear in early oaths.] 
A minced oath. Also sooks. 
But the Money, Hndzmtks, must be paid in an hour. 
Prior, Down-Hall, St. 8. 
gae 1 (Kii), r. i. ; pret. gaed, pp. gaen. A Scotch 
form of go. 
If ye be thinking of the wreck-wood that the callants 
brought in yesterday, there was six ounces of iti/utd t: > boil 
your parritch this morning. Scott, Pirate, v. 
gae 2 (ga). A dialectal preterit of give. See 
gae 3 (ga), adv. A Scotch form of gay 1 . 
Gaeana (je'a-nii), n. [NL. (Amyot and Ser- 
ville, 1843)',' so called from the shrilling or 
stridulatiou of these insects, < Skt. gayana, 
singing, < / ga, sing.] A genus of Asiatic 
homopterous insects, of the family Cicadida?, 
of which about six species are described, hav- 
ing opaque bands on the wing-covers, and the 
abdomen either red or black with yellow spots. 
gae-down, gae-doun (ga'doun, -don), a. [Sc.] 
2427 
gag 
mainsail), and having its foot extended by it. 
See cut under gaffl.Z, A kind of sea-catfish, 
JElurichtliys marinits, abundant on the southern 
He sent Jamie Grieve the keeper, and sicken a day as 
we had wi' the foumarts and the tods, and sicken a blithe 
gae-down as we had again e'en ! Scott, Guy Mannering. 
Gaekwar, . See Gaikwar. 
Gael (gal), . [< Gael. Gaidheal (contr. Gael) 
= Ir. Gaoidheal (with dh now silent), Olr. Goi- 
del, a Gael, formerly equiv. also to 'Irishman,' 
= W. gwi/ddel, an Irishman.] A Scottish High- 
lander or Celt. 
Gaff. 
B, boom ; CC, cheeks ; G. gaff; M, mast ; P, peak ; 
T, throat or jaw. 
ter, Massachusetts, about 1823, but abandoned after some 
ten years' use. To bring to gaff, to draw (a hooked fish) 
with the line within reach of the gaff. 
When a fish is beat and is being brought to ga/, much 
caution is necessary. Quarterly Rea., CXXVI. 351. 
Two-pronged gaff. See def. 1. 
gaff 1 (gaf), v. [.'gaff 1 , n.] I. trans. To hook 
with a gaff ; land by means of a gaff : as, to 
gaff a fish. 
Sometimes also it happens that nearly every fish that 
rises to the fly is ga/ed. Quarterly Rev., CXXVI. 344. 
II. intrans. To use the gaff: as, to gaff for 
The Gael around him threw 
His graceful plaid of varied hue. 
ScoW, L. of the L., v. 2. 
Gael. An abbreviation of Gaelic. 
Gaelic (ga'lik), a. and . [Formerly also Ga- 
lie, with accom. term, -ic, < Gael. Gaidhealach 
(with silent dh, and so sometimes written Gae- 
lach, Gaelig), Gaelic, < Gaidheal, a Gael, High- 
lander : see Gael. As a noun, cf . Gael. Gaidh- 
lig, Gailig, Gaelig = Ir. Gaoidliilig, the Gae- 
lic language.] I. a. Of or pertaining to the 
Gaels, a Celtic race inhabiting the Highlands 
of Scotland: as, the Gaelic language. 
II. . The language of the Celts inhabiting 
the Highlands of Scotland. See Gadhelic. 
Gaertnerian (gart-ne'ri-an), . [< Gartner (see 
def.) (= E. Gardner, gardener) + -ian.~\ Per- 
taining to the German anatomist and botanist 
Joseph Gartner (1732-91) Gaertnerian canal 
the duct of Gartner. See canall. 
gaet (gat), n. A Scotch spelling of gaift, gate 2 . 
gaff 1 (gaf), n. [< ME. gaffe, a hook, harpoon, < 
OF. gaffe, an iron hook, a harpoon, F. gaffe, a 
boat-hook, gaff, = Pr. gaf= Sp. Pg. gaf a, a hook, 
gaff. Of Celtic origin: Ir. gaf, gaf a, a hook ; cf. 
W. caff, a grasp, grapple, a sort of dung-fork. Cf . 
E. gaffle, AS. r/eaft, a fork, < Ir. gabhal, a fork, 
<78fcfa,aspear, lance,=Gael. gabhal, more prop- 
erly gobhal, a forked support, a prop, = W. gafl, 
a fork. To the same source is referred gabk 1 , 
q. v. All ult. < Ir. Gael, gabh, take, receive, = 
W. caffael, cael, get, obtain, have, cafael, hold, 
get, grasp, = L. capere, take : see captive, capa- 
cious, etc.] 1. A sharp, strong iron hook, like 
a large fish-hook without a barb, inserted into 
or otherwise attached to a wooden handle of con- 
venient length, used especially for landinglarge 
fish, as salmon, pike, bass, or the like, after they 
have been hooked on the line. Also called gaff- 
hook. The angler's gaff is now usually made In detach- 
able parts, the large hook, about three inches across the 
bend, being fitted into the handle by a screw. A similar 
instrument is used by whalers in handling blubber, and 
a two-pronged gaff is employed in some places, as at Cape 
Ann, in handling iced or salted fish. 
Heil, seint Domiuik with tin langstaffe ; 
Hit is at the ovir end crokid as a gaffe. 
Early Eng. Poems, p. 153. 
2. Naut., a spar used to extend the upper edge 
of fore-and-aft sails which are not set on stays, 
as the mainsail of a sloop or the spanker of a 
ship. At the lower or fore end it has a kind of fork called 
the jaw (the prongs are the cheeks), which embraces the 
mast ; the outer end is called the /leak. The jaw is se- 
cured in its position by a rope passing round the mast. 
See cut in next column. 
)> [Origin obscure.] In Great Brit- 
ain, a theater of the lowest class, the admission 
to which is generally a penny; a cheap and 
loosely conducted place of amusement, where 
singing and dancing take place. 
The penny theatres, or " penny gaffs," chiefly found on 
the Surrey side of the river, were little better than hot- 
beds of vice, and were finally closed by the police in March, 
1838. First Year of a Silken Reign, p. 212. 
gaffer 1 (gaf'er), n. [< gaff 1 + -er 1 .] One who 
gaffs fish; an angler's assistant who with a gaff 
Also gaffsman. 
tE. dial., a further contr. of 
gramfer, a dial, contr. of grandfather : see grand- 
father. Cf. gammer, contr. of grandmother.'] 1. 
An old man : originally a rustic term of respect, 
used as a title ; later applied familiarly to any 
old man of rustic condition. 
For na/er Treadwell told us, by the bye, 
Excessive sorrow is exceeding dry. 
Qay, Shepherd's Week, Friday, 1. 161. 
And soon the loving pair agreed 
By this same system to proceed ; 
And through the parish, with their how d'ye, 
Go to each ga/cr, and each goody. 
Fawkes, A Country Vicar. 
2. In Great Britain, the foreman of a squad of 
workmen, especially of navvies ; an overseer. 
gaff-hook (gaf'huk), n. Same as gaff 1 , 1. 
gaffle (gafl), n. [Formerly also gafle; in mod. 
use prob. from D. ; ME. not found ; AS. geafl, 
a fork, = D. gaffel, a fork, pitchfork, naut. gaff, 
= MLG. gaffele, geffele, LG. gaffel = G. dial. 
gaffel = Dan. Sw. gaffel, a fork, naut. gaff, = 
Icel. gaffall, a fork (the Scand. forms prob. of 
LG. origin) ; ult. identical with gable 1 : see ga- 
ble 1 and gaff 1 .'] 1. A portable fork of iron or 
wood in which the heavy musket formerly in 
use was rested that it might bo accurately 
aimed and fired. 2. The steel lever by the. 
aid of which crossbows were bent. 
My cross-bow in my hand, my gaffle o my rack, 
To bend it when I please, or when I please to slack. 
Drayton, Muse's Elysium, vi. 
3. An artificial spur of steel put on a cock when 
it is set to fight. 
Pliny mentions the Spur and calls it Telum, but the Gafle 
is a mere modern Invention, as likewise is the great and 
I suppose necessary exactness in matching them. 
Sourne'l Pop. Antiq. (1777), p. 879, note, 
gafflock (gaf'lok), n. Same as gavelock. Hal- 
liwell. 
gaff-setter (gaf'sefer), n. Same as boat-hook. 
gaffsman (gafs'man), .; pi. gaffsmen (-men). 
[< gaff's, poss. oi! gaff 1 , + man.'] Same as 
Gaff-topsail (ALlurichthys marinas). 
{From Report of U. S. Fish Commission. 1884.) 
Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States: 
popularly so called from the elevated dorsal fin. 
gafolt, n. [AS., tax, tribute, rent: KWAIMi 1 .] 
In Anglo-Saxon law, rent or income; tax, tribute, 
or custom. Surrill. 
gafolgildt, n. [Also written, improp., gafold- 
gild; repr. an AS. *gafolgild (not recorded), 
< gafol, tax, tribute, rent, + gild, payment. Cf. 
AS. gafol-gilda, one who pays tribute or rent.] 
In Anglo-Saxon law, the payment of custom or 
tribute. 
gafol-landt, n. [AS., land let for rent or ser- 
vices, < gafol, tribute, rent, + land, land.] In 
Anglo-Saxon law, property subject to gafolgild, 
or liable to be taxed. 
gafol-yrthet, " [AS., < gafol, tribute, rent, + 
eortlte, earth : see earth 1 .'] In Anglo-Saxoit law, 
the plowing, by way of rent, of strips, generally 
three acres in area, and the sowing of them by 
the gebur, from his own barn, with the subse- 
quent reaping and carrying of the crop to the 
lord's barn. Seebolim. 
gag (gag), r. ; pret. and pp. gagged; ppr. gag- 
ging. [Early mod. E. gagge, < ME. gaggen, 
gag; prob. imitative of the sound of choking. 
Cf. gaggle, cackle, etc.] I. tranx. 1. To stop 
up the mouth or throat of (a person) with some 
solid body, so as to prevent him from speaking ; 
hence, to silence by authority or by violence ; 
restrain from freedom of speech. 
Gay him, [that] we may have his silence. 
B. Jonmn, Poetaster, v. 1. 
While our Spanish licencing ijaijs the English presse 
never so severely. Milton, Areopagitica, p. 20. 
2. To pry or keep open by means of a gag. 
mlnt of wire with several sharpokeprmgTand a .. 
wooden handle, used to hook up mackerel when they arc 
ohoottng alongside a venal. It was Introduced ntoiouces- 
The attendant gaffsman stands or crouches, with a sharp- 
pointed steel hook attached to a short ashen stalf called a 
gafl, waiting his opportunity. Encijc. Brit., II. 39. 
gaff-topsail (gaf'top'sl), [= Dan., a / f T 
*!* = ? W " d^ffeltoppsegel.} 1. Naut, a light 
triangular or quadrilateral sail set above a gaff 
(as the gaff extending the head of a cutter's 
Mouths i/anyed to such a wideness. 
Fortescue, De Laudibus (trans., ed. Gregor), xxii. 
3. To cause to heave with nausea. 4. To stop 
or choke up, as a valve or passage. 
The men who iinmied the valve knew i|iiite well what 
they were about, and took their chance. 
The Engineer, LXV. 468. 
We had backed slowly to increase the distance ; with 
furious fires and a yaanrA engine working at the full stroke 
of the pistons. The Century, XXXVI. 431. 
5. To introduce interpolations into: as, to gag 
a part. [Stage slang.] 
Well, Miss Keene, I have read the part very carefully, 
and if you will let me nag it and do what I please with 
it, I will undertake it, though it is terribly bad. 
Sothern, quoted in Lester Wallack's Memories. 
6. To play jokes upon; joke; guy. [Slang.] 
= SyTL 1. Gag, M uzzle, Mujtl?; stifle. To yog is to silence 
by thrusting something into the month aiid securing it in 
place. To muzzle a dog, or other creature having a pro 
jecting mouth, is to incase the month and nose (muzzle) 
in a framework called a muzzle, in order to prevent him 
from biting or eating. Both //m/ and muzzle are some- 
times used figuratively for the act of silencing effectively 
by moral compulsion, gay implying also roughness or se- 
verity in the performance : as, a muzzled press ; to gag a 
public speaker by threats of violence. To mvjfle is pri- 
marily to conceal by wrapping up, but the word has a sec- 
ondary use to express the deadening of sound, by wrapping 
(as an oar) or otherwise (as a drum). 
The time was not yet come when eloquence was to lie 
gagyed, and reason to be hoodwinked. 
Macaulay, Machiavelli. 
My dagger muzzled, 
Lest it should bite its master. Shale., W. T., i. 2. 
In his mantle muffling up his face, 
. . . great Cresar fell. 
Shah., J. C., iii. 2. 
II. intrans. 1. To retch; heave with nausea. 
2. To interpolate words of one's own into 
one's part : said of an actor. [Stage slang.] 
Little Swills in what are professionally known as "pat- 
ter" allusions to the subject is received with loud ap- 
plause ; and the same vocalist nant in the regular business 
like a man inspired. Dickens, Bleak House, xxxix. 
The leading actors will lie nervous, uncertain in their 
words, and disposed to interpolate or 'jaij until their mem- 
ories are refreshed by the prompter. Cornhill Mag. 
gag (gag), . .[Early mod. E. gagge; < gag, .] 
1. Something thrust into the mouth or throat 
to prevent speech or outcry; hence, any vio- 
